From Nigel : demystifying the AKBs
Hi Myles
Hope you’re well.
So I sit with the same bunch of guys I’ve been going to the Arsenal with since 2001.
They’re all pro Wenger…perhaps to call them AKBs is a bit extreme, but all season they’ve not once complained about Wenger and believe that at the very least he should be allowed to see out his existing contract. They talk about things such as which managers are out there who could replace him, pointing to what’s happened to Man Utd etc.
These are all guys who are successful in their work lives, demanding of themselves with a strong work ethic. They’re intelligent guys.
The problem with most football fans is that they allow emotions to rule their heads and behaviour. As a bunch of intelligent guys it’s interesting to get their views because they’re not completely blinkered and capable of seeing other points of view.
With regards to this season, I tell them its disgraceful that we’ve finished below Leicester.
To which their response is: So has the rest of the league.
And the likes of Man U, Man City, Chelsea have spent far more money on their team/squad so finishing above them is an achievement. I think this is probably what all AKBs are saying right now.
To all with this point of view I will say the following. Hats off to Leicester, fair play and well deserved.
However, for Arsenal to finish below Leicester is unacceptable. For Man City, Man U, Chelsea and even Liverpool to finish below Leicester is unacceptable.
And those teams know this and it’s one of the reasons that has cost their manager their job. They’re all doing something about it. City, Chelsea and Liverpool have all sacked their managers this season. Its only a matter of time before Man U do the same. Its only Arsenal who are accepting the situation without changing their manager.
I will also point out that Chelsea, Man U and Man City have all won the league in recent seasons.
So yes, they’ve underachieved this year but it can be argued that this is part of the natural cycle of football and a lot of their key players are now past their peak.
Its natural that players peak and then physically decline, Kompany, Yaya Toure and Rooney are prime examples. With Chelsea they’ve mentally declined.
This Arsenal team however is pretty much at its peak. This is what we’ve been building towards for years. And whilst the peak of the other teams was good enough to win the league that’s not the case here.
And, lastly, on finishing above these teams, the failure of other teams shouldn’t be used to mask our own failings.
We should be looking at why we finished below Leicester. Let the fans and the directors of the other clubs have their own inquests as to why their clubs did badly. Lets concentrate on our team/club and realise we’ve had an unsuccessful season.
The other argument I’m given towards Arsene staying is he’s done a lot for the club, he’s stayed loyal and so deserves a chance. I honestly can’t believe people use this argument.
Yes he’s done a lot for the club and I’m grateful for that. Hence when some fans are holding up banners for him to leave they still respectfully say “Thanks for the memories”. However AKBs seem to think this should guarantee him a job for life or that it would be ungrateful if we got rid of him. To this I say, whatever happens from now on will not change the past. It won’t change what he’s done for the club.
The question should be : Is Arsene the best man for the job now and for the next 2 or 3 seasons, not was he the best man for the job.
For those who worry this will tarnish what he’s done or ruin his legacy I say this. Thierry Henry is our top goal scorer. Does that mean he should still be our first choice striker?
The answer is clearly no. Players have a shelf life. So do managers.
I realise with managers it’s a little harder to know when they’re past their best. With the “austerity years” the club had, this has been clouded even more and its been more difficult to judge Wenger’s performance. But the failure to win the league this year especially after deciding not to buy a single out field player last summer proves he’s no longer up to the job. Not signing an outfield player when there are significant funds available is a huge statement and the failure of the team to win the league and/or compete in the champions league shows a complete lack of judgement from the manager.
This leads to the next argument from AKBs. Spending money is not a guarantee of winning the league. In fact Leicester’s achievement is an indictment of that. Ok, so what have Leicester done better than Arsenal? Are their players better? At the start of the season there were no Leicester players I would have had in the Arsenal team. Even having won the league there are probably only 4 players from Leicester who I would want at Arsenal.
So if over half of the Arsenal team are better than Leicester’s doesn’t the under-performance of the Arsenal team come directly from the manager?
The way I see it, there are 3 things a manager can do to improve a team.
1) Recognise the weaknesses of his team/squad and buy players to address that.
2) Coach the existing players to improve them
3) Make the team greater than the sum of its parts through tactics, training sessions, organisation etc
Clearly, 1 didn’t happen. The squad has had the same weaknesses for years which have not been addressed with the exception of the goalkeeper.
Number 2, which players has Wenger improved in the last few years? Clearly not Walcott, Giroud or Ox. Sanchez, Ozil and Carzola are good players but not because Wenger made them so. Bellerin has improved, is this down to Wenger or just the improvement of a teenager. Hats off to Wenger for promoting him. Koscielny perhaps?
Number 3, we all know Wenger doesn’t really do tactics, even AKBs acknowledge this.
He wants to play fantasy football without the ugly part of the game such as organisation but to do this he needs technically amazing players but last summer he refused to spend the money.
You can’t play fantasy football on the cheap. And even the teams who play fantasy football eg Barca do the ugly part of the game.
So my question to AKBs, based on the last season, which of 1-3 is Arsene doing to improve the team? What makes you think he’s the right man for the job now? And in response to who else is out there, how about Poch, Bilic, Klopp and Koeman.
All managers that could be available or have been available in the last few years. Yes there are no guarantees of success but look at points 1-3 above. Do they do these things and are they doing them better than Wenger?
Myles says:
Thanks for a lucid essay, Nigel.
He’s improved Koscielny by allowing him to play his natural game.
And, being superpatriotic, Wenger will hope that Kos helps France win Euro 2016
We’ll read books about Leicester’s stunning success in the coming years.
I might review them here.
The books might say: Claudio Ranieri is an old Italian who had never won a league title.
For Italians, the family is everything and here was a veteran coach arriving back in the EPL.
When Ranieri arrived, he didn’t bring any assistants with him.
He had suddenly become the father of a very large family that had 25 sons. So he watched training for a week and said nothing. He just listened to everyone, especially the existing coaches and scouts.
After all that Ranieri had some decisions to make.
The books might also say that the Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal teams had become decadent and were far too sloppy and inconsistent to win trophies in 2015-16.