Kevin Whitcher
You can weigh up the arguments about the psychological damage of the last fortnight. Three cup exits and two dropped points at home to Sunderland in the league. But ultimately, the moment Arsenal’s season definitively hit the buffers was the instant Johan Djourou dislocated his shoulder. The central defensive partnership of Koscielny and Squillaci has not served the team well this season, and there is no reason to assume it’s suddenly going to improve now.
In January, Arsene Wenger took a gamble on one of two things happening before the end of the season. Thomas Vermaelen returning to match action or Johan Djourou remaining fit. Still, I have good news. There is something in the region of £40 million in Arsene Wenger’s player trading account. 70% of the profits from the Highbury Square development have to go into this pot of money for the manager to strengthen the team with spending on transfers and player wages. If it remains untouched and continues to grow, it enhances the value of the club, so that come the time Danny Fiszman and Stan Kroenke decide to cash in, their shareholdings will be worth substantially more, as a buyer will immediately have millions to splash on players. So Arsenal may have a p*ss poor central defensive partnership with which to see out the season, but the two directors who between them control the club have made a sound investment and their kids will never have to work a day in their lives. Who needs trophies? Quite what benefits Arsene Wenger gains from this aside from a fat wage for winning nothing I am uncertain, but I imagine, come the day he departs, his golden handshake will probably be able to buy a season ticket one year for most of those currently residing in the lower tier. I have more good news. Expect ticket prices to rise this summer. The club are going to make even more money next year.
Fans would rather see profits spent on the field. However, the board, the Arsenal Supporters Trust are constantly informing us, are custodians of the club. I see them as investors. (Someone from the Trust has subsequently emailed to tell me – ‘The AST doesn’t always say the Arsenal Board are custodians, we say it is what the Board and ownership structure should be. Important difference’) There is all this talk about self-sustainability and a good business model, but here’s some news for you. We could have bought both a decent centre back and quality cover for Alex Song either last summer or in January and still had money in the bank. The club’s lack of ambition for anything more than enhancing its financial value has been exposed by the injury to a key player for whom there is no sufficient first team back up.
Yes, I know we are three points off the lead with a game in hand, but please look at the stats. When Squillaci and Koscielny are paired, Arsenal struggle. The team can get away with one of these two partnering Djourou or Vermaelen, but together they are a complete disaster. And whilst I am on the subject, could someone please teach Kieran Gibbs to defend? The way he was left for dead for United’s second goal had me hiding behind the sofa by the time it was replayed on the box. I don’t blame Gibbs, I blame the coaching methods. Arsenal don’t do defence.
The Gunners have been knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona and the FA Cup by Manchester United at Old Trafford (even with a midfield consisting of two full backs, John O’Shea and a midfielder from the stiffs… and no Rio Ferdinand). There is no disgrace in this. The disgrace is that – having seen Vermaelen break down several times in his attempts to play again – the manager took the decision to try and get through the season with three centre backs that are only any use as long as Johan Djourou (historically injury prone) is one of those taking the field. I guess if your glass is half full you can argue that he might be back in a month’s time and that by 12 April the club will only have had to play fixtures away to West Brom, Blackpool and at home to Blackburn. The injury looked worse than that, but time will tell.
Of course Arsenal can still win the title, but as always happens, too many injuries mean too many back up players and – in spite of this being Arsene Wenger’s best ever squad (ahem) – this will lead to points being dropped. I think now that the title decider is probably Chelsea’s visit to United on 7th May. Certainly United’s visit to north London the weekend before is now a gimme for Ferguson’s men. I apologise for being defeatist, but I am afraid we have seen this all before. Great chances to win the title in 2008 and 2010 were undone by too many back-up players being called upon and cheap points being dropped. The back-up boys are not winners, and the first teamers that remain are not strong enough to carry them. Hell, in 1998, there was enough in the team to see the job through in spite of relying on Christopher Wreh to play up front. I won’t bother listing the players that were not automatic first choices in 2002 and 2004, but there was genuine quality in depth there.
