Gary Humphrey
With the possible exception of the much esteemed gentleman who has written excellent articles under various guises, including the Highbury Spy, I have probably been one of Arsene Wenger's most consistent detractors. Wenger was once much admired as a master tactician, but recently he has lost his way in this respect. His inevitable response to a lack of goals is to send on Bendtner or Rosicky in about the 72nd.minute; always too little too late. I used to love his banter and witty comments to the media, but nowadays I just cringe at his ridiculous comments about not seeing incidents. His myopia with regard to seeing action a few yards in front of him and his plain inability to watch the frailties of his own club are a growing concern. His only course of action in times of stress this season has been to kick or throw the water bottle like a petulant school kid; hardly the behaviour of a rational, competent manager. You get well paid to behave like that Arsene, and the fans are the mugs who have to watch your increasingly petulant behaviour and pay for it both financially and in terms of a lack of trophies.
My pent up frustration doesn't just go back a couple of years; indeed my annoyance really began in the 2003-04 season. Many of you will immediately respond "But we were unbeaten that season". That much is true, and it was an incredible achievement and one which cannot ever be beaten - maybe possibly equalled one day, but never bettered. However, my belief is that in that particular season this great club should have re-written the record books for all time. The lamentable lack of ambition shown in domestic cup competitions in recent seasons has been depressing. We were defeated in both the League Cup and FA Cup semi-finals with what I would suggest were less than ambitious team selections. Also, on one of the most disappointing nights of my life, we went out of the Champions League to an inferior Chelsea team, when the competition was there for the taking.
I still cannot understand this policy of "resting" players for big matches if we then fail to reach those big matches because players have been rested. I am sick of hearing about players on mega bucks wages being tired; I don't recall the boys of 1970-71 who had a 64 game campaign bleating about being tired. They got on with the job and had an incredible team spirit, something sadly lacking in Arsenal in recent years. For the record, Wilson, Rice, McNab, McLintock, Armstrong, Storey, Radford and Kennedy all put in over 60 game shifts that season; one can only speculate how many games they would have been allowed to play in under the present managerial regime.
I first sat down to write this article on Cup Final day in May, but realised that I could not then be objective with my writings. I was so angry and frustrated at seeing the club I love so much, publicly humiliated again by seemingly falling apart having promised so much for so long. I reasoned to myself that if I waited so that I could assess the close season signings and departures, I would be able to write a more balanced view on matters at the club. However, with the club now on an arduous pre-season tour of Asia, there are still no major signings as I write and the ridiculous uncertainty over who is staying and who is going rumbles on.
Personally, I do not like Mr Ferguson's abrasive manner, but he does his job well. If he sees a weakness in the team he sells the problem player and buys a suitable replacement. This summer, he saw his main targets and got on and signed them. No long speculative dithering which unsettles other clubs and the players involved. No, he simply gets on with his job making the signings required and clearing out the under achievers. No room for sentiment with him and he keeps an open mind about further possible signings should the opportunity arise. Then he can have some days at the golf, races or whatever knowing his close season job has been done well.
Contrast that with the situation at Arsenal. After one of the most disappointing seasons in the entire history of the club, all we get from our manager is inactivity on all fronts. We all know that the club desperately needs to make signings, we all know that Arsene needs to resolve the Fabregas situation, we all know that a constant failing has been for the manager to allow player's contracts to run down and talks take place too late to resolve the situation. We all know that there are some woefully underperforming players on the books at present who need to be sold as soon as possible. Yes, we all know these things, but the one man who can do anything about it is conspicuous by his apparent complete inability to do anything about the situation.
How many more years will we be asked to "Judge me in May"? Well I have been judging you in May for several years now mate and you have been judged a failure; you are not doing your job properly and I simply cannot understand why you are allowed to carry on in this ineffective manner. We are asked to have faith and belief and to pay top notch ticket prices, top merchandise prices, ridiculous prices for catering in the ground, etc., etc., but still we have to put up with this stagnant period of failure.
We put up with it because we love Arsenal football club, but I have never been as despondent about the club as I am now. I first saw the Gunners on a magical night under the lights in 1967 against Liverpool and I simply adore the club and avidly collect anything and everything I can to do with the club. There have been some mediocre seasons since then, but I have never seen my enthusiasm for the club dwindle as much as at present. The most frustrating thing is that Arsene has done 90% of the work and yet for some reason he simply doesn't go on to finish the job.
