David Oudot
In the first part of the survey results we looked at how the team performed throughout the season and what the high and low points were. This time around we look into the squad as a whole, our hopes for the transfer window activities, and a few bits and bobs about Wenger.
Even though the majority of us consider last year a successful season (a whopping 86%), a key factor in whether 2014-15 is going to be a good one may be reliant on the transfer window and what we get up to in it. When asked how optimistic they were about our prospects of competing for the Premier League title in 2014-15 in light of that, 55% of us were optimistic. Only 10% considered themselves ‘extremely optimistic’, but the fact that only 21% were akin to Frazer in ‘Dad’s Army’ and believing “we’re doomed” suggests that we’re expecting our Club to be better than previous summers when we essentially waited until Xmas Eve to buy our presents and often resorted to Lidl and Poundstretcher for them.
With the result of the next question, in our opinion the club’s performances in last season’s two transfer windows were very much hit and miss. Of the 5 players we bought in across the two windows, there were 2 hits (75% happy with Ozil, 86% approving Flamini), 2 of them misses (Kallstrom and Viviano), and for Sanogo we are very much undecided on him (56%) – fair points about all of them. Ozil became the centre of creative attention in Wenger’s eyes and hopefully his second season will see even more, and Flamini was a more than adequate squad player. For the flops, Viviano never appeared and was no improvement on our two 6.5/10 goalkeepers, whereas Kallstrom nearly did a Clive Allen/Jim Leighton effort in being a famous player who never appeared for us despite signing and even though he looked ok when he played, one of the reasons he barely featured and only started once was that we didn’t need him. For Sanogo, he did absolutely sod all and never scored a goal, and reminded a few of us as the new Kaba Diawara. However… he IS young and very much still learning. Let’s give him one more year at least.
Notwithstanding the quality of the players themselves, it was interesting to read the overall opinion on your view on the performances in the respective windows as a whole. For summer 2013, 2/3 of us gave it the thumbs up (17% of you ranked it as ‘good’ but an eye-opening 49% settling with ‘ok’), the rest suggested it was a poor performance. In light of our failing to acquire a striker we clearly wanted and needed and fudged up completely (Higuain, Suarez, last minute loan deal for Demba Ba. DEMBA FRICKING BA) I fully see where they’re coming from. As for January 2014, 92% could only declare that it was a nightmare and with us getting a 27th midfielder in (who went on to replicate Siggi Jonsson and Craig McKernon in terms of availability and fitness) rather than a forward that even Giroud himself wanted, I think it safe to say there’s no argument there. I’d like to meet the 10 people who rated it as a ‘good performance’, though. Just to find out whether they’re piss-taking Spurs or Liverpool fans.
For this coming summer, we’re all generally in agreement and whilst it’s obvious that we need to get a new ‘keeper and right back in to replace those leaving, 83.6% of us agreed that the attack was the area that needed addressing the most urgently. With Olivier being the only centre forward we have with Bendtner and Park also leaving it’s a kind of a no-brainer. Interesting for the second place and 9% going to the role of Manager, though…
As for which two players it was you want the most we got loads of different answers, and for the forward we want there are players all across the world we’d take in. As I write this we’re all still in the midst of Sanchez Fever but only 55 of us nominated him as their preferred purchase. The irony is that 550 of us wanted the man he was being replaced with at Barcelona that is the amateur Cannibal, Luis Suarez. Barcelona are willing to sell a 25 year-old two-footed centre forward and want to replace him with a 27 year-old with a worldwide ban until October because Suarez is a phenomenal footballer – let’s just hope that Wenger has chosen wisely here. Other names cited with more than 100 votes included Remy, Balotelli, Di Maria and Diego Costa, but in third place with 223 votes was butch centre-forward Edison Cavani from PSG. Interesting to see that the second place player with 280 votes wasn’t a forward at al… it was Fabregas. Even though the survey closed before rumours of him leaving Barcelona started to spread. In the next question where they were asked whether we wanted him back or not, 80% of us admitted they wanted him, so to say we rue him signing for Chelsea is an understatement. But for Cesc to openly admit that a) Arsenal had a buy-back clause; b) Arsenal was his first choice; and c) Arsenal turned him down; it is a genuine heartbreaker.
The bottom line is that we have more than £150m in the Bank, and clearly need to buy players this summer. A key question related to that is whether we as fans believe Wenger should be so directly involved in transfer fee and wage negotiations once he has identified his targets to Gazidis and co. 16% of us were unsure, but 55% were adamant that Wenger should not have the level of involvement he has. Bearing in mind that although his job title is ‘Manager’ he is essentially a ‘Trainer’, it is a little bit odd that he has so much input into the financial behaviour of the football club. Pellegrini, Mourinho and Rodgers have little to no involvement at their respective Clubs and they seemed to do ok last season… maybe there’s something to be learned there.