Now we have Abou Diaby. Ian Tanner, who I consider very much a believer in what Arsene Wenger is trying to do, texted me during the game to state, ‘Diaby is a lazy c***’, I think just after the second goal had gone in. He also construed to lose possession on a regular basis. Others who should never get anywhere near the first team are Denilson, Rosicky and Eboue. That Arsenal need to call on such players when the going gets tough is the reason they have won nothing since 2005. I am prepared to accept that fatigue from the amount of chasing done at the Nou Camp may provide a mitigating factor for some of the poor passing at Old Trafford, but what I cannot work out is this. Jack Wilshere ran his socks off in Spain and did the same against Manchester United. If he is capable of doing that, they why aren’t the likes of Diaby, Denilson and Arshavin? Wilshere gets fed up of the tip tap football he is coached to play and actually has the revolutionary idea of trying to take players on and beat them. Additionally, even if Van Persie was wearing the armband, the leader on the field – even when Fabregas is present – is Jack Wilshere. Yes, a 19-year-old kid. What has the world come to when Arsenal Football Club’s chosen eleven are being shown what commitment, drive, passion and determination mean by a teenager. It truly is a sad state of affairs.
I cannot blame the manager for picking the best available side. If he had played the stiffs, we all know the kind of performance we would have witnessed. He did the right thing there. However, to claim misfortune in regard of Djourou’s injury when he had the opportunity to address the likelihood he would lose the number 20 at some point in the January window smacks to me of poor decision-making. The manager is paid £120,000 a week to make decisions that seem blindingly obvious to even the most casual Gooner. I can live with an FA Cup exit away to United if I knew there was quality to replace an injured centre-back. There isn’t.
The combination of the injuries to Szczesny and Djourou will account for Arsenal this season. Yes, I know the Spanish waiter has had two decent games, but we all know what lies around the corner. Add to that the manager’s refusal to play his best option (Nasri) in Fabregas’ position when the captain is unavailable. I know that on paper we have everything to play for, but the contrast between Wilshere’s attitude and that of so many of his team-mates is marked and worrying. There were AKBs who genuinely believed Arsenal could win the quadruple after the win over Barcelona. They will be writing in the comments section below to state that we can still win the league and that I should stop moaning. But how many times can what will happen this season be allowed to be repeated? It’s like Groundhog Day. The answer is a good few seasons yet unless people stop renewing their season tickets and the club fails to replace them. That is some way off happening yet. Wenger will never be dispensed with by the current board because he has made them rich and is making them richer. The fans pay a lot of money and on occasion are served up dross. But as long as they show the willingness to continue to pay for it, they will continue to witness it.
Abou Diaby is dross. Maybe his injury in 2006 is the reason things never worked out, but as a football player, he belongs somewhere else. He is the polar opposite of Jack Wilshere and if the manager had any balls he would drop him forthwith and sell him to whichever mug will take him in the summer. But you know what, like a stain you can’t get rid of, he’ll be lining up in the squad photo in August. And that is why, under Arsene Wenger, we will never win either the Champions League or another title. There are simply no longer enough winners amongst the playing staff and the manager refuses to replace those lacking the desire to go the extra mile. Look how hard Wayne Rooney worked in this game and compare with Andrey Arshavin. There are too many coasting at the club.
The plain fact is that – even with this group of players – a different manager could get more out of them. Wenger has done wonderful things for the club, and financially, continues to do so. Economically, they could not be making much more, it is only by replacing the long term sponsorship deals that they are tied to where growth is possible. However, on the honours count – which is what matters more to supporters – his time is gone. It is like Chinese water torture watching hope turn into despair. And the worst thing is that I realized this evening that I really don’t care very much about a lot of these players. There are exceptions, but overall there is a malaise. A lacklustre feeling. The club are trying to do something with the motto from the old days “Forward Arsenal” in their marketing. On the field, it’s “Sideways Arsenal”. Hell, we can’t even win the Tinpot Cup.
Look at William Gallas at Spurs. He cares again. Towards the end at Arsenal, he was surrounded by too many slackers who he felt did not seem to care enough about winning things. So he became frustrated with them and hence unpopular. If that is what happens when you have a winner in the camp, it’s a terrible indictment of the culture the manager has created. It’s horrible to admit it, but mentally, Spurs are better equipped to win things than Arsenal under their respective managers. But I fully expect to hear Wenger state that his players have the mental strength to go from here and win the title. But they don’t and they won’t. Deep down we all know that the last fortnight has destroyed the players’ confidence. The run-in suggests the Premier League is there for the taking, but the team made hard enough work of Sunderland at home.
I’ll end with a text from Pete Mountford – ‘In a parallel world, the board would move heaven and earth to get Mourinho this summer. Not our lot. How much more of this Groundhog Day can we take?' Pete, how long have you got mate?
