Another Blue Day

Football's a funny old game, as the saying goes. On Saturday we saw Arsenal ripped to pieces and two down after 20 minutes, level by half-time and probably unfortunate not to be at least two goals in front by that point, and then over-run by the oppostion's extra quality as the second half progressed.

So Arsenal languish near the bottom of a table - a table that nobody should look at until 6 games at least have been played - with no points, having been handed a nightmare pair of opening fixtures (as were poor Huddersfield, to be fair). I was hoping perhaps for three points, and would have taken two, and I do feel that despite the obvious current flaws they were a little unfortunate not to come away with something on Saturday evening.

I could mention Aubameyang leaving his shooting boots at the hotel, Kovacic's conning of the referee to win a free kick just before the winning goal, the usual set of individual errors, or even touch on the team simply dropping too deep in the second half to be effective and why they might have done that, but I feel that I need to focus on the fundamental issues that leave Arsenal languising at the moment. So this is what I've gleaned from these two matches:

1.  It's going to take a little while for players to get out of the bad habits they fell into over the previous year or so. I'm particularly thinking of Bellerin's game, of almost everything about Mustafi, and about certain senior players' perceived lack of urgency when the opposition have the ball (I'm thinking particularly of Xhaka, and of Ozil and Mikhitaryan further forward). We are really yet to see the famous Emery press in action, and as I said last week absolutely everyone needs to buy in to that or it won't work.

I am starting to wonder if Emery isn't going to sacrifice 'quality' for hard work quite soon - perhaps not yet as the next couple of games are considerably easier than the first two - but I wonder if he'll prefer to see Iwobi and even Welbeck working hard than watch certain others sauntering about.

2.  There is a case - perhaps not this week - for using both Torreira and Guendouzzi as shielding midfielders. I'd certainly think that he needs the former in the side from the start now, but not at the latter's expense. A bigger name should make way.

3.  There's little to worry about going forward - witness that we saw Chelsea's defence torn to shreds again and again in the latter stages of the first half - but the players who did that so well need to have it drilled into them that it's not correct to stroll back, and to rely on others to regain possession once lost. It's a cliche perhaps, but defending starts at the front.

4.  Matteo Guendouzzi looks like he's going to be quite the player. Whether he should be playing every game at 19 is doubtful; however, with doubts surrounding much of the rest of the midfield he must stay in the side.

5.  Petr Cech appears to have risen to the challenge of the presence of Leno. Whilst he does look dodgy with the ball at his feet, I'd suggest that he has made 5 top-class saves already in the two matches so far. Leno will have to continue to wait.

6.  Nacho Monreal - it's as if he'd never been away. Solid and reliable all down the left hand side for Arsenal; thank goodness he's fit again.

Without the knowledge of the players that Emery has, I'd be making changes for Saturday - even allowing for the opposition looking in total disarray already. I'd give Lichtsteiner a game as Bellerin looks devoid of confidence, I'd strongly consider Holding in place of Mustafi (I think that Sokratis would respond well to having a young player to mentor and frankly Holding can't do any worse than the 'mercurial' German), I'd leave Xhaka out for sure and I wonder how Emery can possibly drop Iwobi after Saturday. The situation with Ramsey remains unsettling, but as you can't start with 12 he may well pay the price for not signing his contract.

So Cech, Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Holding, Monreal, Torreira, Guendouzzi, Iwobi, Mikhitaryan, Ozil, Aubameyang. And I'm only playing Ozil and Mikhitaryan because the opposition are so poor (Jack Wilshere's return notwithstanding).

Other things that caught my eye over the weekend:

1.  Manchester City are really quite good, aren't they?
2.  Liverpool are an improving side, but beatable. And I'm yet to be impressed by Tottenham's form this season - 6/6 points duly noted, however.
3.  With Jorginho, Kovacic and Hazard in the side, and as they get used to their new manager, Chelsea can be expected to exceed expectations.
4.  It's looking like another third season sacking is on the horizon for Mourinho. The surly little sod. Let's hope so.
5.  Early days, but I'm tipping Cardiff, Huddersfield and quite possibly West Ham to go down. For all their spending, they look like a complete mess.

