Literally, another disaster

I went to my first away game for many a year yesterday. My brother, here from Australia for a short while, got us tickets in the Graham Taylor Stand, and there we were - a genteel walk from the shopping centre to the ground and with little or no security in evidence on entry - surrounded by families and lots of friendly people. I actually found myself next to two genuine 'tourists', who ate and video'd their way through the first half and then left at half time - it's not just at our place that this happens, clearly.

Here's my brother, really deep undercover... and we were very well behaved throughout. No, honestly.

Our seats were at ground level and not far from the halfway line, so I got a really good feel of Arsenal's performance and attitude. And it stunk! I remarked very early on that we needed to work harder and get stuck in, but it was all too predictable as we swung the ball from left to right, with no penetration and no running between the lines. Xhaka swung 40 yard balls to the wings, but to no effect whatsoever; it might look pretty, but that's all it was. Lacazette looked frustrated and was rarely found, his short, sharp runs ignored. We didn't have a single effort on goal until Elneny shot over from long range after almost half an hour. And whilst it was easy on the eye, if predictable, the issue was that it was typically ineffective as Arsenal created literally nothing until they scored - from a corner, would you believe?!? - and could easily have been behind by then in any case as Watford clearly appeared to 'want it' more. Time after time I watched the Arsenal wing backs bomb on and get caught out of position, having to scramble back and occasionally not bothering to do so. Iwobi was our best player - for what it's worth - up to half time and we were fortunate to go in leading 1-0. Nonetheless, for the 10 minutes or so after the goal the team looked confident and started getting properly on top, and we were optimistic about going on to win. I was hoping to get to see some creativity from Wilshere at some point - the sort of creativity and ability to transition play that Xhaka cannot bring - but we were denied that. The team performance was crying out for it.

I'm not sure what happened at half time in the away dressing room (I guess the usual relaxed complacency often exhibited against so-called 'lesser' sides), but Arsenal were second best throughout the entire second 45 minutes - despite the occasional sporadic moment when class shone through and only Gomes - and Ozil's awful finish - kept Watford in range. But these moments were few and far between and with their substitutions Watford pushed Arsenal further and further back. Yes, OK; the penalty was dubious and there was perhaps an element of offside to the winner, but it was nothing less than they deserved, and equally nothing more than Arsenal deserved. The manager's substitutions again made little sense, and he appeared once again unable to rouse the players from their inertia and into 'work mode'.

But this is nothing that anybody who saw the game on television wouldn't have seen anyway. it was just 50 times worse being there to see it in the flesh. And this is, of course, utterly symptomatic of the state that the team - and frankly the club - are in. That appalling performance against Liverpool masked and partly forgotten as the team put together a short unbeaten run against largely inferior opposition, a series of fortunate clean sheets racked up, and some sort of hope that another corner has been turned. All laid to waste by a typically lazy and complacent performance in a match that the fans are entitled to expect the team to win. Yes, Sanchez and Ramsey were missing, but we should really expect the team to have enough without them to win a game such as this. But without the drive that Sanchez gives the side, Arsenal are nothing more than a mid-table team these days, and a battle for 4th is the very most that we can expect for the rest of the season.

So how did we get into this state? How did expectations sink so low? Well, I think we've covered this before; the regime has stagnated from the very top down, with those people with the power to do something about it either blind to it, or simply riddled with self-interest. If it were the former, we'd be entitled to be annoyed; after all, WE can see what the problems are. But I feel that it's just as much the latter. 'I'm all right, Jack' is the attitude.

Just here, I'm going to go a bit Book Club. Bear with me: 

Unlike Voltaire's Candide, who finally realises that contrary to his preconceived beliefs all is not 'for the best' in 'the best of all possible worlds', Arsenal fans know where this is going to end up; which is back in the doldrums of the majority of the  70s, 80s and 90s, to which there is literally no excuse for returning bearing in mind the riches available to the club. Whatever ills befall the eponymous 'hero' of the novel, he tries to remain optimistic that it'll all be alright in the end. Unfortunately, the parallels end somewhere, because even Candide rebels against his master Pangloss who continues throughout to state that 'I still hold to my original opinions because, after all, I'm a philosopher, and it wouldn't be proper of me to recant, since... pre-established harmony is the most beautiful thing in the world'.

If one draws a parallel with Candide, one could say that some fans reached the end game a lot quicker than others and the continued protests are a way of desperately trying to 'cultivate our own garden', and those who continue to believe in the current regime, like Pangloss, are becoming fewer and fewer with every embarrassing performance and defeat.  For Pangloss, read Kroenke/Wenger. They will drag the club into relative destitution as all the main characters in the novel ended. But were they happy? Actually, NO, they bloody well weren't!

