From Ben Fitzgerald:
Hi Myles,
I’m still around following AFC (Arsene’s Farcical Club), but have been pondering the following due to all the recent developments:
I was skeptical that AW would be our manager next season but now he may just well be – signings of Mkhitaryan, Aubemeyang, and Ozil will be like new toys for the gaffer.
Work on defensive signings, including a DM in the summer, and AW might just be addicted enough to try to get it right with his last contractual year. It would be, quite literally, his last roll of the dice – and who knows, he may just get it right as he always somehow gets it right under immense pressure (i.e., finishing 4th when it’s looked improbable, the recent FA Cup wins, the Carabao Cup Final, etc…).
With how bad this season has been, I foresaw him not even finishing this season as manager, never mind getting to May.
Anyone who’s has played the Football Manager series knows the addictive level, and there is no denying Wenger is addicted to Arsenal. He has been chasing the high for the last decade, and he just may be tempted to get one more ‘hit” with the 2018/19 season. And if that’s the case, I can’t blame him. I would do the same.
Never mind Arsenal, I want to see Wenger go out on a high just for the sake of him as a person. We are clearing the deadwood, and a new generation of Arsenal is now forming – maybe Arsene still does know? Time will tell…..
Hope all is well.
Myles says :
With 12 games left to play, Top Four is still possible.
Mkhitaryan is super-tidy and can be incisive and exciting. He has been rescued and should be grateful.
Long before the first match at the Emirates, I noted that a 60,000 stadium would only be ignited by a powerhouse striker with breakaway pace, like Cyrille Regis or Les Ferdinand. The further you are from the pitch, the more you needed a spectacular attacker to lift the atmosphere. Although we all gradually realised that the club doesn’t encourage atmosphere.
12 years later, the warrior-athlete Aubameyang has arrived.
Can Auba become a 21st century Les Ferdinand, an explosive striker who can get punters off their seats and off their smartphones?
I had my visionary moment at the new stadium before it was finished.