Pradeep Kachhala
One of the saddest moments in George Orwell's famous book, "Animal Farm", is when Boxer, the horse that was an allegory for Stalin's stakhanovite loyal labourers, was put out to pasture and sent to the glue factory. Boxer was once a mighty worker on the farm but in his latter years, try as he might, was no longer the force of his youth. Sunday, was perhaps the moment when our own version of Boxer, Arsène Wenger, for so long a great servant of this club, saw his time coming to an end.
Wenger has always maintained that he would remain at the club as long as the fans wanted him, and that he wouldn't outstay his welcome. I, for as long as I can recall, have been in the "Arsène knows best" camp. Today I switch my allegiances - the tipping point was bringing on an unmotivated Arshavin to replace the splendid Chamberlain. However, it was the first-half performance, where we were totally dominated by an average Man Utd side, that left me feeling that we can no longer compete at the top with current management in charge. Djourou, who was awful in the first half, was exposed as a non-right-back time and time again. This is Wenger's fault, for, just as last summer when he reacted too late to make signings, we have been waiting four weeks for a left-back to be signed. The manager is no longer pro-active in the transfer market. Such carelessness is now a liability.
Yes, we have had injuries, but so have Utd amongst others. But this should not absolve the manager for putting out a team at home that did not turn up in the first half. Experiments have failed, such as Walcott, who yesterday looked far from a footballer. Time and time again, his decisions were awful. Whether we achieve fourth place or not, the time is now for a change. This change should not be just at the manager level, but among the senior coaching staff, medical team and the board, who have sat in their comfort zone for the past three years, when our regression has been masked by appearances in the Champions League.
The Online Ed made an apt point at the last podcast, where he stated that Spurs, with a smaller stadium and tighter budget, can compete with the best, yet we no longer can. It is a depressing state of affairs when your nearest rivals go to the Etihad and are in a whisker of being real title-contenders.
Who would join Arsenal as the manager? I would be in favour of Steve Bould being promoted to assistant, with Pep Guardiola coming in to replace Wenger. Now before I get slated in the talkback below, should Barça lose out to Madrid in La Liga, the Barcelona manager, who is a big fan of English football and only signs one-year rolling contracts at the Catalan club, may feel the time is right for a move abroad. Or maybe even Capello, Hitzfeld or van Gaal? Perhaps wait until Euro 2012 is over to see who may be available? Put short, there are plenty of capable managers out there who could steady the AFC ship back in the right direction. Failing that, take a punt on Bergkamp, who is doing his coaching badges in Holland. Just please change something in the summer.
Let’s look at the positives: we have a 60,000-seat stadium, a healthy balance sheet and promising youngsters coming through our system. This is Arsenal Football Club, bigger than any manager or player, and when we do (no longer ‘if’ in my view) appoint a new boss, the foundations are truly there to build a new era. Perhaps the likes of Usmanov, Dein and Bould can step up and see through a new pair of eyes how this great club can go forward, but one thing is for certain: the Wenger Way is coming to an end.
Finally, next weekend sees the visit of a resurgent Villa in the FA Cup. Another loss wouldn't bear thinking and could bring the curtains down on Wenger's tenure sooner than we thought...
