Charles Brooker
One of the few press conferences that sticks in the mind was when Sir Alex Fergusson had to answer questions about Rooney wanting to leave. It felt like he had become a frail old man genuinely hurt by his star wanting to leave. It was all just one of his games that once again meant he got his own way, pounding Max Clifford in the process. Arsène Wenger has recently had his own moment like that at Villa Park a month ago, sadly he didn’t come through it with the same masterful swagger of Ferguson. He just seemed like a beaten old man bereft of any answer to the criticism of his substitution by the fans, against a team our rivals have scored bucket loads against. While he came out of the exchange quite well he seemed a broken man. Not the quirky French professor, giving a cheeky arrogant ‘I told you so’ smile. Beating Reading and Wigan seems to be fooling too many people and our league position is enormously flattering.
When the greatest manager in a club’s history is beginning to be questioned, it becomes an emotional decision. It is an almost winless situation. He came, he revolutionised, he conquered, he went unbeaten, he constructed, he lingered, he stagnated. Pushing all emotion out of the decision is what has to be done.
While Arsenal have scrapped a Champions League place for a number of seasons, while presenting a healthy profit and therefore probably meeting the brief the manager is given by his employers, the situation has become a ticking time bomb of abject failure. The stubborn Gaul has a number of pitchside pitfalls –
• The refusal to address tactics, essentially the 4-2-3-1 is the same formation that has frustrated since 2007 when it was called a 4-5-1. It just doesn’t work.
• Ignoring the opposition and just playing the same system smacks of total arrogance. It is why Arsenal have become so easy to stop playing, just man mark the midfield. If Barca study their opponents and adapt surely Arsenal need to too.
• Zonal Marking. How many points have to be dropped before it is accepted that it does not work?
• The obsession with playing players out of position. It killed Arshavin’s career and just isn’t fair.
• Not playing players on form. This isn’t fair either. Ramsey is having his confidence drained with every match he is forced to play. He was going to be a true great, now he would barely scrape into the Fulham side.
• Not rotating adequately hence the periods of abject form and niggly injuries.
• His berating of the 4th official. When will he realise it does nothing and if anything just means Arsenal will get fewer decisions in future and looks pathetic.
That is not to mention the problems off the pitch –
• Contracts are not being dealt with. The loss of Flamini should have been the final straw before things got sorted. It keeps happening and the loss of Walcott will be the final nail in the coffin.
• The wage structure is an absolute mess, making transferring players and contract negotiations a nightmare. It is only getting worse too.
• Over-reliance of players with incredibly poor injury records. Diaby and Rosicky are excellent players but are costing a fortune and also tying up places in the squad limit.
• He has started saying some pretty concerning things in press conferences and interviews.
• He looks unwell, as someone who has been one of the true legends at the club this is particularly unpleasant.
The things that made Arsène Wenger such a great coach have started to ebb away. His transfer activity used to be inspired, picking up unknowns and turning them into the world’s greatest. The last one he can take the credit for is Bacary Sagna. All the other big names were purchased for more than £10 million or were already established players. The exciting football has died on its arse, passing around the edge of the opponent’s box isn’t exciting, it is frustrating.
What is really keeping Mr Wenger in a job is the inertia caused by fear of change. Appointing a new manager will mean a number of factors have to be addressed.
Management Structure
Mr Wenger is famously incredibly hands on, he controls everything including the matchday travel plans. This was manageable a decade ago but Arsenal’s move to Ashburton Grove has been the metaphorical move from a successful decent sized club to an elite footballing superpower (“Arsènal: The Making of a Modern Superclub” is a great book on this subject). This growth has been where the problems lie.
Arsenal is too big a club for a single person to try and run everything so looking into all of these potential methods of running the club will dictate the choice of manager who will replace him. It all points to the possibility of a Director of Football which has been a bit of a Damien Comolli shaped disaster in the Premiership. Ivan Gazidis may be able to do this quite successfully but the unfortunate chants of “Ivan Gazidis, what the f*** do you do?” – a bit unfair because the man under him has total control of the club. Opening a David Dein can of worms would be a waste of time.
Richard Law is apparently in charge of transfers and contracts, he would have to be evicted promptly too. Since he joined the club, every transfer has been an incredibly painful and unpleasant experience resulting in days of tedium and ultimately the pants of the club being pulled down. Apparently Arsenal missed out on Juan Mata because Law was in South America trying to sign Costa Rican prodigy Joel Campbell (currently on loan at Real Betis).
