Decline and Fall

We all remember that fateful day when an Arsenal team woefully short of numbers and experience was thrashed 8-2 at Old Trafford.

In my opinion, Sunday's defeat was far worse than that. I sat through that entire game, but not Sunday's. There was simply no point in putting myself through it.

That match was 6 years ago, and whatever the reasons Arsene Wenger had on that day for fielding Jenkinson, Coquelin, Djourou and Traore, and having the likes of Chamakh, Lansbury, Miquel, Ozyakup and Sunu on the bench, at least that was some sort of excuse for the result. That was the year of the famous Supermarket Sweep, when The BFG, Arteta and Benayoun (along with, regrettably,  Andre Santos and Park Ju-Young...) joined the club just a few days later. And boy was that needed, following the mismanagement of the Fabregas and Nasri situations that summer.

This year, there really is no excuse. Nowhere to hide. The players available to him currently are a much more talented group than they were in 2011, but it is quite clear that no lessons have been learnt.

I'm not going to bore you all again with complaints about right backs playing at left wing back, wingers/wannabe central midfielders playing at right wing back, a left back featuring at centre half when three confirmed centre halves are either on the bench or not even in the squad, a midfield made up of two players without the discipline to shield the defence in any shape or form (against a side that likes to attack and counter attack with pace and numbers), a world class number 10 shunted out to the right wing, a new and exciting left wing back dropped to the bench, and the club's record signing sitting alongside him whilst the manager selects at centre forward a guy who couldn't hit a garage door from 6 feet! Let's not cover that again.

Let's not cover what I've been banging on about for years; the managers inability to take account of the opposition, to pick a suitable side or formation, or to motivate the players in any way at all. They were an utter shambles from the moment the whistle sounded. Yes, the players need to take a deal of responsibility also, but regrettably there's hardly a self-starter or a big enough personality amongst them. But who put that squad together?

Stoke was bad enough, and the rumblings started then - as they invariably do after any defeat. There were excuses and mitigating circumstances; the penalty that wasn't given and the goal that should have stood. But Liverpool was always going to be a massive step up from Stoke.

I talked last year about baffling team selections and substitutions, and a similarly baffling inability to tackle the weaknesses in the squad. If anything, it's worse this season. Utterly inexplicable and illogical. The shape and make-up of the side is all wrong. Where's the defensive midfielder that everybody except Arsene Wenger knows is critical to make any top level side successful? I don't know. Do you? If we can see it, why can Wenger not?

The old pros who panned the team have got it spot on. How can Gary Neville understand more about how it should feel to play for Arsenal than the current players themselves?

So let's get to the real crux of the matter. Which is the total mismanagement of the club from top to bottom. Negligence and complacency. All that has changed in the years since 2011 is the (admittedly not small achievement of) winning of three FA Cups. But what that has done is merely paper over the cracks, which started forming the moment the team moved to the new ground. The club has lost its identity; lost its soul. Finishing fifth may have been a Catalyst For Change, but the explosion has not been big enough by anybody's standards and heads must roll as a result.

Dropping out of the Champions League places is going to only be the start, based on what we have just witnessed. No wonder players won't sign new contracts. No wonder fringe players - comfortable on their inflated salaries - are in no rush to take a pay cut to go elsewhere and work harder. No wonder the better players are agitating to leave. No wonder the manager cannot attract new players; which half-decent footballer is going to sign for Arsenal this week?

I actually feel sorry for Alexis Sanchez. At least he ran about for a while on Sunday; until he saw the futility of it all. He deserves better. Ozil is somewhat maligned, in my opinion; he is not in the side to do the hard graft and the covering back (although some visible signs of effort to do a little of that would be appreciated). He is there to make the ball talk, but when he does, the players around him are unable to capitalise. The Ox can go - actually, it looks like he is going any moment now. I don't know what was worse yesterday; his lackadaisical performance or the fact that the manager, knowing he was about to leave, picked him in the first place. As for the others - Gibbs and Debuchy being the prime examples - if they won't go of their own volition I'd pay their contracts up and thereby free up spaces in the squad.

A massive clearout is needed, but it's much too late for that this summer. And who knows where Arsenal will finish this season (I reckon 7th, if they're lucky?) and what sort of quality of player the club will be able to attract as a reault?

I'm afraid that yesterday's performance - more than the result - indicates that Arsene Wenger is finished. A busted flush. Signing that new contract was an act of pure selfishness. And the Board that put it in front of him as just as culpable. He/they must go, for the sake of the future of the club. If they had any conscience or self-awareness, maybe they would...

If there's anybody who can look at himself in the mirror after that and say that Arsene Wenger is still the man for the job, that person is delusional. There can't be many left now. So if there's one good thing about what's just happened, at least it has united the fan base.

I'm done in, as are many Arsenal fans. FFS, it's not even September yet, and this week is going to be hell as the transfer window closes. Going to watch your team is supposed to be a joyful experience. But the immediate future is bleak, joyless and featureless. It's a long, long road back already.

Take That!

New season; thank goodness!

