We arrived at school fifteen minutes early. That’s no small feat in my world where I tend to be disorganized and try to pack too many things in to my mornings. But my nine year old daughter had helped. She got herself packed and ready while I ran around in a mess.
But because of her preparation we got to spend fifteen minutes together before class reading The Wonderling to each other. It’s a magical book about a creature that is part man, part fox and his epic quest to free his people from an evil headmistress bent on stealing all music from the world. She would read a chapter, then I would read a chapter, each of us making funny voices for the characters.
Sitting in the car before school, reading to each other, was a stolen moment of peace in a world of chaos.
We read all the way up to the bell, then said our I love yous, and I drove off to take myself to work.
Down the big hill and out onto the road by the bay. It could be a pretty view, and part of it is, but as you get closer to the city, the bay turns from sailboats and trees into container ships and a massive paper plant with its huge plume of steam constantly pouring into the sky.
I merged onto the freeway. The roads here in many parts are raised off the ground. A hundred feet off the ground, we have roads in the sky. And there, as I turned a broad corner, between the jersey barrier and the yellow stripe stood a seagull.
It wasn’t eating. It wasn’t trying to fly away. It was just standing there, hunched as small as it could make itself, its eyes closed, its head tucked into its body, but both legs fully extended.
As each car whipped past the bird, it shook a little. Wind and dirt pelted the seagull but it just tightened closer, squinting its eyes, with each passing blow.
I spent the rest of the day worried about that seagull. Why didn’t he just fly away? He was already in the sky. There was nothing above him but open sky.
Or if he didn’t want to fly, why didn’t he just jump down and stand under the freeway? It’s dry down there. There is plenty of garbage to eat.
He must have been sick, I surmised. He must have been dying. And his last act was to stand on the freeway and get pelted by passing cars.
When I told Avie about the seagull she reminded me that I had made her read Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I’m sorry about that, I told her, but you have to admit it’s a pretty funny book. Yeah, she said, maybe he was just wishing himself to another dimension. Like Jonathan Livingston Seagull? We both laughed.
Maybe he was more like Charles Bukowski I said. And then I had to explain to her that Bukowski was a drunk that wrote poems about being drunk and living in the gutter. Jonathan Livingston Bukowski, she said.
I should write a poem called Jonathan Livingston Bukowski, I told her. He couldn’t fly away. He was too drunk. And besides, he liked living next to the freeway. One day he’ll realize he can just wish himself away. We both laughed.
When I drove by the next day I looked for the body of the seagull but he was gone.
Huh?
Been checking the site all day for your analysis from yesterday only to see this post? I’m confused lol
Analysis in the guise of metaphor.
Jonathan Livingston Wenger, I presume? Lovely piece, Tim; beautifully done. If you ever do come to the point where you just can’t write about the Arse anymore, I hope you keep writing about other things. I always enjoy these vignettes.
Or are we, Arsenal fans, the seagull?
No, I don’t think it’s allegorical at all. Just a nice piece of creative writing.
I think that perhaps a better Wenger analogy would be heroin addiction – perhaps Jim Carroll?
My analysis of the match:
1. Losing to Man City is no great shame. They are the best team I’ve ever seen play football and if they stay healthy they are my choice to win the Champions League.
2. Losing to Man City in the way that we did is a great shame. That was an end-of-season-one-foot-on-the-beach type of performance.
3. Mustafi is now going to have a target on his back from every opposing forward. You can lose challenges, you can slip, you can make mistakes, but what you can’t do in a cup final is take a light bump to the back and give up on a play while begging the official for a foul. That’s just weak. I’ve been complaining about Mustafi’s weakness now for two years. It started when I saw him ducking out of aerial challenges and hiding on corners. I was criticized then. I think I was right. But no matter what I think. Everyone will think he’s soft and he will be targeted for the rest of his career.
4. Mustafi is emblematic of Arsenal or Arsenal are emblematic of Mustafi. Either way, the point is that every team knows that if you poke Arsenal, if you push them around a little bit, if you pressure Arsenal, they will collapse and ooze jelly all over the pitch.
