Neil A. Fry
After a catastrophic series of results from the home defeat to Watford on 31 January to the feeble capitulation at Crystal Palace on 10 April, Arsenal mounted yet another - when all is lost – end-of-season run. Having seen St Totteringham’s day cancelled for the first time under Monsieur Wenger after a bad defeat at their second-place North London rivals, and the League title long gone, Arsenal went into the final month of the season facing some familiar barriers to their already slim hopes of Champions League qualification and Monsieur Wenger’s fourth-place ‘trophy’. Mourhino was finally beaten in a competitive match; successive awkward away matches at Southampton and Stoke won without too many problems; and troublesome new foe Ronald Koeman was beaten, by ten men, in the final League match. Ultimately condemned to Europa League Thursdays next season, Arsenal finished the season in style in the FA Cup Final, overcoming Antonio Conte’s Premier League Champions superbly. Having had his 20-year anniversary, it would have been a good time for Monsieur Wenger to bow out - after so many lows this season - on something of a high and with some dignity still intact.
Unfortunately, Arsenal’s absentee American major shareholder and de facto owner, Stan Kroenke, managed to fly over for the Cup Final and promptly, privately, decided Monsieur Wenger was to remain as his fund-manager – having just confirmed that KSE UK, Inc was a “committed long-term investor in Arsenal”. The Arsenal Board dutifully rubber-stamped the decision, and ‘Silent Stan’ flew back to his $725 million 800-square-miles Texas ranch. There was no tricky press conference or one of those fan forums that so irritate Monsieur Wenger. Rather, Arsenal Player went into overdrive. Having proclaimed himself a “catalyst for change” in April, Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis now gushed, “Arsène is somebody I have worked with for over eight years now, and I know the quality of the man, I know the quality of him as a football person and I know the quality of him as a human being as well” and remained unshakeable in his belief that Wenger was the right man for the job.
Arsenal Audit does not agree and will outline why next week in a New Contract Special – Arsenal Audit Final Edition, Au revoir Arsènal. Arsenal Audit says goodbye to Monsieur Wenger’s Arsènal - a grossly underachieving football club that has been sold out to become a mere investment fund for an already obscenely rich American cowboy - and au revoir to the once great Arsenal Football Club.
Arsenal 2–0 Manchester United
In the last Arsenal Audit, reference was made to Arsenal’s two-point deduction for a mass brawl in a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in George Graham’s 1991/92 title win. There has been little chance of a repeat of either for years. In addition to the criticism of Nacho Monreal pre-match, Rooney and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain walked off at half-time arm and arm, giggling, like two besotted teenagers. Arsenal had three at the back and two wing-backs but the two biggest flaws of the Tottenham team-selection were corrected with Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck restored to the line-up and Gabriel and Olivier Giroud back on the bench. Remarkably, even by his standards, Mourinho effectively played six at the back - four plus Mata and Mkhitaryan as de facto wing-backs. Mourinho has taken Man United a long way from the days of Steve Coppell and Gordon Hill, and Giggs and Beckham. And the world's wealthiest club has its own little record away against the top six - apart from at Leicester last season, they hadn’t scored since January 2015. For all Mourinho’s ridiculous protestations, they had ten well-known and experienced players starting. And their debutant 19-year-old right-back saw off Alexis Sanchez without too much trouble and was probably their best player. Granit Xhaka’s heavily-deflected 25–30-yard shot provided further evidence of how unwise Monsieur Wenger’s prohibition of long shots was, until letting his players imbibe this season. And within three minutes Arsenal had scored a second in the post-half-time problem period. There was no fortune in wing-back Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s Sagnaesque cross for Denny Welbeck’s unstoppable bullet header. For Arsenal, the rare top-six victory still leaves them bottom of the top-six table at less than a point a match (nine points from ten matches). But, in this of all seasons, Monsieur Wenger had finally - at the 15th attempt dating back to 2004 - beaten Mourihno in a competitive match.
Southampton 0–2 Arsenal
Shkodran Mustafi, deputising for injured de facto captain Koscielny, recovered from a rusty start to nip many of goal-shy Southampton’s attacks as a sluggish Arsenal eventually upped their game in the second half. On the hour, an ailing and thoroughly wasteful Alexis did what word-class players do, and with sublime touches left the two Southampton markers floundering and hammered home. He lofted a cross for Aaron Ramsey to head back an excellent assist for super-sub Olivier Giroud to head in from close range and seal the win. It was the first in five league matches at Southampton since The Invincibles season (0-1, Pires) and Arsenal’s Sanchez joined the pantheon of Arsenal 20-Premier-League-goals-in-a-season players - Ian Wright, and three who left for greater rewards - (one-season-wonder) Emmanuel Adebayor, Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie. Unfortunately, there will be no shortages of top football club suitors encouraging Alexis to join them.