I know I should be leading with my delight that we've got off to a winning start, but there is of course a huge dollop of Got Out Of Jail involved. Leaving the result aside for the moment, I'd firstly like to visit where the club is at this moment.

The question that many, including myself, are asking, is why Ivan Gazidis' Catalyst For Change has led to, essentially, No Change Whatsoever. Minded of that, I sat watching the match with the old Take That hit, 'Everything Changes', running round my brain. 'Everything changes but you', they sang,... and that's precisely where we are - again!

Let's look at what's happened in the close season. Sign a prolific centre-forward? Tick. Sign a beast of a defender? Tick? Bring in a (psychotic) new coach in Jens Lehmann? Tick.

And then?...

Chelsea (didn't we laugh on Saturday afternoon?!?) have brought in three players at a cost of £130m - so stop whining, Conte and Chelsea fans everywhere - that's more money than 17 other Premier League clubs have spent. And they will now have to go in again. Manchester City have spent a fortune - did you see the meme going around a few weeks ago showing that they've spent more money on defence this year than 47 actual countries? And United - with Mourinho spouting his usual nonsense following the Neymar transfer about him being value for money, have of course spent a ridiculous amount as well. Spurs look like they may find themselves suffering from the same constraints as we did in the middle of a stadium move; good! Everton are on a spree designed to help them close the gap to the top. And Liverpool have spent a bit, but look like losing Coutinho, which will likely set them back considerably.

And Arsenal?... we sit and wait. For so much, which ought to have been put to bed weeks ago, to happen. For the likes of Gibbs, Debuchy, Jenkinson, Perez, Akpom, maybe Chambers, the currently long-term injured Joel Campbell and perhaps Wilshere (sobs uncontrollably) to be moved on. For mutual decisions to be made by the club and The Ox, Ozil and - critically - Alexis Sanchez. And for, on the back of that, another player or two to come in. A proper defensive midfielder is still required; Matic would have been perfect.

So the failure to qualify for the Champions League has in fact not been the Catalyst For Change that we were promised. The manager's vacillations continue, and we start the season under-cooked once more, and with no idea what's going on with some of our most important players. Totally unsatisfactory.

With Sanchez, I'm afraid that we've heard it all before. M Wenger made similar noises regarding van Persie, Fabregas, Nasri and even Adebayor. So I still reckon there's a good chance he'll go, for all the quotes from the manager about him staying. I hope I'm wrong, and I admire his stance for making the guy stick to his contract. And I frankly like the comments about players running down their contracts and playing for either a new one or a new club; except that unless others are going to get involved, then he's fighting a one-man, one-club crusade and we'll be letting players go for free whilst paying extortionate transfer fees for their replacements - unsustainable. Whilst Bosman was right to make that stand all those years ago, the power has simply gone too far the other way now.

As for the match... what did it tell us? What I saw is that nothing has really changed. We played some lovely stuff at times, went behind (of course) kept pushing as we generally do, and scored 4 lovely goals.

But at the other end the same old failings remain un-addressed. Zonal Marking? Please, please either get it coached properly or get rid of it, M Wenger; it's an absolute shambles. It doesn't matter who the personnel are - old or new - last year's problems have resurfaced in an identical manner. Utterly embarrassing.

And despite the change in formation - we're now apparently 11 for 12 since the switch to three centre-backs - our central midfield is still being sliced open on a regular basis. And if Leicester - clearly dangerous with the speedy Vardy in their ranks - can do it - what will better sides do? Somebody better than Coquelin and Elneny to sit, please, M Wenger. Xhaka plus Ramsey is too offensive (in the attacking sense of the word!) in my opinion. Jean-Michael Seri, anyone? I'd go back for Kondogbia, or even Steven N'zonzi, who I really like.

So much remains to be done. Catalyst For Change, or - as we've seen on social media - Catalyst For F*ck *ll?!?

Just going back to the other clubs we need to look out for, I think we saw from Spurs, United and City what we're going to see all season and for a long time to come; that for all the money now reaching the 'lesser' clubs, they're dredging around for the scraps after the big clubs have fed and the gap is going to continue to widen. Just how bad are West Ham, by the way?

Seeing Liverpool drop points late on was amusing, but the action at Stamford Bridge was absolutely tremendous. We can only hope that Chelsea have a similar season to the one they had the season before last. That will be a source of pleasure to many, unlikely as it is to actually happen.

Acid Tests for Arsenal come in visits to Liverpool and Chelsea in the next few weeks. We'll know more where we stand after the Transfer Window closes (please stay, Alexis) and after those two matches.

Early season optimism leads me to say Come On You Reds. But we still await the Change we were promised. Come on, Arsene; deliver!

On The Brink

So, are we perhaps on for another in the long-running series of The Great Escape? And, if we are, what does it mean for the future?

First things first: we are down to the wire here. There is no room for error. Arsenal need to win, and then get some help from already relegated Middlesbrough (I'm discounting sufficient help from Watford, who'd need to thrash Manchester City) - but we must do our job first. Fortunately, Everton have absolutely nothing to play for, so that's hopeful, but I don't rate Middlesbrough's chances very highly.