5. Wenger. Wenger isn’t “tarnishing his legacy”. Nothing will take away his Invincibles. Nothing can take back the 7 FA Cups or winning the League at Old Trafford. And nothing will take away what he did in the post-construction era, keeping Arsenal financially viable with a team that was constantly injured. What’s happening with Wenger is just what happens to all sports managers: they lose their powers. His methods are old. His training isn’t working. He’s not able to spot talent like Fabregas and swoop them up the way he was before. He is just an old manager. This is what happens to all managers, eventually.
6. Arsenal have a real problem going forward. Not only do we have to replace Arsene Wenger but I think a clear out of his players is in order. A clear out. If Arsenal get someone like Ancelotti I doubt many of these players will survive. Ozil, Auba… Lacazette.. Mkhi? I can’t see anyone else making the cut. Oh wait. Ramsey. That’s what I mean by clear out.
7. Finally… Arsenal aren’t going up or down the League table. Arsenal aren’t winning the Europa League. I will not be taking Thursday off to watch the match. I will do some post-work watching and write a numbers column for Arseblog. That’s how I’m approaching the rest of this season. You know, I was there in 2011 when Arsenal lost the League Cup to Birmingham. If you want to know what that was like go read So Paddy Got Up. But this loss yesterday didn’t sting as much as that one. This loss was expected. And I’ll go a step further and say that the manner of the loss was expected. After all, Arsenal nearly capitulated a 3-0 lead to Ostersunds a few days earlier and while I know the players were not all the same, it’s the same team. It’s a team problem. It’s a Wenger problem.
Anyway, I’m not saying anything original or thought provoking. I hope you all find a way to carve out 15 minutes to spend some time with your loved ones.
Re point 6 and your ‘post clear out’ survivors:
Did you exclude Bellerin because he is not good enough, or because he will have already gone?
Personally, I think the latter and agree with your list, but interested in your thought process.
I overlooked him. He’s still young and I guess there is room for improvement but as it stands he’s not good enough.
It’s moot. He’s off to Barcelona this summer if he and his agent can engineer it.
Bellerin’s form this season has alternated between poor and just ok. I don’t know why Barcelona would take the risk on him.
Because they will be looking for a young, athletic right-back. I hope we’ll dig our heels in.
In Barcelona’s new 4-4-2 set up they need fullbacks with real engines to get up and down. Jordi Alba is basically a winger on the left side. I can see Hector becoming a superstar in that system. Imagine him overlapping with a player like Rakitic on the right side, playing the ball into Suarez or Messi.
Sergi Roberto is clearly a stopgap solution there, Semedo seems to be a bust, so they will be dead-on set for Bellerin and rightfully so.
Tim, if City is the best team you’ve ever seen play football (these things are subjective, but lawyers in Brazil, Milan and Barcelona are being contacted as we speak :))….
…then surely a 3-0 win over a not that great Arsenal team is par for the course?
Point 5 potent, and on point, Point 7 is, I fear, sadly true.
I like this piece, I do not hate anybody in this piece, I do not desire anybody to lose their job in this one.
Nice, Tim.
On the one hand, I pity Wenger, and, on the other, I’m frustrated with him. Why did he sign a contract last summer? A big mistake, but clearly he still believes he’s the right person to right the ship, and that if he just works harder, things will get better.
The problem now is twofold: We have 1) a manager who will never step down of his own volition (because he firmly believes he’s the man to turn things around, despite evidence suggesting otherwise), and 2) a board that, historically, has been quite content to reward Wenger with new contracts no matter where we finish or how the team responds to him.
I really fear we’ve got another year of Wenger. At least.
I cannot understand Wenger’s reluctance to bow out gracefully. If he were to announce tomorrow in the presser ahead of the City game that he will be stepping down at the end of the season, the mood would change 180 degrees; the media would turn from critical to fawning, the players would amp up their performances and even the most stridently anti-Wenger would not dare jeer or whistle again until the end of the season for fear of looking disrespectful and besides, they’d have a new dawn to look forward to.
((Sigh))
There is a compelling reason not to do so: The Pellegrini Effect. Remember when he announced his departure from Man City in the middle of the season? You could see in their remaining games that there was zero commitment from the players.
Pellegrini is not Wenger. City, if I remember correctly, had nothing to play for. And everyone knew it was Guardiola coming in.
