From Oliver Tobias: What would be success for Arsenal next season ?
Hi Myles,
I’ve enjoyed the debate in the past few weeks, but unlike most others I don’t necessarily think it adds a lot – others views are interesting, but its yours that I, like most others, come here to read.
You don’t have to publish whole emails, simply mentioning and responding to points would be sufficient. And unlike your own feelings, I don’t feel your views have become less interesting, even as your negativity about the current state of the side has increased.
Sycophancy over, I read Amy Lawrence’s feature in today’s Observer and have no doubt you and many others did too. I take his words with a pinch, but even so, his assessment that he as well as others in the English game are now judged solely by results was an interesting one.
Arguably, Wenger has been responsible not for just the most successful era in Arsenal’s history but also their most consistent.
That said, whilst his influence at the club remains strong, his ability to command the best team in the country is clearly on the wane, despite the clearly unrealistic expectations coming from within the club (and some deluded supporters) about the chances of winning the title this year.
My question would be, what would count as progress this year(2nd in the league)? If, Arsenal don’t win a trophy, but again finish in the top four, will Arsene decide he doesn’t need the hassle of another four years (amid growing criticism from supporters), or is he so stubborn and wedded to his ideals, that he wouldn’t be able to resist seeing if he could achieve his project which has clearly failed to come to fruition so far?
With Cesc clearly on his way out next summer, if Arsene left as well, would that automatically mean of an exodus of the best of the other players (VP/Verm etc) given how closely they appear to subscribe to Wenger’s philosophy and the difficulty of luring another manager of the highest calibre (given that most are already employed) to fill his shoes?
I’d love to hear your thoughts, whether you to choose to publish this or not.
Myles replies:
Haven’t read the interview yet.
I’ll read it after he’s bought a top international goalkeeper and two experienced centrebacks. Djourou doesn’t count. Djourou is made of glass. Djourou thinks midfield anchorman is his best position, even though he’s never played there.
If Almunia is in goal at Anfield, I won’t watch the Liverpool game. If Flapianski is in goal, I’ll switch it on and hide behind the sofa.
It’s gonna be a very long season and a cold winter. But, winter, spring, summer or fall, I judge managers by what they do, not by what they say.
Clearly, Wenger’s big achievements are matched by his audacity, so he might have said almost anything to Amy.
He thinks he’s doing us all a favour by giving us more of the same. And his team does play a distinctive brand of football. Fans of Legia Warsaw may have been impressed.
As things stand, Arsene FC can only be run by Arsene. He’s a unique club-builder and, as you say, the league consistency is phenomenal. He’s done things nobody else has ever done, things that nobody else could have done, and things that will never be done again by a football manager.
He is the club and corporate Gooners are told that the club’s biggest assets are the stadium and Arsene, the most frugal manager in the league. Truly, a messiah for the recession. If The Great Spindoctor has an exit strategy, he certainly won’t tell us what it is.
I want to see Arsenal’s first 10 games. Then I can talk about who might be second in the league.
I blogged the most forgettable World Cup of all time and didn’t get the three weeks in the Algarve that I needed to refresh my spirit, and now football is starting again.
When I said I didn’t have the Arsenal fixtures, three readers kindly sent them to me. But I haven’t had time to print them out and study them. I worry about today and how much I can do today. The future comes very quickly, I find.
Surprisingly, despite all that, I find that I am looking forward to the season. My appetite is still there.
Since some readers claim I’m a Chelsea fan, and one said I support Man Utd, I decided to watch the whole of the Community Shield game.
I was impressed by the way Man United beat Chelsea 3-1.
United have been in North America for three weeks without some of their World Cup players but they look in good nick. This was a performance with shape, passion, physicality, effective substitutions, and veteran keeper Edwin van der Sar improved as the game went on.
We saw the real Wayne Rooney for 45 minutes.
He chased Kalou and won the ball back off him fairly. After 40, Rooney raced onto a Paul Scholes pass and his first time cross beat John Terry and set up a sweet finish by Valencia from nine yards. It was 1-0 at half-time.
I think Javier Hernandez, 22, is the player Fabio Capello needs to play with Rooney.
Unfortunately, the kid isn’t English and he didn’t even play with Rooney in this game because Owen and Rooney went off at half-time and Hernandez, Berbatov and Nani came on. When Valencia crossed in 75, Hernandez kicked the ball in off his own face. Memo to Mexican: get a DVD of Denis Law and study it every Friday night .
In 82, Kalou slotted for 2-1 after VDS parried a Daniel Sturridge shot straight to him and that kept it interesting. But United kept the ball with 19 passes and then Berbatov collected a Nani flick and chipped Hilario for 3-1 in 92.
Good work-out, great result. Chelsea need to improve but they had Essien back for his first game since December. He’ll be very influential if he stays fit.
On Sunday morning I saw that Sir Alex was at Fulham, where he was allegedly watching Mesut Ozil, the Werder Bremen midfielder.
Funnily enough, we had corporate tickets for Fulham and arrived early for lunch in the George Cohen Restaurant. Champagne, steak & chips, white wine, and a sweet young blonde who brought the team sheet to me before she gave one to anybody else. I’d asked her to do that because I wanted to see that team-sheet more than anybody else in the room.
Werder Bremen were in all-orange and centrebacks Prodl and Mertsesacker were both about six foot five and the team started with some tidy, forceful play.
When a tasty pass released left back Petri Pasanen, he crossed to the far post and Claudio Pizarro volleyed past Mark Schwarzer. So it was 0-1 after 10 minutes. Pizarro’s strike partner Hugo Almeida is far bigger than I thought he was.
The intimacy of Fulham makes it a lovely sporting experience.
We were sitting 12 yards from Ozil when he came on in 38 minutes. He’s much skinnier than he looks on TV. Indeed, if Ozil put on high heels he could be a supermodel. I noticed that he wasn’t wearing shinpads, which I found amazing,.
He made one sublime lofted pass and after that Ozil just walked, jogged and posed. He didn’t need shinpads because he never went near a Fulham player. He’s very good at finding space. He was always in space. I hope Sir Alex was more impressed than I was.
Second half, Bobby Zamora was suddenly onside and slotted for 1-1 and then magical Magyar Zoltan Gera came on and fired a rocket shot for 2-1, followed by a header for 3-1, and when the keeper cleared to him, Gera slotted from 35 yards for 4-1, causing great joy and tumult in the crowd.
Eddie Johnson finished a nice move for 5-1. So Werder Brenen were winning 1-0 without Ozil but after he came on came on they conceded five.
A fun-loving woman and her Swedish partner were sitting next to me and she giggled when I told my Damien Duff story. A dedicated Fulham fan, she pointed to where she usually sits.
” Seventeen games in the Europa Cup is a lot of travelling,” I said, “On top of all your league matches.”
“We played 63 games last season. Chelsea were complaining about 50. They said they were tired, poor buggers.”