We've been here before, of course, with our fate out of our hands, but Lasagnegate was an unrepeatable event, and it's not Tottenham who we're relying on to fall apart this year.

So let's surmise what finishing inside or outside the Top 4 might mean going forward:

Firstly, unless the rumours of a massive split between the Board and the Manager over the (proposed/alleged) Director of Football position are true, it looks like he will be signing a new contract. Surely his last one!?! But even with their apparent disconnect from the current reality, the hierarchy will know that this season has surely been a 'Catalyst for Change' and plans - which almost assuredly haven't yet been made - will be put in place for the massive transition job ahead.

What more and more fans are hoping for is frankly unlikely to take place this summer; the Board seem to be too distanced from reality (perhaps the 20,000 empty seats for the Sunderland match will get them thinking a bit). My view is simply that Arsene has taken the club as far as he can, and that for want of a better expression 'A change is as good as a rest'. Irrespective of whichever competition they qualify for. Surely, with the resources they have, Arsenal should be putting up some sort of a title challenge at some point - I actually don't remember the last time they did.

If it's Champions League, it will be a sporting miracle. And at that point there will be another opportunity to kick on; to use the so-called 'War Chest'. Although to be fair, £90m+ in transfer fees was spent last summer, and it hasn't helped. Thoughts, Arsene?...

On the one hand, the recent upsurge in results is very commendable, but previous abject defeats to Watford, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace tell a totally different story. Which Arsenal is the real one? And why do we seem to be asking this question every single year?

And if it's Europa League, my personal opinion is that the game of Russian Roulette has finally backfired, and it will put the club back for years - hopefully considerably nearer what Manchester United have been through than what Liverpool have suffered. But the speed of transition will be in the hands of Silent Stan (need I say more?). Conceivably, there could be no hope for an imminent recovery. After all, which top player would be attracted enough to Arsenal to come, without Champions League football? Arsenal are not Manchester United. For the first time I can remember, Tottenham looks a more attractive destination. Ouch!

Initially, what does it mean for player retention and recruitment over the summer? Going through the squad, I would suggest that a lot of dead wood needs to be cut away. Here's my list from the current first team squad list of 'Expendables' and players likely to leave of their own volition:

Expendables:
Debuchy, Gibbs, Jenkinson, Coquelin, Sanogo, Campbell, Akpom

Other likely departures:
Ospina, Perez, Alexis Sanchez (sobs...)

I think that Alexis will go, irrespective of Champions League qualification. He must think that he can do better than stay at Arsenal - no matter how much money they throw at him - and one would tend to agree. This will leave a massive hole in the team; extremely difficult to fill. The thought fills me with dread; for all the dreadful ball-retention stats, he is the beating heart of the team. I'd offer him whatever he wants, and then a bit more, to stay.

On the other hand, I expect Ozil to stay. It's all very cosy between him and Wenger; if he's fit, he starts. And at his best I love him; but he has a way to go to get back to that (but on the other hand hit the button and replay that goal against Ludogorets... any excuse to watch it again, as far as I'm concerned).

Of the rest of the squad, I'd personally not be the remotest upset to see Gabriel and Walcott (for all his goals this season, it's enough now - especially after his 'They wanted it more' interview following the Palace defeat - moved on, and I think that unfortunately the game appears up for Jack Wilshere. I expect Chambers to return, and I'm quite desperate for The Ox to sign a new contract.

Thereafter, what do the team need? And this depends on whether AW sticks with the current formation - a big if! The switch to a back three smacked of desperation. 

Firstly, for Cazorla to regain fitness (a veritable LANS). Then a replacement for Alexis - the quality of which will be determined by the European competition the club qualifies for - plus a left back (sorted, apparently), a genuine defensive midfielder, and an upgrade at centre forward. Not necessarily major surgery, as the footbal quality is there. I'm not putting up names at this point - I'm sure that we'll be sick of reading about them between now and July 31st.

What's really needed is a change in mentality and motivation. And how are the team going to get that from a man who has been in charge for 20 years, and who is stubborn enough to continue to refuse to change his coaching staff and methods? The opposite of 'If it ain't broke...'

So where is the Catalyst for Change? Over to you, Messrs Kroenke and Gazidis. As if...

What have we got to look forward to next year? Let's leave that until after Sunday, and until after the Cup Final. But M Wenger, if Arsenal finish 5th and lose to Chelsea, surely you can see that you've pushed the envelope too far? 

I no longer subscribe to the 'Be careful what you wish for' camp - I'll take my chances, frankly; the club and job are attractive enough to attract the right sort of coach, and then the overhaul can start.

Just to compete... wouldn't that be nice?

Toothless. Spineless. Rudderless.

Remember this photo? Of course you do.

It was taken on 25th April 2004. Arsenal had just won the League - clinching the title at the home of their local rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. Crowned not only Champions, but about to go through the season unbeaten. The Invincibles. Tottenham themselves were lagging far behind, as Arsenal and Manchester United dominated English football. Everything looked set fair for Arsenal to kick on and go on to even greater things over the next few years.

