Bard
Modern football is more scientific than ever before, or so we are led to believe. Managers talk for hours about emerging projects, developing philosophies, jigsaws that need completing. Player-development is micro-managed. Ice baths, heart-rate monitors, state-of-the-art medical facilities, individualised training programmes, special diets. Metres and analytics. Tactics are debated, millions are spent scouring the world for kids with the mojo. But does any of it make much difference? A quick look at the current Arsenal first team (minus Coquelin) suggests it might be more a case of pot luck. Nearly half the team is there more by luck than judgment and yet, as I write, they are second in the table.
We have needed a top-class keeper for years since mad Jens graced the turf. Quite why we haven’t signed one is a matter of some debate. But lo and behold, this summer our prayers were answered. A little local difficulty occurred at the Bridge. Long-standing servant Cech found himself surplus to requirements and a move was on. Fortunately for us, he didn’t want to uproot his family from London so suddenly we are his number one choice. The usually ruthless Russian has a soft spot for him and overrules his manager. You can bet Mourinho wasn’t happy with it. So without doing a whole lot other than being in the right geographical location, we got ourselves a world-class keeper; fantastic.
Next up is Nacho Monreal who we bought for peanuts from Malaga in 2013 as a back-up for the injury-prone first choice, Gibbs. Gibbs then goes and does what he always does, gets himself injured, and up steps Nacho. The rest as they say is history. He is now one of the top left-backs in the league. He is remarkably consistent and the real bonus if you are an Arsenal fan is that he is rarely injured.
Now it gets really strange. On 12th December 2014, Francis Coquelin is recalled from a loan spell at Charlton as cover for an injury to Ramsey and makes his first Premier League start later that month. Within weeks he becomes indispensible as our main defensive midfielder and one of the first names on the team sheet. Where did he come from? Did anyone realize how good he was? His early career has ‘might have been’ written all over it. Loan spells at Lorient, Freiburg and Charlton suggested he would be one of those players with promise that are eventually deemed surplus to requirements and sold to a second division Spanish team after a peripatetic career travelling around Europe on loan, another Fran Merida or Carlos Vela. If he was in the manager’s mind as the answer to our defensive midfield prayers, it was an odd one to send him out on loan to Charlton. The truth more likely is that he was in the right place at the right time and we didn’t have anyone else. Ramsey’s frailties left the door open and he took his chance.
Once Sagna left for City for a shedload of dosh we had an obvious hole at right-back. The boss duly filled it with Debuchy from Newcastle for around £12m. He showed early promise and looked a good buy. Debuchy however was a victim of the Arsenal injury curse. He had a couple of bad ones; he damaged his ankle ligaments and was out for three months and dislocated his shoulder soon after and spent another three months on the sidelines. Wenger tried Calum Chambers, a right-back cum centre-back who he had bought from Southampton for a sizeable £16m, but his lack of pace made him something of a liability. Up steps a teenage kid called Hector Bellerin whose claim to fame is his speed - he is allegedly the fastest player at Arsenal. While he has plenty to learn and has faltered slightly of late he is a fantastic prospect and has deservedly made the position his own so much so that Debuchy is now agitating for a move. But the real question is, if we knew he was this good why did we spend £16m on Chambers? The answer is that those responsible didn’t.
Last but not least we come to Joel Campbell, our Costa Rican forward. Despite being an experienced international with 50 caps, Joel has had to do a lot of travelling since 2011. Loan spells took him to Lorient, Real Betis and Olympiakos. It is reasonable to say his emergence has been as a result of being the ‘last man standing’. You could be forgiven for wondering whether Wenger would prefer to play anyone else rather than dear old Joel. His first couple of games backed up that view. He looked all at sea but gradually it’s possible to see a proper player in there. He has an eye for a pass, he puts in a defensive shift, and he scores goals. We have found ourselves a potentially excellent player.
These examples raise a lot of questions about football and Arsenal in particular. Do these managers just make it up as they go along? Listen to any one of Van Gaal’s last few United interviews. Here is an experienced, some would say world-class manager; a manager who has spent north of £250m building a side that is currently one of the most turgid United teams in living memory. And what of Mourinho, the so-called special one? Champions last year, relegation candidates this. He sounded ever more paranoid with each interview as he thrashed around trying to work out what had gone wrong; same players different results. What went wrong? The answer is he didn’t know. This was the same manager who in his wisdom let Lukaku and De Bruyne go. That is about £100m worth of talent out the window.
Or, on a lighter note, what about Wenger trying to convince us that Sanogo is the new Anelka? Do these managers really know what they are talking about or is it pot luck? On a slightly different note, how many other Coquelins, Bellerins and Campbells do we have in the ranks that might make us a much better side but who never get to see the light of day? And who is it that assesses whether they will or won’t make the grade? Wenger’s job is made a whole lot harder if those around him can’t recognise whether a player has got it or hasn’t. In the light of this article, maybe some of them need to reapply for their jobs.
Ed’s note – We have received the following information from the club and have been asked to publicise it to make it a success…
There will be a special fan display ahead of Arsenal v Manchester City on Monday. To make this as successful as possible please get to your seats as early as you can and together we can welcome the teams onto the pitch in the true Arsenal way.
No idea what the display will be, but apparently it will be more detailed than the one v Bayern, so please aim to be in your seat at 7.55 so when the teams come out you can help to make it look really special. Additionally, in Greece recently, after their fans had done a pre-match display, the bags they had been handed were all waved around in the air before the match kicked off, and this looked very effective, so hopefully Gooners can imitate that after whatever the message/theme is has been displayed. Of course, this is all dependent on more people getting in a bit earlier than for a typical evening game. The 8pm start will hopefully make this easier.
