Arsene Wenger has been a comfort blanket for the fans since 1998.
They go to bed at night and suck the edge of the blanket and enjoy sweet dreams.They are sure that Arsene Knows.
He’s also been a comfort blanket for the directors. They knew they could build Ashburton Grove if he agreed to stay.The board think Arsene Knows.
He’s also been a comfort blanket for the mainstream media because he is so different, so quotable, so charming.
In the main, the TV, radio and press reporters think Arsene Knows.
So the media allow Arsene to move the goalposts.
Last season he said, in effect : We play the prettiest football, we have the best kids.
This season, amazingly, he said : It’s not just about trophies, it’s about style as well.
When the players talk, it’s often HMV.
His Master’s Voice.
But not when Gallas talks, not when Lehmann talks.
On Saturday, talking about the season after the Reading game, Arsene said something that would stop you in your tracks, even if you accepted everything he had said in the last two weeks.
He said, “This has been the best played at Arsenal since I’ve been here. The collective technical display has been the best in the last 12 years, but we have not won.”
Every Spring, in April-May, you have to know who to believe.
You have to look at those journalists who are closest to the club to find out what might happen in the transfer market.
One of those who knows the club best is Steve Stammers, who was on the Evening Standard and now works for The Sunday Mirror. Steve used to write Tony’s programme notes and Arsene’s programme notes. He wrote those for years without a byline.
Stammers is reliable and I generally believe what he writes. He says Arsene is in for Valencia’s Raul Albiol, a six foot two inch 22-year old defender in a team that’s 15th in the Primera Liga.
He’s also in for Huntelaar, the Ajax striker we all know.
He likes 17-year old Cardiff midfielder Aaron Ramsey.
He’s also looking for a third choice keeper who will be behind No.1 Almunia and No.2 Fabianski.
And that’s it.
Yes, that’s it, says Steve.
Can that really be it? Because if it is, some Gooners will give up on next season right now.
For a few days I thought that Arsene had started to listen. But the Stammers piece suggests the opposite. What he wrote on Sunday is consistent with the club’s recent summers and also with most of Arsene’s remarks this month .
I can’t quote all his recent remarks and I can’t even quote all the remarks that worried me. But I can sum up his recent remarks in four words : You are all wrong. That is what he is saying, really. He is saying we know nothing, we are all wrong.
Last season Arsenal went out of three competitions in 11 days. This season they were flying for six months but collapsed after winning 2-0 in the San Siro on March 4. Three years, no trophies. Nothing since a jammy FA Cup in 2005, won on penalties after they had been battered for two goalless hours by Man United.
As Robbie Pires said, Arsenal is a French club playing in the English league. The last three captains have been French but now, we are told, Cesc Fabregas is being groomed to for the role and could take over this summer.
That would send a signal to the world’s young footballers : Come and play with Cesc ! Arsene will put you in the first team.
But do young players learn from other young players? Don’t they learn from older players? How long will he stay if he is captain at 21 ? Does Cesc really want to play in a team that falls away every March ? Doesn’t he need four more players as good as Sagna to help him win trophies?
On Sunday morning I saw John, my gambling greengrocer, who was working when the Arsenal-Reading game was on and when the Blackburn-Man United game was on after that.
“What were yesterday’s games like?” he asked.
“The United game was a thriller. Brad Friedel was playing them on his own and winning 1-0. Tevez equalised from two yards with two minutes to go. A very exciting battle. It made the Arsenal game look like netball.”
Score : Arsenal 2 Reading 0.