Until next week.

Oh, and please feel free to leave a comment. I've got broad shoulders.

Lessons learned

So the new era has started; unfortunately with the biggest test there could possibly be. I gave myself the summer - for all that it was a momentous one for Arsenal - off from blogging (there was still plenty for Arsenal fans to read, was there not?), so in this opening post of the season I'll cover not just the first game of the season but some thoughts on Wenger vs Emery, and also on our friend Mr Kroenke.

Firstly, what did we learn yesterday? And I'll preface this by pointing out what Basil Fawlty would have called "the bleedin' obvious" -  that Arsenal won't find themselves too often up against a group of players who are as comfortable as City are on the ball, and thus able to ping the ball about in midfield as they did.

From my seat in the lower tier, I felt that most important thing that Emery should be taking away is that if he wants to play the high press he is going to think very hard about whether he can play both Ozil and Mikhitaryan in the same side. My personal view is that he cannot. If you want to play like that, then everybody has to participate; otherwise there is always an outlet for the opposition, but neither did it consistently and the personnel have to be right.  Plus on the attacking side I thought that the latter, in particular, had a poor game and is even less consistent than Ozil. Having one in the side is a luxury one can live with against most opposition. But not both.

If he agrees with me on that, then Emery should be looking instead at playing both Aubameyang and Lacazette up top. The latter certainly made a difference when he was introduced, but I also feel that it was unfortunate that Ramsey wasn't fit enough to last longer than he did, because he's a much better option for the press than either the aforementioned German or Armenian. As to how that leaves his bench, then either Welbeck or Nketiah will have to take up a spot there.

Additionally, I believe that Ramsey is absolutely key to this Arsenal side. Now, some people might look back and see that I have in the past called him "a square peg in a round hole", but I feel that in the system that Emery wants to play somebody with his energy - and the ability to break the lines with an eye for goal - is just as important as somebody like Ozil who has the ability to play the killer pass. Whatever is needed to pay him, I feel that the 'IRS' (that's 'IvanRaulSven' for those who didn't follow) need to find it.

Defensively, there are clearly issues. But you'd expect them to be exposed by a side like City. The semi-absence of Mikhitaryan (who gave Maitland-Niles no help whatsoever in the time that the latter was on the pitch) meant that not only did he have to deal with Mahrez but also the overlapping Walker. This was simply impossible for a kid playing out of position, and he deserves no criticism for his performance; merely sympathy. As an addendum, I was impressed by Lichtsteiner; a proper professional. I'd like to see more of him, please. Sokratis and Mustafi lack pace, clearly, but didn't do too badly in the circumstances, and I thought that Bellerin did OK. The thing is this; City are really slick, so it's unfair to judge on Day One.

In midfield, Guendouzzi did well for somebody so young, but clearly has a lot to learn and at times looked a little out of his depth (his hair, however, did not!). This is, of course, perfectly understandable. And I was impressed by Teeny Tiny Torreira's little cameo late in the game. He's my new favourite player, I think.

Once again, for me, Xhaka disappointed. But I will say this; it takes a short time to get into bad habits and a considerably longer time to break them, so whilst I'd criticise his performance in the same way as I criticise those of Ozil and Mikhitaryan, I feel that we need to give the manager time to break the bad habits that these players developed in the Dog Days of Wenger.

Up front, Aubameyang was fairly anonymous, but he was ploughing a lone furrow - with a little help from Ramsey - until Lacazette appeared. Give him/them time too.

So on the whole it wasn't great, but it could have been much worse. We had a few chances, after all, even if some would suggest that City were coasting.

However, I do think that Emery needs to revisit the tactic of playing out from the back at all costs. It was agonising to watch at times - and City didn't do it too well either - and almost ended in embarrassment and disaster. On the subject of goalkeepers, I'm not really sure why Cech started once £26m had been spent on Leno, but the manager watches them every day and we don't.  Leno will get his chance soon, I'm sure.

