Same old same old right?
I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t surprising to lose, but I would be doing a disservice to you if I said I didn’t expect us to falter us so soon.
Optimism is good, unless it’s tempered with reality. We’ve been so chuffed with the powerful egalitarian squad we have that we’ve forgotten it takes something from the manager’s side as well, to take the club over the line.
Like I said hardly a week ago, under Wenger, we’re not ever winning the Premier League again. Buying Karim Benzema will not increase one iota the team’s mentality or Wenger’s in-game management, which are almost always the root causes of our failure.
Say whatever you will about Wenger and his ability to keep Arsenal among the top when the club had no money (and there are a lot of loopholes in that argument, let me tell you) but the truth is that with this current team and with the Premier League’s current state, it would take a special kind of incompetence to not top the pile come May, or at least fall three points short of the champions.
Yet, I can guarantee you this is what we’ll see. What I cannot guarantee is who the Arsenal faithful will choose to blame this time.
I know that most of the Arsenal fanbase fetishize Arsene Wenger, and that any manifestation of reasoned criticism is taken as personal abuse, but surely no one can be so blinkered? Wenger has a terrific and togethered squad at his disposal, solid personalities in his backroom (and even if he doesn’t, let’s not forget Wenger hires them) and complete backing by the board to break the £42m record.
Yet there are the same old errors infringing the club. The same old overplaying young legs like Bellerin until they break. The same old lack of Plan B when Plan A isn’t working out. The same old contingency of hoofing Francis Coquelin when the chips are down. Honestly, if Yaya Sanogo hadn’t been loaned to Ajax I assume the standard protocol would have been to bring him on in the 88th minute.
It will truly be some achievement if Arsène manages to fraud his way out to this, too. Today, the mob blamed Coquelin, Petr Cech and Aaron Ramsey (well warranted, of course) – but isn’t it more insightful to blame the man who didn’t buy another DM, or play Ramsey where he eats?
Also, why shunt Arsenal’s main attacking threat to right back when it matters?
None of these problems are related to money, the board or other outside forces the manager cannot control. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, these are elementary mistakes that Wenger cannot get his head around. For every conquest at the Etihad there are five games like this. For every psychological boost at Old Trafford there are eight predictable failings against top sides.
Call me crazy, but I have more faith in the Arsenal fanbase to realize the truth. I was once a staunch backer of Arsene, but evidence and reason turned me. If it happened to me, it can to others.
And if you care about the footballing success of Arsenal Football Club, you better hope it does.
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
Comments