Quite honestly, to produce the standard of football seen at times over the past couple of seasons and yet win nothing tangible in the form of trophies is a disgrace. We could all see where the gaps were in the squad, we were led to believe money was available for signings and yet the squad remains largely unchanged, frustrated and de-motivated. Arsene may be happy to finish fourth in the Premiership each season, but I am more ambitious than that and I believe someone at the club needs to bring this stubborn man into line now. I am grateful for what you have done in the past Monsieur Wenger, we had some great times but you have failed to keep pace with the changes elsewhere. You have sat back content to see the "Arsene knows best" flags fluttering and you have rested on your laurels. Had you done your job properly last summer and made a couple of quality signings in defence and sorted out the goalkeeping situation earlier, then we would almost certainly have ended the trophy drought. As it is, with your continued lack of action, the turmoil continues.
We need action and we need it now. No more waiting to the last minute of the transfer window. Get on and do your job now. Sort out the Fabregas and Nasri messes now. Don't let these uncertainties carry on destabilising everything, deal with them, it is your job. The clue is in the job title... Manager, the definition of which is a person who manages, so get on with it. Then, stop messing everyone about over signing players. Identify who you need; if you need a hand then a simple shopping list of a decent back –up goalie, two quality central defenders, full back cover, a quality striker and whatever new midfielders are required to replace Fabregas / Nasri assuming they are allowed to drift away, should do to begin with.
Perhaps more of a problem for you will be to clear the sinking ship of driftwood. You have consistently stood by some players despite their obvious inability to perform for the club at the level required. As you seem unable to identify these under achievers, I will do this for you. This should be your job, but I don't mind you using this list as a template towards success. Almunia and Fabianski have not been good enough and never will be. The continued playing of these two misfits has cost us dearly in recent seasons. To top all of your failures to understand goalkeeping, you brought Mad Jens back to the club this year. If he was judged to be surplus to requirements some seasons back, how can you defend signing him now? Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but was this a forward step?
Koscielny and Squillaci were bought to bolster up the defence alongside the impressive Vermaelen. Unfortunately, their limitations were very exposed last year and urgent replacements are required in this department. Arsene has a history of miserable failures in central defence; Cygan, Stepanovs and even Senderos spring to mind and as for the re-signing of a bloated Sol Campbell, don't even get me started. The fact that he looked halfway decent when he played just shows the size of the problems in this department.
If Nicklas Bendtner was a quarter as good as he thinks he is, then I would advocate keeping him. He gets occasional quality and valuable goals, but is woefully inconsistent and will simply never become the player we need. Sell him now whilst at least he and his father think he is a footballer worth having. Carlos Vela is an unnecessary luxury. What we need is someone to put the ball in the net, not try outrageous lobs and flicks. He is no longer required in N5. The most definite seat booked for the departure bus is for Denilson. How on earth is he still at the club? He has scored a couple of terrific goals, but his ridiculously lazy way of jogging back when teams counter attack has cost us dear so many times. He must go.
Mercifully Man City have signed Gael Clichy who has become a liability in recent seasons and one can only hope that Gibbs will stay fit enough to step in. However, I suspect Gibbs is a bit lightweight and he needs to go to the gym with Alex Song and toughen himself up a bit. It clearly has worked for Song who, apart from his annoying disciplinary problems, continues to excel.
Another player who needs to go is Eboue, who sadly cannot perform at the level required. However, I wish this guy's love for the club and enthusiasm could be bottled up and passed on to other Arsenal players who clearly need to develop some team spirit and loyalty. The jury remains out on the likes of Abou Diaby. An imposing, almost impressive runner with the ball and yet year after year he disappoints. Another woeful under achiever is Rosicky who has so much talent and ability but simply cannot produce the goods when asked. Surely he has had enough chances now? Then there is the enigma that is Andrey Arshavin; undoubtedly a genius, but another who is terribly inconsistent. On his top form he is a world beater, but too often he is a waste of a shirt.
Of the rest, Sagna should continue to be trusted. Walcott must be given another year to try and show us what he really is capable of. I love Aaron Ramsey's indomitable spirit and hope he establishes himself as a first team regular. The Fabregas and Nasri situations need to be resolved, but obviously if they are in the right frame of mind to play football for Arsenal, they are vital team members... but that is a big IF. Vermaelen will be a most welcome sight back in the team. Van Persie is a great player and deserves better service. Song would now be the first name on my team sheet and I wouldn't have said that three seasons back! Young Jack has the look of a future club captain about him. However, he needs a fatherly arm from a decent manager to keep his discipline in check on and off the field. Djourou will remain at best a squad player. He is not top class but can fill in when required. Chamakh is a bit of a mystery man. He looked really impressive when he first arrived. I like his style, but his game has drifted away. I believe there may be reasons outside the game for this, but from all points of view I hope he can find his true form again. There is a really good goal scorer in there somewhere.
So there you go Arsene. I have sorted the players out you need to sell. Identified where in the team needs strengthening. Over to you now to sort out these matters quickly. Remember how early the season starts and we need a team that at least knows each other before then, otherwise there is a danger we could be in big trouble by the end of August. Enough is enough, we supporters have suffered too many false dawns and broken promises. Now do your job and manage!