Unfortunately, whilst a novelist can influence the plot of his own book, we can do little about it apart from reading on whilst all the time knowing the ending. To a large extent, we Arsenal fans are mere impotent bystanders. Every new defeat makes me sadder and more frustrated; I love my club and always will, and I cannot bear to watch the inexorable and unnecessary slide it is in. It's not too late, provided that the owner finally gets to grip with the fact that the club is not in 'the best of all possible worlds' - as it was 12-15 years ago. Or. preferably, buggers off before we end up the victims of the football equivalent of banishment, earthquake, rape, torture, the pox and finally utter disillusion. In the short term, goodness knows what Manchester City are going to do to this team in a few weeks time; probably everything in the previous sentence!

A New Reality?

Ladies and gentlemen - may I introduce to you Public Enemy Number 1; the Hicks/Gillette of Arsenal Football Club.

I'll come back to our 'friend' later. However, having digested the aftermath of the Liverpool debacle, and the Transfer Window shenanigans, I've got a few other points to make; this is going to be a long one, I'm afraid. Please gird your loins and read on:

The State of the Squad - and the way it is being utilised. I add this because there are questions to be answered all over the pitch.

At goalkeeper, whatever the plan was changed midway through the Window. Ospina was expected to leave, but he now stays and Martinez heads out on loan. Cech of course remains first choice.
Muddled thinking.

At right-back, rumours abound that Bellerin may have asked to leave at some point over the summer. At least he can go back to playing at right back now! Cover appears to be Chambers - another with whom the thinking was muddled - he was originally told he could leave, but then despite offers in excess of £20m in the last day or two of the Window, he stays. But of course he's a centre-back, not a right back (remember what happened to him against Swansea a few years ago, and what playing out there did to Djourou). Alternatively, never fear, Matthieu Debuchy is still at the club!!!
At left back, there's a choice of Monreal or Kolasinac. Although both have been used as makeshift centre-backs in the first three matches with Bellerin on their flank. And the Serb was inexplicably dropped against Liverpool? Good luck to Kieran Gibbs at West Brom, by the way.
At centre-back, questions abound. If fit, Koscielny plays. Around him, there is Mustafi (who apparently also asked to leave), Holding (whose confidence must have taken a knock over the past few weeks), Mertesacker (apparently as far away from the team as he was for almost all of last season), the two left backs (???) and the aforementioned Chambers; Gabriel having been sold.
Again, confusion reigns in every position. At least we know, now that The Ox has gone (£40m; thanks very much!), that Bellerin will be back in his proper position. And we know that Kos will start. As for the rest, who knows? I'm not even convinced that we're going to see the 3-5-2 again, and that the manager has ever been truly convinced by it. So it's impossible to predict the other 2/3 positions.
Bemusing.

In midfield lies the most glaring of omissions; the lack of a top-class man to shield the defence that was exposed time and time again at Anfield. Leaving aside the manager's total lack of clarity or acknowledgment of the threat likely to be posed on that particular day by the opposition, the fact that the matter was not addressed at all (again) during the Window is negligent in the extreme. Both Elneny and Coquelin can do a job there, but not to the required standard perhaps - although it's difficult to tell with Elneny because clearly Wenger isn't impressed (for what it's worth, I'd start him against Bournemouth; but what do I know?). Alongside him, I'm sure that he'll stick with Xhaka, despite his series of errors which have cost the side three goals so far this season. To be fair, if he's got nobody to pass to then he's going to be under pressure, and there's been little acknowledgment of the pressure he is often under when he receives the ball from his centre-backs. And I'd stick with Xhaka too, considering the alternatives. Which are: Coquelin; who one cannot partner with Elneny unless one is hell-bent on merely defending, Ramsey; who I'm sorry is NOT a central midfielder, Wilshere; who isn't fit enough, or the injured Cazorla. I'll say this yet again; this is an area of glaring omission and is inexcusable.
Negligent and utterly befuddling.

Up top, it's just as confusing. I still wake up at night in a cold sweat, trying to work out the thinking behind leaving Lacazette on the bench at Anfield. He simply must start. After that, nothing is clear or obvious. The Sanchez position must be addressed. One presumes that Ozil will play - he always does - and thereafter the question of Welbeck, Giroud or even Walcott needs to be addressed. Oh, and then there's Ramsey to consider...
Ideally, I'd pick Sanchez, Lacazette, Ozil; but this isn't anything close to an ideal situation. And there's more muddled thinking here. Does he play Ozil or Ramsey in the No 10 role, and two up top? Who are the best choices for the wide positions?
Confusing.

