Kevin Whitcher
Two managers. One huge game which could make the difference when it comes to Champions League qualification – let us not forget, a "trophy" worth more than the FA Cup in the priorities of modern football. So what happens in terms of tactics and preparation? Roberto Martinez decides to play his centre forward wide and push up one of his midfielders into the space vacated. Arsène Wenger tells his players the same thing he has been doing since his team last won silverware – “play, play, play”. One of these men earns far more money than the other. And exactly for what? Because the club’s majority owner can see the profits he is making with the manager, who does not want to spend money in the transfer market. He prefers to makes stars rather then buy them (and end up selling them to perpetuate the profit figures). However, trophies have proved elusive for eight long seasons.
Many a text and email was received during the game. In one, Pete Mountford requested I posed the following question – for fans, rather than the owner – “What reason, other than sentimentality can anyone have for Wenger staying on?”
I have heard through friends of one of the current squad that the manager has “lost the senior players”. And looking at this performance, you would have to concur with that possibility. In the starting eleven, how many of these players owe their careers to M. Wenger? And look at the level of commitment displayed. Which side looked hungrier? Which side looked up for it? Who was quickest in the tackle? Who worked harder to win back the ball?
The pundits after the game used the following words and phrases to describe Arsenal's performance –
shambolic
lacklustre
no zip
no closing down
not organized
Everton entered this game with five league wins in a row. Arsenal had taken five points from their previous five matches. Momentum, form and confidence were with the home team and the 90 minutes that followed looked very much like it.
Lacking pace and natural width up front, there was a definite argument to begin Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as one of the wide attackers. But the youngster was on the bench. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to work out Leighton Baines would be marauding from left back but there did not seem to be much of a plan to contain that particular threat. Exactly how much thought had gone into this critical encounter?
Although Arsenal’s run-in from now looks – on paper – as it if could yield maximum points, based on recent performances, you would have to wonder if that is actually likely. Incidentally, what plans do you have for Thursdays and Sundays next season? Prices are going up for season ticket holders by 3% but we may be watching Europa League matches. Talk about adding insult to injury.
Arsenal can of course point to their injury list, but Everton were playing a 19-year-old at centre back. There was no explanation for the gulf in quality that we witnessed at Goodison Park. Unfortunately, to this pair of eyes, it does appear that the players have stopped giving of their all, and for that reason, the blame can only lie with the man who has a new contract on offer paying him £1000 an hour, even when he sleeps, the man whose job it is to motivate them.
The spark has gone. And you cannot blame petrodollars for the two performances we have witnessed Arsenal give on Merseyside this season.
I have called for change on more than one occasion in recent seasons. The club desperately needs a breath of fresh air because there have been too many high profile failures for too many seasons. The collapse in 2007-08. The team selection for the 2009 FA Cup semi-final, when the manager decided to use the opportunity for a Champions League semi-final training session. A fat lot of good that did, given Arsenal’s capitulation to Manchester United in Europe when the tie came around. 4-4 at Newcastle from 4-0 up, 4-4 at home to Spurs when two goals up going into injury time. 8-2 at Old Trafford, eliminated from the Carling Cup at League Two Bradford City, 6-3 at Manchester City, 5-1 at Anfield, 6-0 at Chelsea. And there are many others including further two title challenge collapses in 2010 and 2011. This isn’t co-incidence, it’s poor management.
The question I always ask when people state “Be Careful What You Wish For” when I confirm my belief that it is time for change in the dugout is this – Could a different manager get more out of the same players? And my belief is that there are managers who could prepare, organize and motivate the players better than Arsène Wenger has been able to do for several years. And on the money Arsenal are paying for the job, there would be a queue of them willing to prove it.
It would be wonderful to win the FA Cup after so many years without a trophy, but whether or not that should be reason enough to maintain the manager after four separate title challenge collapses in the seven seasons is one that will be debated by the increasingly divided Arsenal fanbase.
There are valid questions that need to be asked:
Should the club have entered the season without decent back-up for the centre-forward position?
Why has no inquiry been done into Arsenal’s appalling record of injuries over recent seasons that suggest something is fundamentally wrong in the club’s medical department?
Why do the players seem so unprepared for the majority of the matches against quality opponents that they play these days?
Why have Arsenal and tactical innovation become two concepts which are a mile apart?
Why have Arsenal, in 16 seasons of Champions League football, only managed to reach the last four on two occasions?
Why have Manchester United been able to compete with the petrodollar-funded clubs since the arrival of Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour into the Premier League, yet Arsenal have not?
Arsène Wenger has been offered a new two year deal because the club’s priorities are financial rude health rather than glory. However, now, both are within reach. Is Wenger the right man to deliver both? The squad is lacking quality in depth while there is over £100 million to spend in the bank.
Everton were perfectly happy with David Moyes because he kept them at the level they felt they should be achieving whilst not spending a great deal of money. Circumstances meant they were forced to try someone else with fresh ideas. Roberto Martinez has a lot less money to work with and inherited a squad of far less value on far lower wages than Arsène Wenger has at Arsenal. Everton are a point behind Arsenal with a game in hand. Sometimes, change is not always the worst thing.
Currently, watching Arsenal is like witnessing a car crash in ultra slow motion. There are genuine fears the team may not be able to overcome Championship side Wigan at Wembely next weekend.
The dream scenario is Wenger winning the FA Cup, maintaining a top four place and then leaving a new manager the opportunity to start from a solid foundation without inheriting the trophy-less run monkey on the club’s back from the outgoing manager.
For many, the nightmare scenario is Wenger renewing his deal for a further two years of passionless performances of the ilk witnessed at Goodison Park.
As Robert Plant once sang, How many more times?
The current issue of The Gooner will be on sale before the home match against West Ham and hopefully at Wembley halfway down Wembley Way before the FA Cup semi-final. It can also be bought online here.