So onto the next easy fixture - Chelsea away. Goodness me! It will certainly get easier after that.

Just to cover the end of Wenger and the beginning of the new regime. This will have been written elsewhere, I am sure, but what I would say is that it was time for change - well past time for change, frankly - and whilst M Wenger gave us some of the most wonderful football memories we will ever have, what we saw over the past few years was an inexorable decline, with nothing but more of the same to look forward to. I'm sure that what what led to him going was that Kroenke saw, on top of the decline in football standards and the speed at which our so-called peers were moving away from us, were the empty seats and the mismanagement of player contracts and sales that led to huge sums of money being flushed away. So it was more than the slide down the table; it was a holistic thing. Everything had stagnated.

As for 'IRS' (assuming that 'I' stays, that is, in the face of the offer from AC Milan) and Emery, we must give them time. It might take weeks, but it's more likely to take months or even years to get back where Arsenal fans feel the team belongs. That is the legacy of the end of the Wenger era, I'm afraid. The signs, despite yesterday's loss, are not bad. We must be patient and it might take quite a bit more work on the training pitch, and more personnel change, to get there.

Now quickly on to our friend Stan. I'm afraid that taking the club private was inevitable, and there's nothing we could have done, or can do about it. It's sad, but (contrary to pretty much all the evidence) we just have to trust that he'll do right by the club. If there are any positives to take from what's happened recently at KSE, I'd cite these two: a) he took the necessary action on Wenger (and perhaps listened to his son before he did it - maybe, just maybe, Josh is going to be less dispassionate than his father about the sporting empire that he is going to inherit), and b) the LA Rams are going to be Superbowl contenders this year, and KSE have spent a hell of a lot of money on the Rams in the past year or two. Hopefully, Stan will at last acknowledge the correlation between investment and success. Be sad. Be angry. But don't lose hope.

Until next week.

Adieu, mon cher ami

I've refrained from posting about Arsene Wenger since the announcement of his departure. There's been so much stuff flying about, and I wanted to write something personal when the time was right. Today feels like the right time.

It's my birthday tomorrow. In 2006, Arsenal threw a massive party for me on my actual birthday - May 7th - to commemorate leaving Highbury. That was a celebration, in a time of hope, and a time when Arsenal FC were able to compete with the best that England - and Europe - could offer. But the problem is that this feels to me, as I type, like something of a wake. Not just for Arsene, but for a club that through inertia and an unwillingness to face reality finds itself in something of a mess. And a watershed moment that feels, at the moment, like an opportunity wasted.

There's no doubt that the Manager leaves the club in a better place than he found it. A state-of-the-art stadium and an amazing training facility, and an impressive infrastructure that has made the club able to compete on a financial and commercial level with pretty much anybody. All those wonderful moments; and of course the trophies! However we, the fans, were promised more; we were sold a dream of being able to absolutely compete with the very best - and boy, we were close in those last few years at Highbury! The problem is not the infrastructure, but the playing staff. A comparison to 2006 is frankly embarrassing, with hardly a single player in the current group capable of even making the bench of the 2006 team (let alone the 2004 team!). This is damning, and inexcusable.

For me the Manager has been part of, but hasn't been the root cause of the problem. It's been the inability and unwillingness of those above him to grasp the mettle, to take responsibility instead of abdicating it, and to act on the dream we were sold that has caused the ructions and resentment amongst the fan base. The willingness to accept what, for a club who were in Arsenal's position in 2006, is essentially mediocrity. As long as the money keeps rolling in, eh... I know that fans of most clubs in England would scoff and say we don't know how lucky we are. And that's a fair point. Except that it depends on one's expectations, and we were told to expect much more than what we have.