And now this, 13 years later almost to the day.

An Arsenal team outfought and outclassed at the same venue, languishing well back in 6th place as Tottenham battle for the title. Toothless. Spineless. And frankly rudderless. 

Compare the two sides. One properly coached; a team within which every player knows his job and knows how to exploit the weaknesses in the opposition. The other seemingly a collection of individuals chucked together, with no discernible plan nor tactic. Tottenham were different class in every respect, and from team selection to choice of tactics Wenger and his side were shown to be out of their depth. 

Branded a 'jazzer' (i.e. lacking in any discernable structure) when it comes to tactics by Phillipe Auclair, one can clearly see what he's driving at. The series of tactical cock-ups this season reached new depths on Sunday.  The non-selection of Holding and Welbeck was baffling, the choice to start with Gibbs and Giroud equally so. Why not put Alexis up top again? The poorly coached new defensive formation, leaving gaps an under 18 side could exploit, was a recipe for disaster. They got off light at 2-0!

It is said that success in football is cyclical, and whilst some of what has prevented Arsenal from continuing to dominate English football has been out of their hands, the club's reaction to the maelstrom of change going on around it over the intervening years has essentially been to ignore it. And right now what the majority of the fan base, and of football journalism and punditry, has been warning about for years is coming home to roost. By burying their heads in the sand, the Arsenal Board have been shown to be utterly negligent.

Since that Invincibles season, the landscape of Premier League football is much changed. The emergence of the oligarchs alongside vast sums of television money, coupled with Arsenal's stadium move, has had an impact on the ability to deliver on the apparent ambitions the club had (as voiced by Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis), but the plain fact of the matter is that as a football club Arsenal have lacked genuine ambition compared to their rivals in that time. The stadium debt is under control, yet the £200m+ in the Bank is not being used to buy players who will help the team kick on to success, but more to leverage the owner's business dealings elsewhere. A total scandal.

One could - if one so desired and in a perverse way - laud the loyalty displayed by and to Arsenal Wenger, but the unwillingness and inability of both Board and Manager to adapt and change to the new landscape has been plain for a number of years. Born, I might add, in no small measure out of complacency.

This year the stagnation has finally caught up with them. Where each and every one of their rivals has embraced change, Arsenal have fought against it, forging a lone furrow and working against all conceivable logic. It's like deciding to race alone down the far side of a racecourse when everyone else knows that the faster ground is up the stands rail.

Arsene Wenger has been in charge of the club for 22 years now. An inordinately long time. Back then, his main - some would say only - rival was the great Sir Alex Ferguson and his phenomenal Manchester United team. Arsenal had one target to aim at, and they hit it as often as not. Wenger revolutionised English football when he arrived, bringing nutritional and training ideas never before seen in this country. He was rightly celebrated for it, as it brought a good deal of success.

However, the stadium move (with the unfortunate Board disagreements which led to David Dein being relieved of his duties) meant financial constraints, and coincided with the arrival of the oligarchs and the 'financial doping' of Chelsea and latterly Manchester City. This is not news, of course.

On top of this, Manchester United have started to turn things round after inevitably suffering after Ferguson's retirement and Liverpool have now started to do the same after a far longer cycle. And now finally - after years of getting it horribly wrong - Tottenham have got the formula right too. So instead of having just one rival, Arsenal have no less than 5. Each and every one of these clubs continues to make advances, whilst Arsenal stand still and thereby fall behind. For Ferguson, now read Mourinho, Conte, Guardiola, Klopp and Pocchetino. Managers with fresh ideas and a willingness to embrace change. Arsenal stuck to Wenger; now seen as a dinosaur - and the meteorite has struck very firmly in 2016-17.

Tottenham Hotspur fans have been minding an ever-decreasing gap for years now. Whilst 22 years is a very long time, and as a statistic has been a source of much amusement for Arsenal fans, fortune and circumstance have favoured Arsenal on a number of those occasions and it had been clear for some time that the gap has been well and truly closing. This season, all of the chickens have come home to roost. Of course, its not all about finishing above Tottenham; it's about competing for the title and Arsenal have probably only managed to do that twice since 2004 - and it doesn't take a genius to understand why.

I mentioned it in a previous blog post, but for me the main culprit is not the Manager. Indeed, I feel sorry for him in many ways; hung out to dry by an owner and Board whose only interest appears to be the pursuit of more riches. The owner is a man with little or no sporting ambition, under whose ownership the club will continue to slip back. An owner who understands the game would have put Arsene out of his misery by now. An owner who understood the English psyche would have - if he had anything about him - taken his profit and sold out to somebody with sporting ambition. Yet he continues, like a vampire, to suck the very soul out of the club and its fans. You see, if I was forced to switched from Tesco to Sainsbury's it wouldn't make a huge difference to me. But football attracts a different type of Brand Loyalty. Thousands of season ticket holders - myself included - must be agonising over whether to renew for next season (and don't anyone dare accuse me of disloyalty to my club at this point!). The problem being that others will simply take our places...

