Kevin Whitcher
There are a good number of supporters who are convinced Arsène Wenger is still the best man for the Arsenal job who advocate that, when he finally steps down, Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe would be his perfect successor. I can completely see where they are coming from after seeing the south coast side’s performance yesterday. It resembled a fair number of Arsenal away displays in recent seasons.
Alexis Sanchez, who has never been fully fit this season, started the game on the bench, and along with the now departed Oxlade-Chamberlain, (who has moved to get better coaching), were the only two changes from the Liverpool game. The two fresh faces were the two summer signings, Lacazette and Kolasinac. I am still scratching my head about the starting line-up at Anfield. The two aforementioned players were supposedly purchased to improve a squad that finished outside the top four last season. And yet neither started in one of the more difficult fixtures. The manager preferred to play a right back at left wing back and a wantaway player at right wing back instead of fielding Kolasinac. The inclusion of Sanchez from the kick off was less controversial, but there is little doubt that Lacazette would have added more to the team than one of Ozil or Welbeck.
Anyway, perhaps a lesson has been learned by Wenger some thirty years plus into his managerial career, even if it was one that appeared obvious to those of us who have not worked half a day in football. Starting players in their best positions generally gives you a better chance of more solidity. Still, the manager’s paid over £20k a day, so he knows best. Both of the new signings started yesterday and had a very positive impact on the team performance. There was an early goal for Welbeck set up by Kolasinac, and the lead was doubled when Lacazette combined with the former before unleashing an excellent shot from outside the area.
Bournemouth were woeful, and already look doomed to a return to the Championship. The third goal of the game looked like the kind Arsenal habitually give away, with possession conceded cheaply in their own half. Ramsey played the ball to Welbeck who finished clinically. 3-0 and things looked pretty safe. The Cherries were not about to pull back three goals as Arsenal managed to the Vitality Stadium last December. All of Arsenal’s attacking players had decent games, and the defenders didn’t have to do too much and could more or less take the afternoon off (much like they did against Liverpool), so rare were the visitor’s incursions.
It was a good, solid win, but it felt like Bournemouth were the absolutely perfect opposition given what had gone before this season. The one minus was the withdrawal of sub Francis Coquelin though injury, which will alter the manager’s plans for the Europa League and League Cup matches, as one assumes even if fit, the Frenchman would not have started at the Bridge next Sunday. That’s a game Arsenal need something from to get their season back on track, as a flat track bully win at home is not convincing anybody. If Eden Hazard starts against Arsenal, then it could turn into a hide behind the sofa job.
Alexis Sanchez came on as a sub, to a generally good reception, although there were definitely a number of boos. Still, it’s almost permanently panto season at the Emirates these days.
In the post match interviews with the BBC, the two managers had the following to say. With regard to the Liverpool defeat, Wenger said, “the real test is how you respond to it”. I’d be more interested to see the response next time his team faces a difficult away fixture, and at least I won’t have to wait long. Eddie Howe stated, “As the manager I have to take responsibility for what we’ve given this season,” words I can guarantee you will never hear from the lips of his opposite number.
The Fans Forum meeting with Ivan Gazidis and the representatives of the various and supporters demographic and approved fan groups took place at 10.45 am yesterday and was far more combative than the 90 minutes served up at 3 o’clock. This was mainly due to the refusal of Arsenal Supporters Trust board member Simon Hill to accept the CEO’s spin about the club going forward.
Gazidis, with Mark Gonnella (the man who likes to cut difficult press conferences and post-match interview short when the questions start getting awkard) chairing the meeting, attempted to keep things in the ‘Aren’t you enjoying the chance to sit in the boardroom, a free programme, tea and biscuits’ territory, but fortunately, Simon wasn’t having any of it.
The publicising of the Trust’s pre-submitted questions was compared by Gazidis as like sitting opposite ‘The Sun’, which is an interesting interpretation of a meeting that is supposed to respond to the answers of the Arsenal fanbase (the club is in the name – fan’s forum) and the contents of which are subsequently posted on the Arsenal website. So it’s hardly behind closed doors off the record stuff, and when he expressed that he could not be as candid in these meetings as people were tweeting his comments such as “catalyst for change” within half an hour of the meeting, doesn’t he realize the representatives are supposed to report back to the members (that’s Arsenal supporters) that they are actually representing? Mind you, the version of the meeting that will appear on the website, put together by Gonnella, probably won’t mention any of Simon Hill’s contribution, such as comments of Liverpool and Spurs over-taking Arsenal in the last two years despite financially dominating them, the club being a laughing stock amongst other clubs in Europe with their negotiating style (I have this on good authority to be true from other sources) and two of last year’s three transformational signings being made available for sale.
Gazidis stuck to three of this mantras -
1 - Arsenal outperform relative to their spend
2 - There is a lot of misinformation (the term ‘fake news’ was not used) about Arsenal’s transfer targets and players for sale in the media – but the club have a policy of not denying anything
3 - Three FA Cups in four seasons is evidence of success
Oh, and this gem – “Transfer windows success can only be judged after the end of the season that follows”. Judge me in May anyone?
“On every objective metric we’re not going backwards,” claimed the CEO. Finishing league position? Net transfer spend? Failing to secure your star players and letting them leave the club for nothing? Go figure.
Gonnella tried desperately to move the meeting on (only one non pre-submitted question was allowed) and wrapped it up double quick at 11.45 stating that they did have any time for more. Strange then, that Gazidis and he then spent at least half an hour chatting with the less challenging forum representatives over a cup of tea.
The overwhelming sense of Gazidis at present is one of him being in denial, of hiding behind deniability, of being paranoid, of being not in control. It’s not a case of strong leadership from the top, so with the de facto absence of the non-caring majority owner, the vacuum of power at the club has been filled by the first team coach, who has stated he wants to leave the club in a strong position when he finally packs his bags.
People, don’t be fooled by a home win against relegation fodder. This is only going one way…
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