So Arsene Wenger, whose commitment to the cause and belief in his own ability cannot be questioned, has been treated poorly by those within whose power it was to make the big decisions that needed to be made. As he himself has said: 'If you eat caviar every day, it's difficult to return to sausages'. Compare that to Ivan Gazidis advising; 'We should be able to compete at a level like a club such as Bayern Munich'. Well, we've seen how that worked out!

In the early Noughties, Manchester United's sole competition was Arsenal. This, I maintain, was down to Wenger's recruitment, his willingness to allow those great players to express themselves, and the changes he brought to methods of training and fitness. At that point the move away from Highbury was intended - laudably - to build a legacy; a club that would continue to compete with the very best that England could offer - and for the foreseeable future. And for all one could say that the arrival of Roman Abramovich and latterly Sheikh Mansour, plus the way that FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League messed up FFP, created a perfect storm for Arsenal FC, it's necessary for the club to look inwards to see what really went wrong. And of course they have finally realised that action needed to be taken. Now, that is, that there are no less than five clubs currently ranked above Arsenal - including Tottenham Hotspur.

There's been plenty of revisionism going on, and I would sincerely hope that people will be able to take stock of what Arsene achieved in his time at the club. I have to mention at this point one of my fondest, yet perhaps more indeterminate memories (as I have no recollection of what game it was, although I reckon it would have been during the Invincibles season). It's of sitting back comfortably in my seat at Highbury, actually giggling as I watched Arsenal literally run rings around whoever the opposition were. We were 3 up at the time, I think. I remember turning round to my friend Jill, who sat right behind me (and still does at the new ground, as it happens) saying: 'Sit back and enjoy; it doesn't get any better than this.' I was right; although I do wish that I was wrong!

And it's pretty easy to be critical of the last 10 years or so - let's face it, most Arsenal fans have been, especially recently. But we shouldn't lose sight of the great times, and great teams, that Wenger gave us. The moments like the frisson of excitement as Patrick Vieira made his debut, the magnificent battles with United, winning the league at White Hart Lane and Old Trafford, Henry's slalom goal versus Liverpool, Pires' lobs and goals against Spurs, the Vieira goal against Leicester that wrapped up the Invincibles season, Tony Adams' miracle effort against Everton - they all seem so long ago now. Gone and replaced by a sense of apathy and resignation. And it's inexcusable from Arsenal FC. And not a single member of the current squad comes close to getting into an all-time Wenger XI. The proof of the pudding is, as they say, in the eating.

So I expect that today I will feel, above all else, a sense of overwhelming sadness and disappointment that the legacy of a great man has been tarnished; not only by himself - because he of course has to take some responsibility - but by those who had it in their power to do better by him, and by this great club. I will nonetheless celebrate Arsene Wenger, and remember him  in my mind's eye for enabling me to enjoy watching Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, Sol Campbell, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie in their pomp to name just a few; and for moments like the photo montage below gave me and all Arsenal fans. It's this that I want to remember him for. 

Adieu, Arsene, et merci pour tous.

 

 

(Blog) Apathy

So this (all those empty seats) is what it has come to. What would have been one of the most eagerly awaited matches of the season, played out in front of an almost two thirds empty stadium. And it was, of course, a total mis-match.

After the humiliating performance and result last Sunday at Wembley, the last team that Arsenal needed to be coming up against was the same opposition, but such are the vagaries of the fixture list. It would have been hard enough against Manchester City even if Arsenal were firing on all cylinders, but they've barely got any properly oiled working parts at the moment and it's all frankly rather embarrassing; and also rather sad.

I've been thinking about writing a new post for the past few weeks, but I've been suffering from Blog Apathy - I frankly haven't been able to muster up the enthusiasm to write. For all the madness of the January transfer window; and even after the pitiful defeats at Swansea, Tottenham and the three successive defeats of the past week, I hadn't been sufficiently motivated; until this morning.

