Dear Arsene,
Good to see you again Saturday, as it so often is these days.
I find it strange to think back to the time when we were perceived as, and often lived up to the moniker of ‘mortal enemies\’.
The era of gladiatorial combat at OT and Highbury are truly days of yore, but they are fond memories I will take with me to the grave.
Remember how I so nearly quit in 2002, thinking that I had taken this club as far as it could go? What a misjudgment that nearly was!
If I\’d walked away then I would have missed out on 4 League titles, an FA Cup, 3 League Cups and a Champions League crown (I don\’t count the 4 Charity Shields and FIFA World Club Cup as ‘real\’ achievements).
I really thought you were set to oust me as the King of English and European football.
That was the main reason I nearly walked away – I wanted to go out at the top. And for a season or so more, I have to say you kept me second-guessing my decision to stay.
Your FA Cup win \’03 and your league title in ‘04 definitely kept me on my toes.
But I think we can both agree that the \’05 FA Cup didn\’t end up where it belonged!
Then what happened, my friend? 18 matches since \’04 and you\’ve only beaten us twice? That\’s not the way I saw this going!
I know, the stadium was a drain, losing David was a personal blow to you and seeing several your ambitious players ask to ply their trade away from your marbled halls must have had the sting of paternal rejection, but from the view point of this simple Scotsman looking in from the outside, some of the economics just don\’t make sense.
I know you\’re concerned with keeping the books balanced and the creditors at arm’s length, but the way we see it here is that revenues increase when the team is successful. Gate receipts increase, TV rights increase and sponsorship revenues escalate – not to mention the great cash flow we\’re starting to see from our successful brand-building tours of the Far East and the States over the past few years.
Your Board must be delighted with the size of your following in Austria these days! Sorry, Arsene, I couldn\’t resist!
You seemed destined for such good things after your invincible season in ‘04. You only had 4 players in your squad over 30, you had some canny young talent coming through, and plans for your 60,000 seat stadium were signed off.
What a future! The way we all saw it back then, was you just needed 2-3 top class signings to keep that team at the top of the pile for years to come and keep the revenues flowing through your rebuilding phase – and at that stage which top class players wouldn\’t have wanted to come and be a part of what was going on.
I\’m not saying that Flamini and Van Persie were ‘bad\’ signings that summer, but they weren\’t what the rest of us were expecting, and nobody I spoke to thought Manuel was the right guy to come in and provide a stiff challenge to keep Jens on his toes.
Honestly, Arsene, from that point on, you\’ve pretty much confounded me with your decisions.
I know you had some great early success with bringing in young players and developing them in your style, but as I count them up now there are far more misses than hits in that department. Your policy of not giving players of 30 more than 1 year contracts is equally confusing – especially when the first person you choose to break that rule for is Sebastian!
I\’ve had some of the best years out of my players when they reached that milestone – and their influence on this kids who can model their winning mentality has been nothing short of priceless (a value very dear to a Scotsman\’s heart!)
One thing I will give you – when your time in football does come to an end, you simply must submit your candidacy to run for office in your home government – Francois Fillon will be ready to step down (again) at just the right time .
Your ability to constantly sell your team as the future victor but current day victim is the stuff legends are made of – and always delivered with a straight face. Bravo!
I need to draw this to a close. I have a few more scouting tapes to watch tonight – we need to replace Edwin with a seasoned campaigner and get some experienced defensive cover this summer – and I must review the defensive drills we\’re working on in our final practice tomorrow.
We can\’t afford to concede at home on Tuesday to OM. I\’m greatly looking forward to our next encounter in a few weeks.
We may well be in the middle of our Champions League semi-final at that stage, so if you wouldn\’t mind playing Almunia, Gibbs, Diaby, Denilson and Rosicky again (and I guess Squillaci will be your starting CB then too) that would really help us – being able to give Dimitar, Rio, Nani, Valencia, Park, Fletcher, Carrick and Evans most of the night off again would help our second-leg preparation no end.
Yours truly, Alex
(An email from Scott A )