Regardless of which players we want in, which player would you least like to leave the Club? Last year our most wanted player was Wilshere, but this year he only got 10% of the vote and finished in second to his midfield partner, Ramsey (no, not Arteta…). Rambo took 80% of the vote and who can blame them? After the season he had he would have walked into any of the World Cup Squads at all, and with him being Welsh he may become this generation’s George Best. And I hope the three of you who voted for Bendtner have spoken to The Samaritans since the Club revealed they wouldn’t be renewing his £52,000 a week agreement, bless them.
Another player who didn’t renew his deal with us was Bacary Sagna and, as expected, has gone to the other end of the M6 to sign for Citeh. But for Arsenal to have turned around and offered him the same sky-high wages and a three year deal, only a quarter of you would have wanted Sagna to stay on those terms. 2/3 of us were against it (the rest didn’t know) and with footballers in the 21st century being money-grabbing bastards then good for you for standing up against them. Hopefully we can give him a five knuckle shuffle as our team passes his new one to win the League next season.
When the transfer window is closed it will be interesting to see whether our club captain/reserve centre-half is still here, or our vice-captain/soon-to-be reserve midfielder. So who should our Captain be for next season? Only one option as far as you guys are concerned and 83% want the man who claps us at the end of every game home or away, is the last person to leave the pitch, and gave Ozil a public rollicking for running away rather than gracing the people who pay his wages after our 6-3 hammering at Citeh. Step forward the BFG. He completely understands it and for last season reintroduced the tradition of all 11 players stood in a straight line in the centre circle to applaud all four corners of the ground, whether he was captain or not. Mertesacker is our leader in every way but title so it makes sense to pass him the armband.
With Wenger being more kid-focused than Rolf Harris (in a different way, obviously) it’s always an interesting to guess as to which up-and-coming youngster is going to get the most appearances in the next season? Last year we were right and wrong at the same time with 52% of us correctly suggesting Serge Gnabry, but 44% of us thought Thomas Eisfeld would also rise to the first team. This year, Tommy gets 12% of the vote but he is forced into third place behind Joel Campbell (20%) and Gedion Zelalem (28%). Campbell is a mystery as he had a good season with Olympiakos (a lush goal against ManYoo) and looked incredibly impressive in a Costa Rica team that made the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but with the squad numbers being juggled around after the signing of Alexis Sanchez, Joel remained numberless. It will be interesting to see if he’s still here on 2nd September. As for Zelalem I’ve seen him 5 times now and I have no idea what Wenger sees in him. It’s a little bit concerning that in the Youth team games I’ve seen, he played against a lot of players who will end up working in McDonald’s in the next couple of years and he hasn’t stood out at all. Save for losing the ball on the edge of our box and letting Chelsea score (actually, maybe he’s the new Arteta…). Maybe he’s got Denilson’s old locker that have those dodgy photos of Wenger, an aardvark, and a trombone in them, but all joking aside I really hope that Wenger proves me wrong and with him seeing something in the young guy that may guarantee him 5 games or more.
Wenger has indeed signed his new deal though, and the fact is that he will be our manager for the next few years and will celebrate his 20th anniversary. 62% of us are happy with that decision and 19% devastated by it (and if Hull had beaten us in the FA Cup Final, only 1/3 would’ve changed their minds) but let’s see what happens with it. But sod our thoughts right now – if Arsene lifts the Premier League trophy at the end of the year we’ll all be happy.
It would have been interesting on many levels if he had left, though. If that did happen and we had to choose a manager, 928 of us wanted Klopp of Borussia Dortmund to take over and with him leading a small Club with no money to a European Cup Final and the semis in two successive years, that would make sense with our Club and Krankie’s purse strings. The second choice was Roberto Martinez (283 votes) and in third place it was an arm wrestle between Guardiola and Ancelotti. With the two of them being at bigger and better Clubs than us (sad but true) they would have been dream picks.
Even though he has re-signed, the time will eventually come when the Board have to replace Wenger (as Echo & the Bunnymen once told us, Nothing Lasts Forever) and 43% of us think the best thing for us to do would be to identify his replacement now and wait until the time is right before actually approaching them. 35% would prefer us to wait to choose a replacement until the time comes, and the remaining 22% wanted Wenger to groom someone as his Assistant Manager at the moment, but with us not having had to pick a new manager since the last century and our Board having changed there is no right answer here (let’s just hope Bruce Rioch’s son doesn’t do a miracle job at another club in the new 5 years). 78% of us agreed that nobody in or around the Club has any significant influence on Wenger’s thinking when running the Club, so exactly how our new boss will be expected to behave and act in his role will be interesting in itself. On that note it’s unsurprising that there was a near split in whether we had any confidence in the Board appointing the right replacement – 45% of us have a degree of confidence in them, but 55% don’t.
That covers part two of the survey. The next part will be about those questions about us as fans and how things are for us as supporters, customers, and how the Club is treating us right now (away from the pitch).
Twitter @DavidOudot