Arsenal's WDL record in 13 matches so far in 2018 reads DLDLWWLWLWLLL, and includes no less than 7 matches which have been frankly shambolic. In fact, apart from the rearguard action at Stamford Bridge and a decent performance in the return leg, and two fairly scintillating first halves against extremely poor Palace and Everton sides, form has been utterly woeful. The team have hit new low after new low, and if asked to choose I'd put Ostersunds at home at the very bottom of the pile.

So last night - leaving aside the gulf in quality between the sides which has been so apparent in the last two games - around 25,000 Arsenal fans appear to have gone down with that same viral disease of apathy. There were maybe 30,000 people in the crowd last night - and let's not forget that despite the weather the City end was almost full! - yet the club had the audacity to announce a crowd of 58,420 (based on tickets sold, so 25,000 season ticket holders even had no takers on the Ticket Exchange). Against Manchester City, for goodness sake!

One or two friends of mine have been saying since 2010 that it was time for a new Manager, and it has taken the rest of us time to catch up with that way of thinking. I think that I came to that conclusion four or five seasons ago - FA Cup wins notwithstanding. The Wenger Out trickle has become a flood, and the dam finally burst over the past few days. I'd be surprised if 5% of Arsenal fans don't realise that change is essential.

But there really isn't much to say that I haven't said before, or that other people haven't said over the past few hours (days/weeks/months). Although I think that it's best summed up by this from Gunnerblog last night on Twitter: 'If you asked me to imagine the saddest possible expression of Arsene's demise, I would probably have said a half-empty stadium bearing witness to his lifeless team being battered by a side playing the kind of football he was once renowned for.'

We've been over the reasons for the state of the club and the team countless times. We all know how it has come to this, and that it is inexcusable negligence from both the Manager and the Board. We also know that there is no way that Wenger can possibly be in charge next season. He can no longer do anything for these - his - players; and most of them aren't good enough anyway.

Others are advocating that the Club should make an announcement to that effect as soon as possible, so that he can be remembered for the great things that the team achieved under him and for the legend that he will always be. I am in total agreement with that idea. Whilst the legend has tarnished over the past few years, Arsene will be more remembered in the future for the great things done in his name than what is going on now. Let's cling to that, and try to change the atmosphere by making these last few months a celebration and not a wake.

It was 20 years ago today that Fred Done paid out on Manchester United winning the league, so far were they ahead of Arsenal at that point. And then the Wenger legend began as Arsenal won 10 matches in a row (including that never to be forgotten 1-0 win at OT) to overtake them and win Arsene's first title (and then double). Unfortunately, he has now taken the team full circle and back to where he found it. It's fair to say that almost every one of the current squad are literally not fit to lace the boots of the Wenger sides of 1998-2004.

Despite the stadium move, and all it promised, this is the saddest thing of all. Fan expectations have been built up and dashed, year after year after year. For all that other supporters claim that we behave as if we are 'entitled', I feel that the promises on the back of the stadium move gave us that sense of entitlement. We're not Sunderland fans, or Leeds fans, or Leyton Orient fans thank goodness; you have to feel sorry for them (alright, perhaps not Leeds fans!). But something better change, and change is very much in the (freezing) air.

I'll just leave you with one highly amusing possibility. Statistically unlikely as it may be, if Tottenham finish 4th, and any of United, Liverpool or Chelsea finish 5th but win the Champions League and Arsenal win the Europa League, Tottenham will be playing in the Europa League next year and Arsenal in the Champions League. It's a million to one shot, but what else have we got to cling to?

Cut Adrift

So, in a week and on a day when pretty much all the Arsenal news has been bad, Arsenal fans had something to celebrate; well, sort of. Schadenfreude; taking pleasure in somebody else's misfortune. Yes, Manchester City lost a game. The legend of The Invincibles lives on.

Of course, there's a downside to even that. Liverpool's win meant that Arsenal are now stranded in 6th place, 5 points behind Tottenham, and a further three behind the our other supposed challengers for a Top 4 spot. That last phrase - Top 4 spot - I typed with a giant dollop of irony - the way the team are playing we should be grateful to already have 39 points in the bag and it will take a massive turnaround in fortune to get back into that particular race.

