John Evans
We are currently lying in third position in the PL table. The two teams above us this time round happen to be Leicester and Spurs. If you swapped those two names for say Man City and Chelsea would our fan base be in uproar about our current plight? I think not.
When you take a closer look at the two teams above us you realise that in reality you don’t need to be that good to win the PL as things stand. Both Leicester and Spurs have a solid defensive unit, the players are all well drilled and know their own roles and what is expected of them during games. They don’t tend to concede many goals due to this ethos. It isn’t exactly ground breaking stuff is it?
Recently I have watched a few games where Leicester and Spurs have taken part and I fail to see any genuine world class talent on show at either club. I would possibly at a push put Kane in this bracket out of both squads but that would be at a push. Neither side has anyone of the quality of Sanchez let alone Ozil in my humble opinion. I also would struggle to say that either side has better full backs than Monreal or Bellerin.
So why is it that we find ourselves someway adrift of both sides at this late stage of the season? For many the answer would lie in mental fragility. I for one don’t buy into that concept. For years now the story of the PL season has been the same at Arsenal FC. We look likely to compete, at times looking like the best side in the league and then we fall away tamely. This can look like a mental fragility but in my own humble opinion it is more a fault with our style of play.
When we play with the handbrake off our style of football can be very fluid. Players are on form and finding each other with pace and precision all over the pitch and it looks and feels great at times. Playing this way is eye catching and it can give you a sense of superiority when it flows. This though for me is the Achilles' heel of the team as we need a settled team and everybody almost without fail being on their game for this approach and team ethos to come off. As soon as you have one or two players not up to scratch or one or two injuries to players that keep the game ticking over for us we can’t cope. The forward passes end up moving just a little bit slower or even worst going sideways and it all grounds to a halt.
Playing this way without a genuine plan b will always mean that we have barren spells where we fail to pick up enough points even against poor opposition. Where teams that set up like Leicester or Spurs will ground out results when not playing at their best we won’t manage to turn those performances into three valuable points. Think of the United away game followed by the Swansea home game a few days later. We don’t have the time to get back into our groove and one bad result becomes two and easily three. This over a season makes the difference between winning titles and finishing third or fourth.
This season it has been Sanchez and Ozil or Giroud and Walcott. In seasons gone by the names have been different but the end result has always been the same. The one thing that has never changed is the style of play. Get the ball down and pass, pass, pass and then pass some more and grind teams down that way. All well and good when it comes off and your players are at their free flowing best but what happens when they are just that 10% down on their game? Leicester can throw the ball into the mixer and hope a Wes Morgan can come up with a header that turns one point into three. Spurs can rely on Kane plugging away and chasing lost causes and making chances out of nothing.
The difference between the two styles of play is that Leicester and Spurs don’t have to be at the top of their games to gain points and wins. We kind of do. How many times have Leicester not actually looked that good but grounded out a 1-0 win? That is what makes teams champions not having the most skilful players in the league.
I think overall Leicester deserve the title this season and with them moving seven points clear at least it makes a Spurs title a lot less likely. I just feel that a genuine chance of an Arsenal title win playing the brand of football that we always try and play is very slim indeed. There will always be a Leicester to come ahead of us, if it is not them it would be a Chelsea team with Essien in it for example. Over a course of a 38 game season you are far better off having an Essien type player or a Kante than say a Ramsey. Yes Ramsey might occasionally look on a different level to that type of player but overall he is less effective and can actually cost you points through silly errors that a more consistent type player doesn’t make as often. We have too many of this type of player, I would also put Walcott and Chamberlain in that bracket. These erratic players fluctuate too much in terms of performance and add to the teams overall ability to self-destruct.
Do we need a change of manager? For me the answer would be a yes. I do feel that there is more wrong at the club though than just who is in the hot seat. When you are owned by someone who simply sees the club as an asset you are in trouble. To Mr Kroenke Arsenal FC is just like an investment flat to a buy to let landlord. There is no real feeling or involvement other than a financial one. If the rent is coming in all is OK. Arsene is like a reliable tenant who keeps paying the rent on time every month and manages to keep the place tidy. If you were a landlord with that kind of tenant why would you bother throwing them out to try and get another £100 a month from a new tenant who might not even pay you the rent on time and could even break the boiler? Arsene keeps the rent rolling in every month for Mr Kroenke so why risk a slightly better return on someone new and unproven when it could mean more problems and less of a return?
Arsene himself is not going anywhere, on £8m a year would you? People say he doesn’t need the money. Come on, even if you have got a lot of money in the bank why would you not want another £8m coming in pretty easily every single year? You are not going to simply walk away from that unless it becomes more hassle than it is worth.
In truth the only way change will happen is if the fans inside the stadium openly revolt against the current regime. That is the only way change will occur anytime soon. The club would not want that kind of negative PR happening on a regular basis as it would impact the desirability as far as advertising sponsorships are concerned. Arsene also would not stay if he was getting abused from his own fans in front of the media at every home game, he would walk away then but not before.
What is the likelihood of the current fan base that actually attend matches at the Emirates openly revolting against Arsene and or Kroenke? I would say not very high. The game has changed and the type of person that follows Arsenal these days is very unlikely to be the kind of person that is screaming for anything let alone a change of manager/club owner.
More of the same next season then?