Wenger himself has been left behind by tactical developments. He no longer has the tactical nous to compete with his peers, and after so long in the job the motivational skills have also gone. How many times have the players heard the same thing? How many more tactical disasters is he going to inflict on the team before the end of the season?

The players themselves can take their fair share of blame also. Many aren't good enough. Some are clearly going through the motions. The player who wears his heart most on his sleeve and works the hardest is likely to look at the club's lack of ambition and be the first in the queue out of the door in June. Dropping out of the Champions League places is going to make it far more difficult to attract top class talent. In short, this could be an extremely long exile for Arsenal. A massive power shift in North London.

So where do Arsenal go from here? Well, we can be pretty sure that there is no succession plan in place. The Board were happy for Wenger to carry on until he saw fit to retire. But surely that option is off the table now?

With every defeat, the calls for Wenger to go grow louder. Surely he must fall on his sword at the end of the season? Otherwise it's a recipe for more of the same next year - except that Arsenal will be competing with the likes of Everton and Southampton for 6th place next year, the way things are going. Many are past the 'be careful what you wish for' phase now. The job is attractive enough for an ambitious man to come in and start to revive the club. If that doesn't happen this summer then I fear it will be too late - we could be looking at a long, long time out of the elite places for this once-proud, but now embarrassed and tarnished club. And what makes me sad is to think about what might have been.

But credit where it's due. Congratulations, Tottenham Hotspur. You deserve it.

The End Is Nigh

 I write this between the soul-destroying defeat at Liverpool and the inevitable Champions League exit to Bayern Munich. And the horrible sinking feeling I am getting is something that I know that every other club has suffered on numerous occasions since Arsene Wenger's arrival in October 1996; that of the awareness that there needs to be an imminent change of Manager. There is no turning back now.

The heady days of  the inexorable climb to the summit of English football, starting with the signing of Patrick Vieira and culminating with The Invincibles  and the unfortunate Champions League Final of 2006 seem so very far away now. The wonderful talent that played for the club; Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Vieira and Fabregas to name just a few. I remember sitting in my seat at Highbury, giggling as I watched the team run rings around the opposition week after week after week. All now no more than a distant memory.

And the thing that is so hard to take is that I love Arsene Wenger. I love how he transformed Arsenal Football Club. I've loved the hours and hours and hours of pleasure (and bragging rights) that he helped give me and my family. I've loved his whole-hearted commitment to Arsenal Football Club, and to football. And whilst he needs to shoulder his share of the blame for the current malaise, I don't feel that it's right to place the blame for the mess that the club is getting itself into entirely on him. He has become the lightning rod for all the bad news/publicity, because he is the Manager. But the malaise goes considerably deeper than that. 

Behind the Manager are the owner and the Board of Directors. To my mind (and I believe many others) Kroenke and his son (mainly), and Gazidis are hiding behind Wenger - and it does appear that he is allowing them to do so. Their Fall Guy. What I can't understand is how he can condone the apparent lack of thirst for genuine success from Kroenke (although £8m a year might have something to do with it). And all he is doing is tarnishing his legacy with every season that passes.

Now I am aware that Arsenal fans are suffering from the football equivalent of a First World Problem. There are probably only around a dozen clubs in Europe who would swap places with Arsenal. But it really does depend on one's expectations, and those of Arsenal fans are understandably high. Despite the climate of European club football having irrevocably changed with the arrival of the oligarchs and the sheikhs, what every Arsenal fan has stored away in his head are these (post oligarch and sheikh) quotes from Ivan Gazidis:

November 2012 - "As we look to the next two, three years we will have an outstanding platform on which to compete with any club in the world".

And June 2013 - "We're very confident with the new deals we've got coming through... That's showing really positive progression. We should be able to compete at a level like a club such as Bayern Munich.

"I'm not saying we're there by any means; we have a way to go before we can put ourselves on that level. But this whole journey over the past ten years really has been with that goal in mind, which is why I say that this is an extraordinarily ambitious club.

"We get beaten up along the way, but I think we are an extraordinarily ambitious club. This has been about putting us up with the best in the world and now the question is turning that platform now into on-field success".

All of which sounds very hopeful. But then we got this from the owner, a year ago:

"If you want to win championships you would never get involved..."

Do we want or need to hear that? How soul-destroying is that sort of remark? My response is: "If you have that attitude, sell up and clear off!"

This is an owner of numerous US sporting 'franchises', who don't spend - or even attempt to spend - as much as their opposition do. He takes his share of the sponsorship and TV money, and just bounces along in mid-table mediocrity; getting richer and richer with every year that passes and tearing the ambition and optimism from the hearts of the fans. What have the LA Rams, Denver Nuggets. or Colorado Avalanche won recently? Nothing, you won't be surprised to hear (Avalanche actually won the Stanley Cup the year after he took over (2001), but it's been downhill ever since results-wise). And he's doing the same to Arsenal.

