From Andrew McBrinn:
Morning Myles from a snowy Belfast.
I hope you and yours are keeping well.
Keeping a strategic view, I think Arsenal are at a turning point and going through some massive power changes behind the scenes.
Does this scenario work for you?:
Gazidis lost the boardroom battle last year and know that Kroenke will continue to back Wenger. Gazidis also knows that he’s on a good number and doesn’t want to walk away. So he plays a long game.
He makes some appointments that will lessen Wenger’s power grip on the entire club and strips it away to focus on what all the other managers in the league / world focus on – the first team.
These appointments must be world class to undermine Le Prof.
Mislintat is already seemingly making inroads. It could be that the rumours about Malcom, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan are Mislintat initiatives, as was the promising signing of Mavropanos.
Sanllehi officially arrives next month. He’s not going to sit on his hands. Darren Burgess is in place and is bedding in.
Had Kroenke said au revoir to Wenger last season, the chasm would have spread right across the club. Not only first team responsibility, but running of every aspect of the club. This will no longer be the case and will really help AFC transition out of the Wenger era.
Wenger has been allowed to do what no other manager is doing across the world and running most aspects of this club. This isn’t feasible in the modern age and to be honest, the fact that the club are even slightly competitive today is quite incredible, given how thinly Wenger must be spread over the entirety of the club structures.
So, it does look like things are changing and AFC is getting ready for life without Wenger, both on and off the field.
Best case for this season – sign a couple of exciting new talents, win the League Cup and Europa League, finish top 6. Wenger bows out and AFC appoint a new first team manager in the close season – I’d take the steady and winning hand of Ancelotti.
Worst case for this season – sign a player who doesn’t have an impact, win nothing. Wenger stays on.
Even worst case, it appears that Wenger is approaching the end of the tenure. It could be that we’ll soon be waking from our Groundhog Day nightmare.
Myles says:
Thanks, Andrew.
They must not let Wenger choose his successor.
It’s crucial that the French dictator, who reports directly to Kroenke, leaves Arsenal completely. He should not become a backseat driver.
Ancelotti is 58 now and wants to live in London, so I’d give him a two-year contract and how he goes.
Jose Mourinho planned to start Henrikh Mkhitaryan in every game. But he turned out to be incredibly lazy and Mourinho can’t wait to unload him.
It would be a colossal blunder if Arsenal sign Mkhitaryan now.