So after Sunday, where are Arsenal? Let's start with Bournemouth; and it might sound like a long-playing record. An uninspired away performance against an inferior side that led to an all too familiar defeat. From a winning position. With recent faults repeated and contributing to the defeat.

But were we surprised? Not really. Without the soon to depart Alexis Sanchez - and frankly who can blame him for wanting to leave for a club with a bit of ambition? - and the injured Ozil (who doesn't deserve to have to play with most of the current squad) we were left with Jack Wilshere to drive the team on. And with due respect to Jack, for all his qualities, he isn't ever going to be World Class now. Expecting the likes of Welbeck and Iwobi to provide the service to Lacazette - and it's difficult not to feel sorry for the poor guy, to be honest; he looked miserable throughout - is optimistic to say the least, and with Ramsey barely back and Xhaka possessing little pace (either in legs or brain) there's no other inspiration in the side at all.

On top of which, the Manager appears to no longer be able to set out or motivate the side to do anything different. Yet he comes out at the end of the game with a comment about making 'mistakes we should not have made'. 

Really? So he's never seen Cech mis-judge a cross across the front of his area, or a side vulnerable in the early moments after a change of defensive shape, or more pointedly he's never seen Xhaka fail to track back ( I can think of three occasions this season without giving it more than two seconds' thought)? And there's the problem; for all his abilities on the ball, Granit Xhaka is not a defensive midfielder. Xhaka doesn't have those instincts and Arsene Wenger is incapable of coaching them into him. He seems to believe that Arsenal - contrary to literally every other current side I can think of - don't need a defensive midfielder (and even let go the closest we had in Coquelin).

And this is what's damning about that. Only a few days ago Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who we must remember turned down the £60,000 (50%) a week extra offered by Arsenal to go to Liverpool, said in an interview:

'The biggest thing I've had to learn is how this Manager likes to stop situations at source. I was in certain habits and certain things became second nature to me and in football it is all about instinct. You train and train a certain thing so when you are in that situation you don't think about it. It might just be a simple trigger when something happens and the defence passes to the deepest midfielder and the ball is slightly behind him. That's your cue to go and press. At your previous club you might not even look into that.' I repeat 'At your previous club you might not even look into that.'

This is poor on two huge counts. Firstly, that Wenger doesn't coach what is second nature to every single other side, and secondly that this is precisely what happens when Xhaka receives the ball in that very situation. Utterly infuriating.

So we have a squad where a new goalkeeper is going to be required very soon. If not two. An indefinable defensive system with a hotch-potch of players who the Manager can't work out how to employ. A midfield without the key component of an out-and-out defensive man. And a dysfunctional forward line. With a Manager who these days seems incapable of improving players; indeed, many are going backwards. He continually plays people out of position. And there is a pervading lack of confidence throughout the squad. 

Koscielny, Kolasinac, Monreal, Ramsey, Ozil and Giroud are either injured or on their way back from injury, and there is contract/transfer speculation about Debuchy, Walcott, Giroud, Welbeck, and then Wilshere, Ozil and Alexis. Bloody hell; it's literally all falling apart!

So where to apportion blame? Well, we can point every finger we like at the Manager - and we probably should - but the inertia at Board level has been the catalyst for the mess that the club is in. It's certainly a 'catalyst for change', Ivan. Just the wrong sort! Wenger should have gone last summer, or after any of the recent FA Cup wins. He could have got out whilst the going was relatively good. 

In one world that Stan Kroenke inhabits - NFL - it's firing season; for far less than Wenger is guilty of. And if Stan thought that Wenger and the wonderful Arsenal Board of Directors could enable him to carry on milking his Cash Cow, how wrong has this season proved to be! £40m lost due to failure to qualify for the Champions League and another £40m down next season, up to £100m down on possible transfer fees for Ozil and Sanchez; and that's just for starters. Unsustainable.