Stoke 1–4 Arsenal
To add to the problem of away matches such as this, home-manager Mark Hughes had never lost in eight homes games against Monsieur Wenger. Monsieur Wenger appeared to modify his team selection a little in what appeared a sensible attempt to tackle Stoke. Francis Coquelin replaced Aaron Ramsey, and Olivier Giroud returned, presumably partly due to his aerial ability at defending set pieces. Ironically, Charlie Adam and Peter Crouch started on the home bench and Stoke were never at the races as Arsenal summoned up a rare intensity from start to finish. After his significant personal slump in form in February/March, Coquelin operated higher up the pitch as elements of the first half of the season's press resurfaced. He also added a better offensive contribution to his normal destructive game and he passed incisively for the most natural of wing-backs, Hector Bellerin, to set up Olivier Giroud for the long-due opener and his first of two. After Alexis set up Özil for the second, Crouch handed in a reply but Arsenal for once weathered the traditional storm. Then - having, for once, self-certificated himself as injured and needing to go off - Alexis was recklessly left on so long he added the third. Nevertheless, within a week, Monsieur Wenger had overcome Mourinho, Southampton and Stoke away.
Arsenal 2–0 Sunderland
Despite the Arsenal offensive stats and heroic attempts of the much-sought-after, but not by Arsenal, young goalkeeper to repel Arsenal for most of the match, the match is unlikely to linger in anyone’s memory for very long. If for anything it will be remembered more for Monsieur Wenger’s pre-match comments than the two eventual Arsenal goals, scored by Alexis, against the Premier League’s most woeful team and manager. The manager railed against other teams being ‘on the beach’ before their safe season ends. As the Arsenal Audit August review noted, since 2011 when Arsenal first forsook their Austria-based training camp, Monsieur Wenger and his players have still been on the beach when the season started. The defeat to Liverpool, which robbed him of his prized fourth-place trophy, was one of four in the last six season-openers, all at home, lost. The combination of ticket-holders protesting and not turning up, or just being too busy to care anyway, gave a foretaste of Europa League Thursdays next season. Budget Sky Sports 2 coverage came with no pre-match build up, a documentary return to Monsieur Wenger’s better days 13 years ago, and journeyman co-commentator Tony Gale, doing the usual studio honours high up in the stands, noted “what little crowd there is here”.
Arsenal 3–1 Everton
In his previous twelve matches against manager Ronald Koeman, Monsieur Wenger had won just two. De facto captain Koscielny’s moment of madness and red card, after just fourteen minutes, tested the record further. And after Gabriel’s injury, captain Mertesacker - returning from injury and on the bench at Sutton on 20 February - came on for the first time this season. He amassed 37 Premier League minutes of on-pitch leadership for the season. Wing-back Hector Bellerin got forward well, despite ten men, and spared a profligate Danny Welbeck’s blushes with the opener. Alexis added the second with his 24th Premier League goal of the season (and ten assists). After losing the post-half-time team talk period, Ramsey sealed the win with, at long last, a Hollywood finish. He has continued to get in good positions and hit a spell of, relatively speaking, better form – albeit a long way away from his golden season of 2013/14. Whether Monsieur Wenger has worked out the ‘2’ conundrum sans-Santi Cazorla in the long term is another matter. Once again, Arsenal produced their customary end-of-season Premier League run when the pressure was off and the title lost. This season, even Monsieur Wenger's fourth-place trophy was lost too.
Arsenal 2–1 Chelsea, FA Cup Final
Actual captain Mertesacker started his first match of the season, and his first ever in a ‘3’, displayed real leadership in every sense and would have been a well deserving man of the match. The pace the 100+ cap German international veteran has never had was ably compensated by the excellent young Rob Holding and Nacho Monreal either side. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain added to his list of positions by filling in, on his return from injury finally to start a Cup Final, at left wing-back. Surely uniquely - with Debuchy and Jenkinson not recalled from their very well-remunerated exiles - there were no defenders on the Arsenal bench. Alexis’s fifth-minute opener owed something to a continuance of Arsenal’s semi-final luck. Aaron Ramsey continued his recent new-found defensive diligence by winning the ball back as Chelsea started to build from Arsenal’s poor opening corner before - well offside - standing aside to let Alexis side foot in (after his initial missed handball). Thereafter, confounding all expectations, Arsenal were largely dominant. The defenders blocked, headed and tackled like last season’s Leicester City and pressed and passed with the intelligent intensity of Klopp’s Dortmund at their peak. An energetic Welbeck stretched Chelsea and, along with a hard-working Özil, hit the post. Cahill cleared two off the line. The BBC commentators and many Arsenal fans were incredulous that, having missed the quarter- and semi-finals through injury, the reportedly soon-to-be-departing David Ospina was selected ahead of the in-form number one, Petr Cech. Ospina did make two decisive saves from Costa but let Chelsea back into the match, with his lack of reach and a weak hand exposed by the deflected equaliser. No matter, super-sub Olivier Giroud came on and within three minutes, set up Ramsey to head in after another tireless run to win Arsenal a record 13th FA Cup and Monsieur Wenger a record seven.
Sources:
Waggoner cowboy:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/may/22/stan-kroenke-arsenal-shares-not-for-sale-stock-exchange-statement#img-1
Arsènal DNA:
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20170531/-arsene-s-dna-is-the-same-as-the-club-s-
