Kevin Whitcher
Remember Liverpool away? Southampton at home? The sun shone and optimism was in the air. The team was coming together, the defence looked better, people were looking forward to improvement this season. An actual title challenge was even talked about. Then what happened? Out went Szczesny, Gibbs and Diaby and now Oxlade-Chamberlain. In came Mannone, Santos, Coquelin and Ramsey. And the conclusion is… below the first choice players the squad is wafer thin. Who are these players? What have they achieved? It’s hardly Edu, Sylvain Wiltord and Kanu is it? Or dear old Oleg Luzhny.
So the policy of parsimony is bearing fruit. Who needs to splash the cash for Vertonghen when you can have Andre Santos? Don’t buy Hugo Lloris because if might impact on the first choice keeper’s confidence. Arsenal looked ragged against Schalke, who were fully worthy of their win, and played much better football. They could have scored more. Andre Santos was exposed time and again at left back – a side of Arsenal’s defence that opposition teams have focussed upon even when Gibbs is in the team. As at Norwich (and I am writing without the benefit of having seen any TV replays except during the game on the stadium screen) it appeared he played the opposition onside for the first goal. Assuming Gibbs has not recovered and Bacary Sagna is now fit, the latter should be drafted in to play left back on Saturday. He has the number 3 shirt anyway.
Up front, the Gunners were devoid of any creativity, limited easily by the visitors. Apparently they had five goal attempts in the 90 minutes, with just the one on target. Woeful. On the back of the Norwich performance, this was especially shocking. Not only is the quality lacking –players such as Cazorla and Podolski suddenly turn mediocre when the team is weakened – but there is nothing in the way of hunger or will to win. No-one seems to be busting a gut. Where was the reaction after Norwich? The Gervinho debate should surely be over after yesterday evening. He’s hopeless. A percentage footballer, like Walcott. Put him on the pitch enough and you will get something from him by the law of averages, but half the time he will beat himself. When an opportunity presents itself, he doesn’t go for it, but prefers to cut back and beat a man he has already got past. Why?
The only bright spots I can recall were Mertesacker trying to lead by example, and the late substitute Gnabry, who looked as if he should have entered the fray much earlier, arguably in place of Gervinho at half time with Podolski switching to the middle. It could not have been any worse.
Hopefully, the timing of this display, and the mass exit of the majority of the crowd when the visitors scored their second goal, will impact somehow on Stan Kroenke, who sat in the directors’ box next to Peter Hill-Wood. He will have witnessed that the man he has stated has a job for life may be able to make profit, but can’t produce a trophy-challenging team anymore. The club look to be in decline, with many comparing it to the early 1980s and the fag end of Terry Neill’s days. We are seeing the too many rank bad performances, minus motivation, season after season. Somehow, the stadium is still selling out, but more and more season ticket holders are simply not bothering to show up. Certainly, the accounts demonstrate that the club are finding the corporate boxes a harder sell. Surely, that will have to spread to the ‘cheaper’ seats (and I use the word in the sense of comparison!). And the day Arsenal fail to qualify for the Champions League has to be getting nearer. One senses that this season, the club may be reliant on Spurs choking as they did last time around to secure fourth spot.
The AGM takes place this morning. The only questions the chairman will answer are likely to be those which have been pre-submitted, with none taken from the floor, and as last year, it is difficult to envisage Arsene Wenger accepting any questions after his speech, if he even decides to turn up this year – and remember, he is under no obligation to. The 2012 AGM was notable for its fractious mood and catcalling. It wasn’t a pleasant atmosphere, and after the last two matches, the knowledge that the club are sitting on between £50-£60 million unused in the player trading account is not going to improve feelings. So although there will be an attempt at controlling the discontent, it would be naïve to think that it can be totally contained. Of course with Kroenke holding over 50% of the shares, it’s all meaningless. He is the man taking the decisions. One he must be bold enough to take is that the current manager will not be offered an extension to his contract. Arsene Wenger has money he could have spent to improve matters on the field, but his refusal to pay the going rate means players such as the two Schalke goalscorers last night end up plying their trade elsewhere. Would you rather have Huntelaar or Chamakh in the squad? Affelay or Gervinho?
QPR are without a win this season and visit on Saturday. Can you imagine? There is perhaps a chink of light. A few more defeats between now and the end of November could make the manager’s position untenable. The board would have trouble extending his stay if the season did collapse completely. Many have acknowledged for a while now that Wenger’s powers are waning. Perhaps it would be best for everybody if the board acknowledged that and we could all move on. At least try something different, as this is only working financially at present. The idea of a trophy seems very, very distant right now, because squads win trophies, and the last two matches have shown that Arsenal’s isn’t deep enough. Scratch the surface and there ain’t much below. Just paying players huge amounts of money does not make them good. Motivation and organisation can make them better, but there doesn’t seem to be too much of that around at the moment.
I’ll end with some texts received yesterday evening…
“Watching on a dodgy stream but Ramsey’s Hollywood passes, Gervinho’s dive, poor defending and sloppiness all too clear.”
“No pride, no effort, no clue. The expected response to the no-show at Norwich. Simply indefensible.”
“Will the last AKB in the building please turn out the light”
The 25th anniversary edition of The Gooner will still be on sale for the home matches v QPR. It can also be bought online here. There is also an e-version of the issue available to read on your ipad/tablet/iphone/android. The app is free and you can download the first few pages of each issue as a taster before deciding whether or not to purchase the whole thing