Inevitably, lots of names are being linked with Arsenal at the moment, and that's understandable. The team is badly in need of injections of fresh blood. But if I were on Arsenal's radar I'd be asking why join Arsenal at this moment, what system am I going to be coming into, who else is coming and who will be in charge next season? Imponderable on all counts.

I tell you what this feels like. It feels like the end of George Graham's time in charge. A side that has lost its shape and character, and a Manager who has run out of ideas. So who is going to be Wenger's Chris Kiwomya, or his Glen Helder? As it happens, those last George Graham years are when I got my first season ticket; and that's got me thinking, I can tell you! I am sad to report that going to games is becoming quite a chore. Maybe I'll spark it up this week by joining the protest march?

Let's heed lessons from the past here. Far from competing with Bayern Munich - really, Ivan? - the club is in freefall. Lessons have not been learnt - apart from being a shining example of how not to do it. I think that we're a long way from becoming another Leeds United or Sunderland, but it's a long, long way back from here.

The only thing is; the squad is not totally devoid of talent. Not by any means. What it needs is a new man to deliver a different message, and to shake things up. It's started already, around Wenger, with Mislintat and soon with Sanllehi, but I truly believe that the way things are going the Manager's legacy will be forever tarnished and he should leave with whatever shred of dignity he has left. Things can, as it stands, only get worse.

Full Circle

A lot has happened since my last blog post, the week before the Spurs game. To my loyal fans, I apologise for the delay. lol. And I'd like to apologise for having expressed so little faith in the team prior to that result. Although to put that in context Arsenal have taken just 6 points out of 21 against the rest of the Top 6 this season; a typically poor showing; so my point essentially holds. These clubs are pulling away from an inert Arsenal.

Now, some might accuse me of only posting when something goes wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth; plenty has gone wrong in the intervening period. However, Sunday was a nadir and possibly a watershed - or at least it might be if the owner of the club displayed any interest in its welfare!

This is of course what I'm talking about. The FA Cup debacle in Nottingham on Sunday.

I and many Arsenal fans have been losing the faith for weeks/months/years now, and after Sunday I've taken some time  to think about where the club are right now, compared to when the Manager arrived, 21 years ago (and counting). I am afraid that I have reached the conclusion that he has now taken the club full circle - a big upward swing culminating in two doubles and an unbeaten season, full of flowing, devastating, beautiful football, followed (for all that 'blame' can be pointed at the stadium move and at the influx of 'dirty' money) by an inexorable decline, now gathering pace, which has taken the club back to where it started - and to make things worse moving in the wrong direction.

I'm not talking about where the club is physically, or even financially. Apart from the sentimental loss of Highbury, Arsenal are better off than they were in 1996. In a much bigger stadium, with more money than could have been envisaged, and with a beautiful training facility to boot. I'm talking about its ability to compete with its competitors, and the negligence at Management and Board level that has led to inertia and the team's tumble out of real contention. And this in a competitive climate which shows no less than 5 serious domestic rivals - in those days there was just the one massively dominant force in the Ferguson-led Manchester United - and that gap was breached for a while. It's going to be so much harder now.

Compare the current squad to that of 1996-7. Then, Arsenal had its famous Back 4 in place, the likes of Bergkamp, Platt and Merson to back up Ian Wright up front, but a deficiency in central midfield which Wenger filled very quickly with Patrick Vieira. Nicolas Anelka was bought to eventually  replace Wright, and in the next close season Petit and Overmars arrived, followed soon after by Henry, Ljungberg and Pires (amongst others). Glorious days ensued, helped by Wenger's knowledge at that time of the untapped French market. We all remember what followed, starting the following season by winning The Double, but do you really need a history lesson? What was clear, however, was that the team and club were moving forward. How many of the current squad would get into the 2002 or 2004 side, let alone the 1996-7 tram that Wenger inherited?

