Kevin Whitcher
Before I begin, the 2013 Gooner survey is now online. From memory, once you start, I am not sure you can exit the thing halfway through without losing your votes, so I’d ensure you have 20 or 30 minutes to complete it before you begin actually filling in answers. However, there is nothing to stop you looking through all the questions before you begin. To look at it, and complete it if you do have the time, click here. We will run the results in the first issue of the season and online shortly afterwards. Closing date for voting is Sunday 9th June.
And so to yesterday’s game. Arsenal did what they had to do. It sure wasn’t pretty, but for the run of 26 points from 30 since the Spurs defeat, it rarely has been. It has been interesting to see the team play with results rather than style the priority. Against lesser teams, it has been far more effective. When greater quality has been faced, in two home matches, they have not lost either. For the sake of argument, were this approach used over the whole of the season, Arsenal might have picked up 84 points from matches against teams outside the top six, and even just drawing the home matches against their top six rivals, would have reached 89 points. Granted, football does not work that way. Occasional points are always dropped in unexpected places, but I suspect Manchester United have not dropped many against sides outside of the top six.
What it points to is that Arsenal’s players are capable of getting results when they are focused to dig in and forget about being a poor man’s Barcelona. Granted, the lack of drive going forward at St James’s Park indicated a team that had run out of ideas, but you simply cannot argue with the sequence of results since game 28 at White Hart Lane. The Gunners have been far from easy on the eye, but they finished above Spurs. Key to this has been the partnership of Mertesacker and Koscielny. The latter, especially, was immense at Newcastle and by a distance the visitors’ best performer.
It was certainly a close game. Neither side produced many gilt edged opportunities. The 90 minutes was carried by sheer tension and not much in the way of creative quality. There was little between the teams. Arsenal won thanks to a set piece and I believe they have improved their record of converting such opportunities this season. Not so long ago, Walcott’s free kick would have been played short rather than aimed into the box.
So it proves that when the chips are down, Arsene Wenger can produce winning football, at least against poorer teams. Still, let’s take this one step at a time. Sorting things out at the back is laying a foundation stone that certainly hasn’t existed at the club for several seasons. Amongst the summer purchases, a centre back is needed as I am uncertain Thomas Vermaelen can be relied upon going forward, as well as a keeper to keep Szczesny on his toes. The first thing Arsenal need to concentrate on is ensuring they do not lose games. The fact that only one team in the division has conceded less goals than Arsenal is a remarkable statistic and perhaps testament to the notion that Steve Bould has been allowed to have greater influence as the season has wore on, if only to salvage the campaign. A witness close at hand saw Bould come out of the dressing room before the home tie v Bayern shaking his head with an expression indicating a disagreement had occured. Might the 90 minutes that followed and the subsequent defeat at Spurs have proved to Arsene Wenger that his assistant knew best?
I have not read the post match coverage as yet, so I do not know if Arsene Wenger is proclaiming the season as a success. I would certainly consider that he has met the board’s objectives. Their ambitions are based on financial performance rather than football glory, so on that front, the manager has certainly delivered. What they need to get their heads around is the idea that football glory can actually lead to greater income over the longer term, giving them a more valuable product, if they are prepared to run the club at break even for a while to increase the chances of actually winning something. Or even, whisper it quietly, invest some of the billionaires’ millions in the pockets of the club’s two major owners.
In terms of footballing achievement for £ spent, Arsenal are pretty much where you would expect them to be. There is no triumph in finishing one point above Spurs, who have spent approx. £50m less over the last 12 months when net transfer spend and wage bill are added together. The two Manchester clubs and Chelsea spend more, although significantly, Alex Ferguson should, by rights, be finishing third if amount spent is the be all and end all. Great managers can overcome the odds.
In beating Swansea, Reading, West Brom, Norwich, Fulham, QPR, Wigan and Newcastle to secure a shot at next season’s Champions League, Arsenal have had to learn to win ugly. Wenger often talks about the resilience of his players and for once he is accurate. Sure, all of the above are fairly mediocre teams, but they are teams the Gunners have dropped points to all too often in recent seasons. If Arsenal are to compete again, this has to stop. The pragmatism of recent performances will actually serve the club well in their Champions League qualifying tie in August, but to add to the building of a solid foundation, some quality is desperately needed in midfield and attack. Arsenal have some decent squad players, but have not replaced Fabregas and Van Persie, and looking further back, the loss of Gilberto Silva and Mathieu Flamini in the same summer five years ago led to many of the problems that followed.
Arsenal’s huge handicap in securing top quality players is the inability of Arsene Wenger and Dick Law to conclude deals. Juan Mata believed he was an Arsenal player in 2011. Wenger met with Jan Vertonghen last summer but managed to talk him out of signing. Who knows how many others have slipped through the net. With the increased sponsorship money and the Premier League TV income rocketing, Arsenal have the resources to spend big this summer, without worrying about whether they can negotiate the Champions League qualifier. There is no reason to engage Wenger’s metaphorical handbrake where the chequebook is concerned.
But can anyone trust Arsenal to conclude a deal when they have competition for a player from other clubs? Come back David Dein, all is forgiven…
Just to finish, a change of policy next season with the editorials on the website. It has been decided that The Gooner will not run contributors’ match views in the printed issue next season, but that they will appear online instead. The idea is that they effectively replace my editorial after each game has been played. Instead, on a more or less weekly basis, I will post a piece at other times. I am sure I will discuss the football played, but it won’t need to go into the specifics of the match just played. Then again, I rarely do go into much detail these days anyway, not least because I tend to look at the bigger picture. Anyway, just a heads up that I won’t be writing the day after each game next season. I will try and chip in with a piece every two or three weeks over the next couple of months when there is something to say, but regardless of that, I hope you all have a good summer.
This season’s final issue of The Gooner can be bought online here.
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