A Suitable Replacement
This is the big one. Who do you bring in? Who wants it? When looking at a new manager you need a specification. Not a trophy list, it is horses for courses. Arsenal need someone to grab the team by the short and curlies and pull up suddenly, while building a sustainable foundation. Not someone like Josè Mourinho who can create a great team with an unlimited budget.
Pep Guardiola - There are rumblings that Pep is keen on it. Is he the most overrated manager in history? He has an indisputable trophy collection both as a player and a manager. Barca have a mould that effectively continually promotes through the club with players and managers. Proof of this is how naturally Tito Vilanova has seamlessly taken over the ship. When Guardiola became Barca head coach he inherited a squad with Valdes, Puyol, Milito, Xavi, Iniesta, E'Eto, Henry and Messi, an unlimited budget and 100% supporter backing. Forgive me if I am wildly over exaggerating but could Mark Hughes not win things with that squad? Guardiola has no experience of building a squad, of fixing a squad or developing a team. He was effectively a custodian of Barcelona. While his style of football would suit the squad he would inherit, it may well be an expensive disaster.
Any Bundesliga/German manager – Germans are fashionable; the Bundesliga is cool, with their atmosphere and crazy standing up fans oh and organisation. The Arsenal defence would be drilled into the ground, it could be devastating for them as they might get zonal marking literally kicked out of them, clean sheets might not have to be at the expense of removing all attacking options. Jürgen Klopp seems to be rightfully in vogue too with what he is doing at Dortmund but would that be a step down in his career? Huub Stevens (Dutch) at Schalke might be a possibility but like Guardiola they are a risk. German football is not something I claim to know much about so I am relying on hearsay and The Guardian Football Weekly Podcast!
David Moyes – Everton supporters will be devastated about this but he is the ideal candidate, he ticks all of the boxes. Premiership experience, working within the constraints of a budget, getting the most out of players, excellent scouting network, the ability to evolve that Wenger has lacked for so long and he might be able to bring his enormous mad Belgian to fill the hole in the team Arsenal are desperate for. People say that Moyes might not be able to cope with a big club but if Brendan Rogers can manage Liverpool, anything is possible. I say give him a chance. He might be able to return some of the good will to Arsenal that has vanished over the last few years. He is one of the few managers who is a likeable person. If he was to be picked he would need to be kept under control to start with and the management structure may well prove to be a problem but he has adapted to far bigger problems working with Everton on a shoestring.
The Current Squad
There is undoubtedly a very talented 1st XI in N5 but issues certainly need to be addressed in terms of the squad. Most obviously the wage structure - Wenger has tried to create sees the star players paid considerably less than they would be at other top clubs but the wage bill is enormous because of the likes of Bendtner, Denilson, Djourou and Squillaci – all xreportedly earning over £50k a week. To put this into context this is considerably more than Oscar is being paid as a 1st XI Chelsea player. Because they have been given these massive ridiculous contracts they are impossible to shift on and this would make it near impossible for a new manager to make their mark on the squad.
The People who really matter
The Arsenal board of directors adore Mr Wenger for good reason, he has been very good to them, he has laid them all a pretty spectacular golden egg. This has bought him enormous good will and there was talk of it being a job for life. Stan Kroenke is also taken by him, Ivan Gazidis was allegedly shortlisted by Wenger, meaning he chose his own boss. They are dinosaurs with no footballing knowledge between them and incapable of making a decision that will benefit the club.
The inspired decision to bring Wenger in was made by a board of people who cared deeply about the club but the likes of Dein and Fiszman have not been replaced by executives with a shred of footballing knowledge.
In conclusion, while Arsène Wenger has been a true Arsenal legend he has undoubtedly become incredibly stagnant and with a heavy heart I think it is time he should leave. This has to be done before he gets his hands on the ‘transfer warchest’ created by the new sponsorship deal or Mr Wenger might just pump Serge Gnabry, Jernade Meade and Ignasi Miquel’s contract up to £50,000 a week. We are too late to undo the extravagant contracts for Ramsey, Chamberlain and Gibbs. It all has to be done quickly, it may seem brutal but a clean break is the most important thing. The change of manager needs to bring in a new start for the club with a new infrastructure so the replacement (hopefully David Moyes) can have a fresh start.
Sorry Mr Wenger