And against this background; the above quotes, the unwillingness to compete fully at (or even near) the top of the transfer market, the growing fan unrest; and finally even results are starting to unravel. The inability/unwillingness to compete at the very top has been difficult enough to take for a number of years now (and that's even accepting the relative poverty of the early years at The Emirates), but this season the cracks are really starting to show.

I did liken it elsewhere to a slow motion car crash, but I think a better metaphor is a tumble down a very long flight of stairs, crashing into the walls and getting more and more badly injured on the way down. And I don't think we can see where the bottom is yet! 

Lose to Everton (from a goal up) - stumble/crash/ouch! Lose to Manchester City in an almost identical fashion - a painful tumble down to the next landing. Go down limply at home to Watford - hit a particularly nasty bit of sticking-out bannister on the next section. Get thumped by Chelsea - a long and painful tumble down the next flight. Bayern Munich - equally as painful; limbs getting broken and confidence in ever regaining one's feet receding. And then getting turned over by a Liverpool side who had been badly out of sorts - that's another long flight of stairs and another massive set of bruises. If the team isn't careful, it's heading for a metaphorical broken neck.

Add to that the issue of the team's two best players being soon out of contract and not tied down to new deals... If you were Alexis Sanchez, would you want to stay? And Ozil's form and confidence have completely deserted him. Apart from those two, the squad is full of very good players but where some teams are better than the sum of their parts, the opposite seems to be true of Arsenal.

And here's where the cracks are starting to show in Arsene Wenger, and the reason why he simply has to fall on his sword at the end of the season. Tactically, where more and more people have been saying that he is being left behind as each year passes, the past few weeks have been something of an unmitigated disaster. Let's examine a few recent inexplicable snippets:

• the general and continued failure of the team to start matches quickly. This points to the Manager being no longer able to motivate them. If he mentions Mental Strength one more time (perhaps after Arsenal beat Bayern 3-0 this evening?)...
• the decision to play dyed-in-the-wool centre half Gabriel at right back in the absence of the injured Bellerin, when Mustafi has played at right back for World Cup winners Germany? I'm sorry; inexcusable
• the opportunity to prepare for Chelsea with the game against Watford, who play an identical formation to Chelsea but with considerably inferior players; yet he set the team up in the same way as usual
• Chopping and changing Oxlade-Chamberlain. Expediency meant he has been played in central midfield, and he has actually been the team's most effective central midfielder over the past month. Yet he's the first one pushed out wide, or down to the bench; even for Coquelin?
• The inability to solve the problem of the lack of a sliding defence. How many recent goals have been conceded by defenders getting sucked in/across and the last man, arriving wide, late and unmarked, doing the damage? This is down to poor coaching, and poor discipline instilled in both the wide players and specifically the defensive midfielders. I'm pretty sure that it's not Rocket Science!
• Over-protection of Welbeck. Get the guy in the side!!!
• And here's the last straw; the tactics vs Liverpool. Here's a side that struggle when teams sit deep and suck them in, then hit them hard on the break with pace. So he selects Giroud, and a high line. And guess what happened?

In summary, it's a perfect storm. The club needs a new and ambitious owner, or a Manager who is going to force the owner to loosen the purse strings. As for Arsene, he looks a broken man - broken by what's going on above and around him and no longer able to cope with the pressure. Yes, there has been a historical concern about dropping out of the Top 4 should we change Managers (like what happened to Manchester United), but Top 4 is looking less and less likely with each passing week, so that excuse is redundant.

I'm long past "Be careful what you wish for". I'll take my chances now. There's a further contract offer on the table, but if he takes that offer up, the only things that are going to change are the loss of Champions League football - and of our best players - and the club will be set back a good 5 years. We've fallen behind Chelsea and Manchester City. United, Tottenham and even Liverpool are about to overtake us. Do we really want to be fighting for 6th and 7th place with Everton and Southampton, but with £200m+ of earmarked transfer funds in the Bank? In a half-empty stadium? Because that's the way things are heading. And whilst his ownership dictates that he can do what he likes, I reckon that Mr Kroenke will find that the fans will vote with their feet, and make things very unpleasant for him. This isn't the United States, Stanley.

We can address who's next some other time. But if there's no succession planning going on right now then that's downright negligent.

There's a massive groundswell of discontent with Arsenal Football Club at the moment. I believe that as far as the Manager is concerned it's mixed with sympathy and a deal of sadness. But with the owner there's merely anger. Deal with it, Mr Kroenke. Man up. Step out of the shadows. And take your hands out of your pockets!

Decapitation

It's been a terrible week to be an Arsenal fan - unless you're one of those sick individuals who want to see the team lose in order to speed the departure of the Manager. And I'll come back to that later. In the meantime...

There are those who believe that this...

...is not a foul. And I vehemently disagree with you on that. The guy has gone it at pace in order to head the ball, and has caught Bellerin in such a way as to knock him cold on his follow through. Whether there was intent or otherwise, he has caused him damage and forced him to be substituted. 

I do not see the difference between the above and sliding in to get a ball on the ground, reaching it just before the opposition player and on his blind side, and catching him badly in the follow through, causing him harm. 

Eyes only for the ball? Sure. 

