The ensuing days after a defeat are always a bit rubbish. The immediate reactions are done with, and everybody’s moaned out, usually within two hours of the match.
But after that calms down there’s still a bubbling current of what is best described as ‘meeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaa.....’-ness, a kind of general pall over what is said and reported, and with the defeat being to Them of all people, it’s somewhat worse than usual.
So it’s no suprise that the talk at the moment is centred around trying to identify exactly what the problem at Arsenal is. Everybody has their own opinion, and the figures of blame are many and varied.
Blame Wenga
In an aside before I start, from attending matches, it’s quite easy to tell what fans think of our manager. Those who are undecided either way or support him tend to pronounce his name as the correct ‘Ven-ger’, while those less keen will use ‘Wen-ger’, ‘Wen-gah’, or my personal favourite ‘Weng-er’, with a soft ‘g’. It’s a highly novel way of nailing your flags to the mast, and one only Arsenal fans could come up with. Congratulations.
David Ornstein from the BBC was on the radio yesterday to re-hash the traditional ‘Arsenal in crisis’ story from this season: That of Arsene Wenger and Steve Bould having a rift over defensive training. His line this time was that Arsene stopped Bould working closely with the defence because he was worried Bould was receiving too much credit for Arsenal’s defensive improvement. Hence various defensive issues have sprung up.
The story has appeared enough to suggest that perhaps Wenger and Bould do have some disagreements, which is healthy really-if the assistant manager kowtowed to everything the manager said it wouldn’t be a healthy working relationship. But to suggest that Arsene Wenger would purposefully make his team worse for the benefit of his reputation is ridiculous. If he wanted to look better he could take credit publicly for the defending, or generally produce better performances from the team.
He was labelled an ‘egotist’ by one journalist yesterday following the report, acting only in his own self-interest. In all honesty, Arsene’s best interests would likely be to leave Arsenal where they are and join PSG or Real Madrid, somewhere where he could win trophies and reclaim his previous high standing. But he won’t. And that tells you all you need to know, really. There’s no denying his stubbornness on and off the pitch is an issue, but to think he’d do something like this is ridiculous. Especially as the likes of Ray Parlour have come out to deny it before, and will again.
It’s the owners!
Stan Kroenke and the Arsenal board come in as a subject of heavy criticism, and Ian Wright today spoke about how the American needs to ‘speak’ to the fans and make clear his intentions, which have been rather misty since he joined.
I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Kroenke, being as he is an investor with little emotional attachment to the club, if any. His American sports teams exist in states of mediocrity, never quite making the cut. There are (founded) fears Arsenal will end up in the same state. However, he’s been unfortunate in that he joined the summer Project Youth fell apart good and proper, with Fabregas and Nasri leaving. The inevitable RVP departure has led to more hostility, combined with his continuing silence.
The possibility of Arab investors making a bid for Arsenal could well put pressure on him, but I wouldn’t count any chickens as far as a U-turn in policy or a takeover is concerned. In fact, I’d probably cook the chickens and enjoy a nice dinner.
Transfer talk
Unsurprisingly, the reports of late have been that Arsene Wenger is targeting the defence as a position of reinforcement in the summer. I’ll be covering the defence later this week, so I’ll simply give the targets and some thoughts:
The Guardian have said Arsene Wenger is looking for a commanding central defender, with Swansea’s Ashley Williams top of the list. The Welsh captain has been impressive this season, and as a captain is vocal both on and off the pitch. Experienced at 28, he’d add a voice to the dressing room, which could be what Arsenal need, though you wonder if looking abroad for a higher class of defender may be more advisable.
As well as this, the Daily Express have linked Arsenal with Galatasaray forward Burak Yilmaz. The Turk is prolific, being one of the Champions League’s top scorers as well as hitting 21 goals in 26 games in the Turkish league. Arsenal were linked with him before he moved to the giants, but the chairman is now quoted as saying he would cost £35 million. That’s bravado (remember Montpelier’s infamously difficult president claiming Olivier Giroud would cost around £40 million), but he wouldn’t be cheap, and playing largely in a fairly weak league means the risk may not match the return. Probably just paper talk.
With no game until next week, I’ll be covering various areas of the pitch and how Arsenal can improve them, as well as the usual transfer speculation and general blather.
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