Bard
Take Messi out of Barça and put him in an Arsenal shirt, and you would put your money on us winning the title. His ability to score between one and three goals a game makes the rest of a team’s weaknesses largely irrelevant. We've had our share of those players that make the difference - Henry, Dennis, Paddy. Wenger built a team initially around Graham's old guard but allied to one or more of those players. You don't need a complicated game-plan when you have those kinds of players in the side. You could argue that the project culminated in the 2003/4 'Invincibles'.
Times moves on. The old philosophy and ideals are no longer relevant. Jack might grow to be one of those greats, but it's surely wishful thinking to believe that, further down the line, probably when he's in his prime, one of the big-hitters is not going to entice him with an offer he can't refuse. Why wouldn't you want to at least double your wages? As things stand, we are not going to be able to compete with the transfers/wages on offer either now or in the foreseeable future. I won't get into the arguments about FFP; suffice it to say I would be very surprised if the likes of City, Chelsea, RM and Barça haven't already covered that base.
George Graham commented not so long ago that he didn't think Arsenal would ever win the title again (later retracted, I know). But from where I stand, that unpalatable truth is what is driving all the frustration and upset among the fans. We are like passengers on the Titanic. Wenger and the Board attempt to reassure us that all will be fine when it’s obvious that, while we are not going to disappear into the abyss, we are a million miles from ever competing at the top table. We are sliding inexorably into mediocrity, neither good enough to play the old Arsenal way, nor able to roll our sleeves up and fight to the death.
So where does that leave the club? Our options are limited. We can unearth a gem or two, hang onto them for a few year before having to sell them on, or turn second-tier players like Giroud/Gervinho into world-class players - unlikely but possible. The core issue is that our football and the philosophy behind it needs to change. We need to be more pragmatic, more structured, more disciplined. We need to be more tactically astute. We need to be hard to beat and have a steel running through the side that makes sides know that to beat us they have to give everything. We need different kinds of players to cover up for the fact that we cannot field the talent we have seen in the past.
Is Wenger the man to bring about that change or is he still dreaming of finding another Messi?
