A man can die but once – unless they’re an Arsenal fan

The title of this post is taken from Shakespeare, specifically King Henry IV. I was toying with that or “Frailty they name is Arsenal.” But I think this title kind of sums up how I think we all feel right now. And its true – a man can die but once – unless you’re an Arsenal fan than right now you’re dying every week.

We all have many reasons for feeling the way we feel. If you are on the always sunny side of the Arsenal camp then you die each week because hope keeps diminishing. If you are on the dark as Hades side of Arsenal fandom than you die each week because the storied club you support continues to let you down.

Being an Arsenal fan is akin to death by a thousand paper cuts. We certainly look the deal for a good portion of matches only to have the victory snatched from us and our hearts torn away. Such was the feeling especially over these last two matches.

Frankly in both cases on Arsenal were a dominating force in much they way they always are. They controlled the ball, passed it well and created plenty of chances. Against Tottenham, we did more than that. There really was an urgency to the team that hadn’t been seen for a while. That urgency carried them to a 3-1 lead. Unfortunately, the gas ran out of the tank and the team gave wayand wound up drawing 3-3.

There a few of you happy to see that. I’m not. Because I hate losing and to me even a draw you fight back on is as good as a loss. Hell it has more ramifications than a loss. As it has to Arsenal who now even though equal on points with Chelsea sit in third 6 points off United.

In this match against Spurs we did exactly what we set out to do and similarly to the first match attacked their right side. Wenger rightly believes that Dawson and Assou Ekotto are the weak links on that side and A Ekotto can be caught trying to go forward with Bale. Walcott was having a field day with that and it perplexed me why we seemed to move away from it in the second half.

Walcott was superb this match and for much of his time on the pitch gave the Spurs defenders fits. Why we didn’t exploit that more than we were is beyond me. It really could have gotten the game wide open. Towards the end it thought Theo, like a lot of teammates started looking like he was gased.

As for Gareth Bale up until his injury he was a non-factor. I will go to my grave singing the praises of Bacary Sagna. He is without a doubt the best RB in the EPL. He had Bale in his pocket all afternoon. Sagna’s crossing improves game over game and once that is honed, he will be one of the best RB’s in Europe. He has speed and defencive skills, all he needs is a little more offencively. There is no doubt why he made the PFA Starting XI for the season.

Then there is Szczesny. My god if he isn’t the articulation of evertying we have seen in a goal keeper. From his rash chances on the ball, the last one resulting in the PK and his wink after knocking out Bale – very reminiscent of Jens Lehmann. To his getting beat on the near post and reminding us of the Spanish keeper who shall remain nameless. The second goal, I can’t blame him for it. He never saw it. Van der Vaart was in the way and if he hadn’t jumped when he did, he would’ve been singing in the boys choir at St. Paul’s in London.  It wasn’t a bad game or a good game. But I firmly believe this our future number 1 and that he will be someone of whom songs are sung.

All in all if I were a neutral I would’ve thought this was by far the best match of the EPL season. And it was. But I am an Arsenal fan and I am very serious when I say we are hard pressed to be confident enough to think we can win something.  But in a season when noone clearly wants to win this thing, anything can happen.

Sticking with my Shakespeare theme – let’s turn our focus on Wenger shall we?

To Manage or Not to Manage that Is the Question

Yesterday during my interview with World Football Daily (you heard I was on the show right?) I was asked if I was concerned that it seemed Peter Hill-Wood and the team did not have a plan “B” for Wenger. The host Kenny Hassan – asked what happens if there are of losses and removing Wenger is a must. It looks like the club have noone in mind. I took that a step further and oddly enough this is an idea that is starting to get some further traction.

I told Kenny that I just read Graham Poll in the Mail who asked “Has Wenger lost the Plot?'” In the article were a series of images of a clearly frustrated and unhappy Wenger. Gone was the passion of the man who took the club to great heights. This clearly looked like a pained man. I concluded in the interview that I wondered if Wenger could walk away from the job he has held this past 15 years simply because the passion is gone.

Funny enough today John Cross of the Mirror articulated the same thing and sure enough a slew of similar articles and blogs popped up.

We asked the question a while back – how does a manager who achieve what he achieved suddenly stop knowing how to win. For a few years the drought may have been understandable. Shift in priorities, looking at new talent – a few years adjustment wouldn’t be hard to understand. But that few years has turned into 5 possibly 6 years without winning.

Wenger, the man idiolized and praised soon found himself criticised and questioned. In the meeting with the fans two summers ago, Wenger almost walked away on the club (rumours had him going to Madrid). It is clear being uncomfortable with the questioning and not winning is wearing on Wenger.  He no longer holds court with the press. His outbursts at matches have become childish. Nothing seems to work for him right now. For a man so used to being in control and being loved and admired this is not what I think he thought would happen with this squad.

It could happen. Wenger could just walk away. Or decide to move to the board. The board seems more likely – at some point. It would at least keep the good players that idolize Wenger here. If Wenger were to outright leave to another locale – a lot of players quite possibly even budding starlets like Wilshere could leave. Wenger needs to stay on some how in the club.

It will be an interesting 5 games of the season. If it continues to go wrong – it will get worse for Arsena and I would not be surprised if he just decided he wanted to retire.

That I am sure will make a lot of people happy. But be warned – while I don’t think any manager is irreplaceable – changing managers does not necessarily mean our fortunes will play – quite possibly it could signal even a downturn worse than what the club is going through. But on the other side it could lead to new winning seasons. There is just no way to know.