So here's the issue. There's no discernable plan. The squad seems to have been chucked together. The formation of choice isn't clear. Too many pegs don't fit into the holes. I defy 50 Arsenal fans sitting in a room together to agree on the best XI. We can't work it out, and clearly nor can the manager. Sure, inferior sides will often be beaten merely by the amount of sheer talent on the field, but that doesn't win you titles. Look around at Arsenal's (supposed) rivals, and it's easy to see the way they play and who drops into the required roles. Not Arsenal; not by a long chalk! The issue is that I can pretty much name Mourinho's preferred XI. And Conte's. And Pochettino's. Maybe not Guardiola's, though.

Add the manager's well-known stubborn streak, and the perverse decisions will no doubt continue. Over the past few years, one has at least been able to see some logic in many of the team selections and substitutions, despite mostly disagreeing with them. This year, I think that we're all at a loss to see any sense in quite a lot of what's been going on - especially in the last game.

And then there's the matter of the current state of mind of around half the squad, and the manager's ability to deal with them and assuage their doubts. From what I can see it's easier to name those players who DON'T have doubts at the moment, but those of most concern to me are Sanchez, Ozil, Bellerin, Mustafi and Xhaka.

I could talk about other stuff in more detail. Sanchez and Thomas Lemar. The much-maligned Ozil. What ever is going on with Mertesacker. Monreal and centre-back. Steve Bould. And more. But for the moment I think I'll stick to our friend Mr Kroenke.

I'll start with this graphic:

If the bare facts don't even speak for themselves, consider this.

Arsenal have won three FA Cups in the past 4 years. That much we, of course, know. The team have not mounted a serious challenge for the title or the Champions League since Kroenke's takeover. He bought a majority shareholding, but aside from that has not injected a single dime into the club.

Kroenke bought Colorado Rapids in 2004. They won the MLS Cup in 2010; however, they currently stink!

Kroenke bought Colorado Avalanche in 2000 and they won the Stanley Cup in 2001; it is fair to say that they did this on the back of what the previous regime had put into place. In the past 5 years, they made the play-offs just once and lost in the first round. They currently stink!

He purchased the Denver Nuggets in 2000 as well. Mirroring Arsenal's Champions League performances, they have lost in the first round of the play-offs in a total of 9 seasons since then, but did reach a single Division Final as well. They failed to make the play-offs in the past 4 seasons, and currently - yes, you've guessed it - stink!

Kroenke's Rams ownership is a tale of deceit. He bought the club in 2009, breaking US Sports cross-franchise rules hands down in the process, and was only allowed to go through with the purchase when he transferred ownership of all his other franchises - nominally at least - to his son, Josh. Having as part of the deal agreed to ensure that the club continued to develop and maintain their stadium, Kroenke failed to do so and, having run it down appallingly and played St Luis off against Los Angeles, used that clause to revoke use of the stadium and apply to re-locate the team to LA. St Louis was left with a $300m dollar bill to cover in outstanding payments, and Kroenke persuaded LA to build a new stadium for the Rams. Kroenke is so loathed in St Louis these days that most English Soccer fans now support Tottenham Hotspur in protest. He has - mirroring what he has done with Arsenal - not invested a dime of his own money in the Rams. They are currently one of the very worst teams in the NFL.

So here we have a man who is clearly not in it for anything but the money. US professional sport is a closed shop, with no relegation, and the money therefore just keeps rolling in. Therefore, he uses the same 'self-sustaining model' with these teams that Arsenal use. That maintains the cash flow and generates profit, but the teams have been performing appallingly in the past 4-5 years. All of them.

The warning signs for Arsenal are clear. In Europe , the ownership landscape has changed completely. Clubs are now owned by actual countries! Those with ambition are investing in a manner never before seen whilst Kroenke, who along with Wenger and Gazidis professes to being desperate for titles, does not do so. His current personal wealth is estimated at $7.5bn; so it's not as if he'll miss a few hundred million. In the meantime, the club managed to turn a profit - for goodness' sake! - in the Window.

It was Kroenke - happy with the financial status quo - who persuaded a reluctant Wenger to stay on. He - and a rapidly-shrinking minority of the fan base - have contributed to the mess the team is currently in. In many ways, I feel sorry for Wenger; he has misguidedly hung on for what he perceives as the good of the club, but has been badly advised and has been left behind by his peers over the past 10 years. But I don't feel sorry for Kroenke and the abuse he suffers - with more on its way. Not ever.

It is clear from this that there is no hope for Arsenal at the highest level whilst Mr Kroenke owns the majority shareholding in the club. Like Hicks and Gillette at Liverpool, he must go. Let's hound him out, like Liverpool fans (and the press) did. Goodness knows how, though.

Otherwise, Arsenal will indeed experience Villas-Boas' famous 'negative spiral'.

Public Enemy Number One. 

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!