Caught the man? Yes. 

Injured him? Yes. 

That's a foul!

Now I am not for one minute suggesting that this was the moment that tipped yesterday's match in favour of Chelski; only a blinkered fool would suggest that anything apart from a Chelski victory would have been the correct result. But it sure didn't help (and by the way, for all the beauty of Hazard's goal I would suggest that an arm into Coquelin's chest in order to fend him off might be permissible in rugby, but not in good old Association Football.

Much has been said about the relative physical and mental merits of the two teams yesterday, and to be frank I was so annoyed by the apparent narrative that the Sky commentary team had in place throughout that I muted the sound (before finally turning the TV off and walking out of the room as the third goal went in). I think that the two things that annoyed me most about their narrative were firstly that they were prepared to interpret what went on in order to suit their narrative; e.g. describing professional and strategic fouling as 'game management', and secondly that they were proved right - yet again!

I'm not going to be able to say any more than what we've all heard said and written about the Chelski game; nor the Watford game either frankly (although that first half was probably the worst I have seen them play in all Wenger's time in charge, and believe me when I tell you that I've witnessed some real sh*t in that time). The frustration, of course, is that this horrendous week should follow on directly from the excellent FA Cup performance and result. However here's my interpretation of it from the point of view of the present - and the future:

As per the name of this post - Decapitation. Enough, quite frankly, is enough now. Cut it off at the head.

Let's face it, the head is being out-thought by a new breed of manager, and this is causing the players to run around like headless chickens. Our Manager has taken the team as far as he can, and whilst other clubs move past Arsenal - and frankly that's each and every other one of the current Top 6 - our club merely stands still. 

The trouble is - and I've said it before but it's a matter of historic fact - that the owner is far more interested in money than glory; and that is reflected in the results of each and every of the 'franchises' that he owns. So he'll happily offer Wenger a new contract, knowing full well that he is likely to drag the team into 4th place yet again and thus preserve the status quo, but that is NOT what the fans want, and it's not making use of the vast resources available. It looks like Liverpool are slipping away, which helps, but it's yet another battle to get into the Champions League spots, plus perhaps another decent FA Cup run. And nothing more. If Bill Murray was an Arsenal fan, he'd star in a film about it...

And to rub salt into the wound, it's now that we hear about the new contract that has been offered? Of all the times to let this news out???...

I'll repeat what I've said before; the BIG change need to be made this summer, and if that causes the league position to slip for a while, then so be it - No Pain, No Gain. United lost Ferguson, and just three years later they are well on their way back to the top. It has taken Liverpool longer, but they are on their way now. Sp*rs are heading past us (not even they can possibly repeat last year's astonishing capitulation). Manchester City are going to be pushing on too. And for all that Chelski's 2015-16 season was hysterical, look how they've turned it around in just one solitary season! 

There aren't that many Managers with the qualifications to take the Arsenal job, but if what now must be the vast majority of Arsenal fans get their wish in the summer (here's hoping that M Wenger decides not to take up the option in front of him), then I think that the short/wish list is probably Tuchel, Simeone and (and there are quite a few rumours flying around about this...) Allegri. I'll take any of them, thank you very much (and by the way, talk of Eddie Howe was and is utterly preposterous!).

The groundswell of opinion is growing into a tidal wave now; let's hope - for all that the owner seems inured to it - that M Wenger himself takes notice now. Let the club allow somebody new to take up the baton, release the purse strings, do something different, and hopefully kick on. The issue now, of course, is whether the likes of Sanchez and Ozil are going to hand around to see what happens. The repercussions go far beyond a 12 point gap.

Sense of entitlement? Half term report

I've been away for a little while, despite promising to blog every week. Well, work has been pretty full on since early September; that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. But I've got some time off now, so I'll be blogging more often this year; I know you can't wait. And I am currently chastising myself for not keeping to my word; ouch!

I thought I'd start with a report on the season so far, as it's exactly half-way through it. Some stuff on our rivals, but mostly on another season that's starting to feel like Groundhog Day - some incredible highlights but also some painful lows - and examine how one's mood changes, whether it's wrong to have a sense of entitlement, and whether Arsene Wenger is the man to take Arsenal to the next level (or if there's anybody out there who is).

Firstly, the highs, which to my eyes are:

• The emergence of Alexis Sanchez as a centre-forward, and the difference this has made to Arsenal
• The ability to grind out results when things aren't quite clicking
• Two of the greatest goals (Ozil in Bulgaria and Giroud's scorpion kick vs Crystal Palace) that have ever been scored by an Arsenal player

Any debate as to whether Alexis Sanchez is world-class or not has been rendered irrelevant by his performances this season. Not only is he the most wonderfully talented footballer, but his will to win and almost tireless work rate make him an absolute standout not only within the club, but in the pantheon of football all over the world. I've not seen anybody work like him, ever. And to add his talent and football brain to that and you have almost the complete player. His presence as the main striker has added something to the side that Giroud - for all his abilities - is unable to do. And I've not been among the Giroud knockers - he is a fine footballer who has been burdened with criticism merely because he's not Ian Wright, Thierry Henry or even Robin van Persie. Harsh. Giroud is an excellent link forward and a decent finisher, but Alexis adds a fluidity that not many around the world are capable of doing (I'd put Aguero and Suarez in that category, but off the top of my head I'm struggling for other names) to which you can add an unsurpassed will to win.