And so to today. A squad which, whilst incredibly talented on paper, is riddled by injuries, psychological defects and contract issues from back to front. Nowhere in the squad can anything be said to be settled or organised, and this is backed up by increasingly muddled tactical thinking and planning, with no discernible 'plan' for the rest of the season and beyond. It is only by dint of the amount of latent talent in the group that the team finds itself (just about) around the top echelon of domestic football, but the fall out of the Champions League will be seen to be a disaster for the club; and on current form how can the team break back into the Top 4? Because all over the field there are issues. 

At goalkeeper, the squad possesses a formerly great keeper coming to the end of his career, another international who patently doesn't want to be at the club, and two callow youths - one currently out on loan in Spain but not getting any playing time.

Defensively, the team is a laughing stock. Whether in a 3, 4 or 5 there is dysfunction. Bellerin has no credible back-up, the left back/left wing back position is confused, our best central defender is playing on one ankle and is clearly in decline, backed up by a pot-pourri of either reckless, slow, or young central defenders bereft of confidence. Wenger doesn't know how to set them up, and clearly isn't letting his assistant coach them.

In front of them in central midfield Xhaka is continually exposed - and it's not really his fault. He never was, is not and never will be a mobile, energetic defensive midfielder, but that's the role into which he has been thrust. And the opposition pick on him continually as the most deep-lying midfielder. 

Alongside him, Ramsey and Wilshere are talented but fragile, and Elneny and Coquelin (the latter on the verge of being sold, after only a year ago having been given a long-term £100k a week contract; such muddled thinking and a ridiculous amount of money to pay such a limited player) are not of the required quality. The biggest and most glaring squad deficiency since the departure of Vieira has been the lack of a 'beast' in central midfield; looking back, the Fabregas/Flamini combination is probably the best the team has had since then; followed by Cazorla/Coquelin - a combination stumbled upon by Wenger. Yet year after year it is not addressed. And Santi; how we miss you :-(

Out wide and up front it's an absolute mess. Ozil and Sanchez - world-class individuals - in the last 6 months of their contracts. Words absolutely fail me! Around them, Lacazette must wonder what he has come into, and whilst Giroud is limited but useful, suffering unfairly by comparison to Henry and van Persie. And I despair when I see the likes of Iwobi, Welbeck and Walcott on the field.

On top of all this, injuries are once more hurting the squad in a big way. For all the lack of organisation and tactics (apart from the well-known sideways, sideways, sideways, back, back, sideways, sideways, attempted one-two and trot lazily back when the ball is invariably lost) there is enough talent in the squad to get results. Yet Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Ramsey and Giroud are all likely to miss out this week, Ozil's knee is risky and Sanchez's mind is clearly elsewhere. Other top clubs - perhaps Manchester United excepted - don't have these regular problems.

In short, the team is in turmoil and needs a focus and direction clearly now beyond Arsene Wenger. The squad needs a massive overhaul and the club faces years in the wilderness - with, lest we forget, no less that 5 more attractive destinations than Islington for incoming talent to the Premier League. For all the 'signings' of Mislintat and Sanllehi to the backroom staff are welcome, their arrival could conceivably be too late, as a result of the prevarication of Kroenke and his Board, and the latent power that Wenger wields at the club. I, amongst more and more fans, am extremely concerned - yet I'll still be at Stamford Bridge tonight - such a glutton for punishment! Meanwhile, Kroenke will feel that he has more important things to worry about as The Los Angeles Rams were eliminated from the NFL playoffs at the weekend. 

Two things to add. Firstly, the dichotomy which means that those people who have most berated the Manager for 'only winning 3 FA Cups' in the past 4 years are the most upset by the Forest defeat. I can't make any sense of that. Except to say that there was absolutely no excuse for taking the risk of putting the likes of Akpom, Da Silva and Osei-Tutu (I have actually never heard of him) on the bench and completely resting the likes of Ozil, Sanchez, Lacazette and Wilshere. That's a lack of foresight and clear thinking (alongside a good dollop of arrogance) that is hard to take.

Secondly, I'll leave you with this from Ivan Gazidis in 2011:

To use the vernacular: 'Nuff said!