From Marc from Mill Hill : Where do we go from here?
I remember Wenger famously warning the fans……“Once you have tasted caviar, it\’s hard to go back to sausagesâ€.
Well, from the deadwood we have still remaining at the club (they are the only ones wanting to stay) and from the deadwood we seem to be looking at replacing the deadwood with, it would appear, that our sausages are going to be turkey ones!
We all harp on about how Arsenal has been sanitised, how football has been ruined by all the commercialism and crazy money flying around. How we reminisce about the good old days when going to football was so much more meaningful, when players meant so much more to the fans and when rivalries were the be-all and end-all.
Well, it appears we can now be thankful to Wenger for one thing (besides the 3 league titles and 4 FA Cups), he has brought us back to the future with those glory days of the mid/late 70\’s and early/mid 80\’s when the club just drifted along without seriously challenging for anything.
This season will be a tense one because I fear, come the end of August, not only will The Arsenal be making do with playing in Europa Cup football but also fighting a relegation battle.
The kind of things we used to enjoy watching our neighbours having to contend with season after season.
Myles, your blog needs to bring us fans some cheer. Make up some uplifting stories if need be because it\’s just too depressing what\’s happening or lack of (e.g. crap defenders wanting to better themselves in wet and small Manchester, board members allowing our biggest assets to wind down their contracts).
We need some cheerful news – how long till Christmas?
Myles replies:
You predict the Europa League but ask me to bring you good cheer, Marc?
Myself, I’m not depressed, not angry.
I can’t wait for Arsenal v Liverpool.
Big game.
Big moment. Big three points for the winner.
Arsenal v Liverpool on Saturday, August 20th.
I really can’t wait. I’m counting the days.
_______________________________
Myles,
It is said that a team takes on the personality of its coach.
I don’t think Arsenal are any different.
In fact, given the youth of the team they are more likely to reflect the personality of the coach rather than less likely. So how to judge Wenger’s personality? One key may be found in his transfer policy. Wenger is cautious in the extreme on transfers.
For whatever reason, he remembers the busts (Jeffers, Wiltord, Luzhny….) more than the successes.
He’s afraid to make a mistake.
He becomes indecisive at the moment of decision, see Alonso preferring caution and what he knows over risk of what he doesn’t know. We’ve heard how Dein had to urge him on in some of his transfer decisions.
Currently, no such person inside his team exists. It’s all on him and he prefers caution over bravery.
Unlike yourself, I don’t think Wenger is arrogant. His caution comes across as arrogance because he’s well spoken.
How does the team reflect his personality? Clearly they are afraid to make a mistake. At the end of games, at the end of seasons they are indecisive, afraid of making mistakes, and the result is, as we all know, that they make mistakes, poor decisions.
What everyone can see is that there is no leadership in the team.
Leaders stand out, leaders take risks. Leaders will challenge Wenger and that’s outside his comfort zone. All the kids defer to Wenger and Wenger, whilst a good footballing mind, is unwilling to step out onto the firing line lest he fail.
I’d suggest that he’s unwilling to take on players who have different opinions than his own. That’s one reason he doesn’t buy older players anymore.
These issues have now come full circle. He and everyone else knows he has to buy and buy big. Thus teams hold out for more and will pay less for what he’s offering which only makes Wenger more cautious and afraid to act. It’s now become a downward spiral as even the kids see it and now want out.
Until the board force someone else onto his team I fear more of the same. In a year or two, having presided over the downward spiral he’ll give up and go to PSG.
Which is really too bad simply because, with a little courage, it could have been so good.
Myles says :
Character is destiny.
Shakespeare made lasting tragedies out of flawed protagonists 400 years ago.