Kevin Whitcher
I think the realisation that, after the defeat against Liverpool, the question I was asking myself was ‘How will we manage at Old Trafford now we’ve lost Emmanuel Frimpong?’ kind of sums up Arsenal’s situation right now. They are like a punch drunk fighter bouncing back off the ropes to receive another volley of blows. The early season form has not been encouraging, but the thing that must be remembered is that the team have now won two of their last thirteen league fixtures. It’s not the kind of run that suggests this is a start of season blip.
Arsenal were a little unfortunate to lose against Liverpool. The own goal was a bit of a fluke, although borne by attacking pressure, even though visitors were marginally offside in the build up. The second was scored late enough for it to be academic. Arsenal were in the game as long as they had eleven bodies on the pitch, not least due to Frimpong’s impressive work in the Alex Song position. However, indiscipline cost the club once more, and this seems to be becoming a regular habit. Sure, I like to see a bit of Frimpong’s passion and attitude, but it’s easy to go over the top. Controlled aggression is going to do his side more favours in the long run.
However, in spite of a few decent displays dotted around the side, Arsenal never really looked like a cohesive unit, and little wonder given the amount of absentees through injury, suspension and a desire to play somewhere else. There has been a lot of talk about this particular offering on Arsene Wenger and the board not seeing eye to eye, and some of it tallies with what I have heard, although I have never been party to the kind of forensic detail ‘Eduardo’ goes into. On one level, you can see the logic of the revelations to explain the current predicament. On another, you think – well if Wenger wanted to buy superstar players and pay them superstar wages, surely he wouldn’t waste half of his wage budget on some of the deadwood that have been collecting tens of thousands a week in return for very little at all. You can’t have it both ways. Pay Diaby what he’s worth and you can afford to match Chelsea’s wage deals for the names that count.
Juan Mata has been signed by Chelsea and in a competition to see who pays the highest wages, it’s a toss up between them and Man City. But the clubs funded by what Ivan Gazidis refers to as “petrodollars” cannot buy every player going. They have only so many squad places. This is where Arsenal’s scouting system should come into its own, spotting the genuine talent and acting quickly to secure it. And by talent I am talking about players in their early 20s who are obviously improving. It seemed to work in the early years of Wenger’s reign at the club, but it’s a policy that has been allowed to drift south towards genuine youths.
So we end up buying Cesc Fabregas – who was wonderful but did not stick around the fulfill Wenger’s dream – and Theo Walcott – who, if he does not sign a contract extension this season will have one more year left on his deal next summer. Knowing our luck, he’ll sign the bloody offer given to him and we’ll be lumbered with him for another four years. Oh glee. There’s an article in the current issue of The Gooner by Andreas Kokkinos which reveals that with Walcott on the pitch, Arsenal are more likely to score and less likely to concede. If ever that phrase about ‘lies, damn lies and statistics’ needed proof, there you have it. Theo might have scored Arsenal’s only goal of the season last Tuesday, but I’d venture the performance against Liverpool might be his worst ever in a Gunners' shirt. If he hasn’t got it by now, the reality is he’s never going to. Stick him in Team GB for London 2012 and see if he can do anything against Usain Bolt, although a bit of me thinks Theo’s actually lost some of his pace so it’s conceivable that even the one weapon he has might be on the wane.
Wenger may want to buy super quality whose wages the board won’t ratify on the basis that he only wants to improve on what he has in his first choice eleven, but I have news, as Alex Oxlade - Chamberlain’s great grandfather once said. It’s a squad game these days Arsene, not least because the London Colney sick bay is standing room only much of the time.
I actually felt a bit sad for the manager over the weekend. It’s slipping away and he knows it. Those who have watched a lot of football can see it. There is no coming back from this. Just as we knew the title was gone after the 2-2 at Birmingham back in 2008, the signs are all too familiar. Not only is drastic surgery required on the playing squad, a new approach is needed. Wenger has not proved able to adapt to the fact that the game has caught up with him and overtaken him. He can curse the petrodollars all he likes, but he decided not to stump up the cash for Xabi Alonso in the summer of 2008 and he refused to buy a centre back in January. He kept Manuel Almunia at the club for seven years, when he’d have lasted six weeks at Old Trafford.
The Fabregas departure was always going to come, but it doesn’t soften the blow one bit. There, in one fell swoop, went Wenger’s dream of building a third great side to dominate football. You can afford to lose a Hleb here and a Flamini there, no problem. But once the crown jewels start walking out the door, you are left looking around at the reasons they could not wait to join a winning team.
Arsenal are a team in decline. There is a sense of malaise at the club and amongst supporters. Many feel they are about to get another dose of the early 1980s again, with Fabregas and Nasri as the equivalents of Brady and Stapleton. The only way the board can arrest the slide is to change the manager and get in someone who can motivate this group of players to perform better as a unit. The promptings of Vermaelen and Van Persie are cries in the wilderness. Half of the team will no longer pass willingly to Theo Walcott because the outcome has become so predictable. This time next week, Arsenal could be out of the Champions League and in the relegation zone. How the mighty have fallen…
