Frank Lee
So where do we go from the current mess Arsenal seem to have got themselves in? Much as many would be happy to see a change in the managerial hotseat, things would have to get pretty bad before the board ask Arsene Wenger to step down, and in fact, given that money seems to be king at Arsenal these days, I am far from convinced they would consider paying him off until the summer of 2016 at the earliest.
The only way I can see that changing is if there is open revolt in the stadium at home matches. Can you see this happening? Most fans, once they enter the turnstiles, are of a ‘support the team’ mindset. They will save their boos until the final whistle, or vote with their feet as they did when United went 2-0 up at the weekend. 25,000 people left as if there had been an evacuation order. I have a feeling a large number of season ticket holders won’t even make the journey to the stadium this evening.
The board feel indebted to Wenger for delivering what they want – financial stability and profit - and one has to wonder if a part of this is the man’s willingness to operate under specific restrictions. Myles Palmer’s always entertaining Arsenal News Review site suggested that Arsenal are under instruction from Stan Kroenke to keep £75m in their bank account. Whether this would include the portion of cash needed as security on the stadium loan is not made clear, but £75m is far greater than that amount. The reason for this would presumably be that it increased the Net Asset Value of the club, and by extension the value of Kroenke’s 67% shareholding, perhaps so he can borrow against it? Who knows, but the bottom line is that Arsenal have a serious excess of cash and the manager did not use it to bring in enough defensive players last summer. And you have to ask why.
Wenger is being paid £8 million to take a lot of flak, although in 2013 he finally admitted that he was not able to spend for a long period.
To an extent that has obviously changed, as the purchases of Ozil and Alexis Sanchez demonstrate, even if there is still unused cash sitting idly in the bank. The latter looks like a superb buy, and it is a bit of a headscratcher that, such has his form been during the World Cup and since his move to Arsenal, he was snubbed for the Balon D'Or shortlist, given that the likes of James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema are on there. However, the fact that a good start to the summer window was not seen through with the two or three extra defensive players the squad patently needed has given rise to plenty of frustration, and actually put greater pressure on the star summer signing.
No-one can fault Alexis’ application and abilities. Sure, it was his mis-placed pass that led to United’s second goal last weekend, but it was hardly his fault so many of his defensive colleagues were out of position. The ball was not lost in the centre of the park, but on the edge of the opposition penalty area.
But the Chilean is not a one man team, even if he tries to be. His contribution might yet save Arsenal’s season (in terms of the board’s ambition) with his contribution taking them to fourth place. Apart from putting the ball into the net, until they went 1-0 down against Louis Van Gaal’s side, the Gunners did actually play some fairly decent football. And the reality of the table is that they are only two points away from the top four.
Little is going to change in terms of the manager’s preparation of players for matches. So it will be down to the talent they have as to whether they can chalk up enough wins to get the season back on track. Good as Alexis is, his colleagues will have step up to the plate in terms of their defensive duties to make that happen, although a little bit of me wonders whether these players are actually playing for the manager any more. As for Alexis, he may well not understand too much of what the manager says, and a mischievous mind might conclude this as an explanation for his performance levels and attitude being so markedly different from many of his colleagues.
