Plenty of Blame to Go Around At Arsenal
Let’s face the stark reality of the situation, we are 8 games in – with only two wins. That’s not good enough for Arsenal and even with plenty of games left to play there needs to be a lot of soul searching within the hall of the North London club to figure out how to arrest the rot that has taken hold.
Rot, seems like a pretty harsh word. But let’s be realistic we’ve been abysmal this season. The exceptions being, Villa, Galatasaray and the second half against City. We’ve just not been at the races at all this season. With all the moves that were done and the fact that our core of players hasn’t changed dramatically, we expect and deserve more.
And as is the case when times get like this, it’s a rousing rendition of the Arsenal blame game. Of course as the manager and the public persona of the club, most of the ire is directed at Arsene Wenger. I don’t think he’d have it any other way. But is Arsene Wenger really the only one who should bare the brunt of it? The answer is simple – no.
The board.
I have always held the board in greater contempt than I have Wenger. Wenger is a product of the environment that has been established around him. There is in my opinion a complete lack of leadership stemming from the board room and it permeates all facets of the club at this point.
The thing is, this isn’t something new. The board completely dropped the ball as far back as when the move to build the Emirates was announced. Nothing was told to the supporters about the impact the move would have. Nothing truthful that is. Had supporters been told at the outset that this move would force the club into an austerity program that would last some time, it may have frustrated fans but likely we would’ve accepted it and the era of barrenness may have been accepted better.
Additionally, the board is to blame for ceding control to one person, namely Wenger. Wenger as any person would, happily takes that control. But he does it without much in the way of checks and balances from those above him. The board admitted as much in last week’s AGM. When it comes to footballing decisions all power lies in Wenger.
Sorry that’s too much. Why they haven’t told him you have set goals is beyond me. What employee of any organization is told if you don’t do this you won’t have a job. Of course those benchmarks could change now that we are out of the woods from the barren era but someone has to say to him – this is what you have to achieve to earn your keep. And no – just finishing fourth is not the target he should be aiming for now.
The board need and in particular CEO Ivan Gazidis need to establish themselves as the Captain of the Good Ship Arsenal. Through them a course forward needs to be set that everyone in the organization is working towards even the Navigator Arsene Wenger.
Fine, Wenger has control on footballing operations. But that power can’t go unchecked and when something goes wrong he needs to be held accountable. To date, the board haven’t seemingly done anything to hold his feet to the fire and in my estimation that is grossly inept and larger than anything Arsene Wenger has done.
The manager.
As supporters it can’t be taboo to offer critique of the manager and wonder aloud if the game has passed him by. Wenger deserves all the plaudits for his winning ways and for steering the club into the new era. Conversely, he has to bare blame for repeated blind spots, not moving with the times and maybe just maybe holding on to a romantic version of football that just doesn’t exist.
Wenger has to feel heat for not filling in gaps that were glaringly obvious. We all know that a need to replace Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini at DM exists. But this isn’t the most egregious miss in my estimation. The fact that Wenger went on record and said that if Thomas Vermaelen were to leave he’d need to buy another CB and then didn’t is as poor a judgment as the old man has displayed in a while. The fact remains that in all of Europe and beyond there wasn’t one 3rd or 4th string center back available? Even on loan?
Secondly, Wenger is the man who sets the plan and tone and for much of this early season we have looked like a team without a plan or struggling to cope with a plan. Wenger moved to the 4-1-4-1 and the team struggled with the concept and while you suspect they may come good with it, failing to move to a system that is comfortable for them and learn the new system in training screams of a hint of madness.
I applaud Wenger for seeing the need for a plan b to combat getting overrun in the midfield by some of our opponents. I feel he has missed the mark by using even when it fails to garner any success.
Wenger also has to take some blame for the stuttering way the team has started this season. Arseblog in his post-match comments nailed it when he placed the blame squarely on Wenger for not having the team ready to come out for the second half against Hull. I think it goes beyond just that half (And I am sure Mr. Blogs does too) it has to be for every game.
Every manager is different. They approach their team talks differently. Some are fire and brimstone, others more carrot then stick but whatever Wenger’s approach it doesn’t seem to be working right now and sometimes even parents need to punish their children. Wenger needs to stop being the nurturing parent right now and be the parent who expects their children to act a certain way and offer consequences if they don’t.
Tactics? Wenger has never been a tactics guy. So I can’t really blame him here. He belongs to a theory of management similar to Cruyff and Pep and a lot of others that prepares his team by focusing on the system the team play and the technical proficiency if the players rather than looking at an opponent and preparing for them. I will say that calling him tactically inept is a knee jerk reaction simply because his approach is not solely his and in fact has been successful before. What he needs to do is evolve that technical preparation of his team. I’ll leave that to smarter guys than myself to discuss.
The players
I never wonder why players escape blame. The thought is the manager and team brought them in and prepared them for the match so they should be blameless. Or as one person put it to me, maybe the level we are seeing from the like of Sanchez, Özil, Ramsey, Wilshere, Cazorla Oxlade-Chamberlain and others is all they are able to achieve (I say that’s bollocks.)
But at some level I am sure the manager feels he has given them the tools (the system) to succeed and as professionals they must now take those tools and use them. Players simply because they are who they are shouldn’t escape blame for their role in our slow start.
They have to come to play and if they need some sort of extended motivation to take the pitch and perform than what in the hell are they getting paid for?
There is no excuse for any professional player short of injury or personal problems that affect a player mentally for the continued lack of effort that seems to be on display more than often this season. These are professional players not youth organization kids who need a coach screaming at them constantly on what to do.
It beggars belief at times that for all the skill and talent that Arsenal do have that they seem to go through the motions especially when taking on the league’s perceived minnows. Again, Arseblog pointed out yesterday, it shouldn’t have taken the team until stoppage time to bag the equalizer nor should it have ever come to that at all. And while Wenger deserves blame for not suitably preparing his players to take the pitch, the players have some level of responsibility for actually showing up to matches.
Blame lies at every corner at this club and no one should feel like it has to rest with one person. Nor should no one blame solely one person. As I’ve outlined here there is plenty of blame to go around and much of it deserved.
We as supporters deserve better from all corners.
Tell us who you think is responsible for Arsenal’s slow start.