There have been times this season where Arsenal have grabbed late winners. Burnley away and Southampton at home spring to mind. This always gives rise to the 'mentality of champions' theory. I just wish they had the games sewn up long before then, but a win is a win; no matter how it is achieved. Plus you can add draws against PSG, Sp*rs and ManUre to the list of results dug out of the fire. We'll come to other matters of 'mental strength' a little later.

This season, we have been witness to two of the greatest goals I have ever seen. And this in a time when 'great' goals are scored every other week, it would appear. Sky did a little cameo of some of Arsenal's greatest Premier League goals (subjective, of course) after the Palace game, and both Ozil's sublime effort against Ludogorets https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/793566356381765633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw and Giroud's extraordinary finish against Crystal Palace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffJVEvDUeKI are right up with the very best of them. Here's a rather good photograph of Giroud's sumptuous effort:

For the record, by the way, and whilst acknowledging that he is by no means every Arsenal fan's cup of tea, my personal favourite is RvP's thumping volley on the run https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmr-ioXZ7mw at Charlton Athletic.

On the whole, and despite the improvements to the squad made by the additions of the bulldog Mustafi and the elegant Granit Xhaka, and the aforementioned re-deployment of Alexis, it still feels a little bit like Groundhog Day yet again. The irritating defeat to Liverpool on the opening day and the successive losses to Everton and Manchester City in the space of 5 days a couple of weeks ago show the frailties that this team cannot seem to shake off. Getting back to 3-4 against Liverpool - commendable. Going 1-4 down in the first place, by conceding three goals in less than 15 minutes - inexcusable. Allowing themselves to be bullied by a desperate Everton, and conceding the initiative to City in the second half having looked so comfortable in the first - both from 1-0 up - deeply frustrating. Lest we forget that this is a team that literally thrashed Chelsea earlier this campaign.

And Groundhog Day is drawing Bayern Munich yet again in the Champions League. The only thing I can say to that is 'Aaaaaaargh!!!'.

So now to weigh up whether being an Arsenal fan should give one a sense of entitlement, and whether it is this that puts Arsenal fans in a bad mood when a match is lost, or whether it is merely the lot of every football fan around the world (after all, even Barcelona lose sometimes!). Are Arsenal fans expectations at too high a level? Is the cup half full or half empty? I really don't know; all I know is that any and every defeat hurts; as it does every football fan. I think that it's the unexpected defeats that hurt most.

I don't personally have a sense of entitlement. I am very lucky that my dad took me to Highbury when I was just 6 or 7 years old, and that I have owned for over 20 years a season ticket that has enabled me to watch at close quarters what is acknowledged by almost everybody (Fergie excluded) as 'by far the greatest team the world has ever seen'. Well, if not the world's, then certainly England's.

And now onto Arsene. It's defeats like the one at Everton (and to a lesser extent the one at Manchester City) which leaves me wondering. I look at the apparent inability to influence matters on the pitch when things aren't going the way we want, and wonder if it's really the end of the road for him. You can look at the table and see the team on the fringes of the title race, and in the thick of the battle to get into the top 4 again, and think that things are as rosy as they usually are; and perhaps you're right. But is that rosy enough? Are Arsenal forever 'doomed' to just miss out, year after year? Is there always going to be an excuse? One can point at another Kroenke 'franchise', the LA Rams, and see that they've just sacked a Head Coach - mainly down to fan pressure. But on the other hand the LA Rams are a poor side and Arsenal are not. So the question that must be continually asked is 'Does Arsene have the capability of finding the extra 1-2% that the side needs?'.

I think No. And I look at Klopp, at Conte, at Guardiola, and wonder if Arsene's longevity is blocking the opportunity for change. Yes, be careful what you wish for - look what happened to Liverpool and to Manchester United. But... I'm afraid that I don't have the answer.

Anyway, we head into the business half of the season, starting at Bournemouth this evening. We need three points there, and maximum points up until the season-defining game at Stamford Bridge on February 4th. I live in hope.

Just a quick view on the 'title race'. Following their change of formation since defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal, Chelsea's transformation has been dramatic; the title already appears theirs to lose. The likes of Hazard, my friend Costa and even Cesc are looking back to their best (a sad indictment of the management methods of Mr Mourinho), and they have no European distractions.

Of the others, Liverpool look too flaky (let's call it mercurial) to last the pace; City appear to be a Guardiola work in progress, with next year being the big one for them; Sp*rs look good a lot of the time but are, at the end of the day, Sp*rs; United are too far off the pace and not good enough... and Arsenal - in the same way as their North London rivals have a certain reputation - are Arsenal.

Just a little bit more, please, Arsenal, and the sky will become the limit. Handbrake off, please!