Really, the player performances are the least of it. We’re not moving out of 6th. We’re very unlikely to win the Europa League. I’m more suggesting that it would short circuit a lot of animus from the media and fans, Wenger wouldn’t have to find himself under a barrage of hostile questions and jeering from the stands. He could joke, have a laugh, reminisce about past teams, hear applause when he walks off the field at full time.
“Zero commitment from the players”… Which would be a change at Arsenal how?
They already know he’s leaving this summer. That’s why we are getting the performances we are getting.
Yeah, I mean they’re in the waiting room already. They know he’s leaving and they’very given up on him.
You’re probably right. I have no idea if it would have any effect on the performances whatsoever if he announced his departure now.
But, like I said, my main fear is that nothing happens. That the culture of the club continues with respect to doing something (i.e., nothing) about the manager’s position, and we start next season with Wenger in charge.
It seems unthinkable. Someone please assure me this is Wenger’s last season!
Great piece Tim. Sums up the situation perfectly.
This post by Jack Wilshere deserves mention:
“Hard to put into words my emotions about yesterday. City are a good team and deserved to win yesterday. Alot of people have had thier say on us and we have to accept cristism when we lose. That being said i can’t accept some of the decisions that went against us yesterday. What ever you say about the first goal, its a foul. The second goal is offside. There should have been a second yellow in the first half. Yes this happens in football but its still hard to accept. And people will say we are looking for excuses but these are facts. Anyway we need to respond, starting on thursday. Thanks to all the gooners for your support and trust me we feel the same but we need to stick together”
Ok, first of all it’s clear he cannot spell. Maybe it’s kind of petty of me to point that out but I can’t help myself. Speaking of helping oneself, Jack couldn’t help himself either or he wouldn’t post this. Clearly he’s incensed by the decisions that went against Arsenal, as Arsene was, and the problem isn’t that he doesn’t have a point; both the nudge by Aguero and the Kompany goal were ones that we’ve all seen go both ways. Although I don’t think either decision was incorrect myself, I can understand feeling like it went against Arsenal on a day when they really needed the benefit of every decision in their favor to get the better of a superior City side. Overall though he’s really not helping the cause by drawing attention to the refereeing and away from the things that (he among many) could’ve done to improve the performance yesterday. I don’t think this is a calculated move, I just think he genuinely cannot help himself, and it’s not a good thing.
Side note:
I came away from the game yesterday thinking we were atrocious for 90 minutes but I think a lot of that was derived from watching the players stroll around and look utterly inept for 30 minutes with the score at 3-0 while listening to Gary Neville (justifiably) eviscerating the team for its lack of quality or effort.
After reading the normally critical Jonathan Wilson this morning (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/feb/26/arsenal-arsene-wenger-shkodran-mustafi-manchester-city-carabao-cup-final) I may revise my stance somewhat about how badly the team was beaten over the course of 90 minutes; it sounds like for large sections of the first half we at least prevented them from playing their game, even if we never really threatened on our part. It’s also worth pointing to how close Aubameyang came to scoring and how different the game may have been if he had done so. Yes, we got crushed by the better team in the end but the margins were somewhat smaller than I thought.
We know you’re not a fan of his (guarantee you if Ramsey had posted this you wouldn’t be complaining).
Personally, I like that he’s genuinely pissed off about the whole thing. I like that Jack cares, and doesn’t seem to be smug and self-satisfied the way plenty of our players come across (e.g. one H. Bellerin). I don’t think anything in his post suggests he thinks the ref decisions absolve him or his teammates of blame for their poor performances.
And I don’t care that he can’t spell because I don’t take spelling as a sign of natural intelligence and I don’t take natural intelligence as a sign of a person’s moral standing or intrinsic worth. At most it’s a sign of one’s education, and I never expect elite English footballers to be anything other than poorly educated relative to myself and members of my own socioeconomic class.
I also liked that Wilshere did this. I think his claims about the officiating are misguided and besides the point, but I appreciate the gesture of commiseration. He’s actually an interesting guy (relatively speaking) in interviews.
Well, excuse me for lobbing shame grenades from my ivory parapets into the teeming but worthy proletariat of England’s footballers, who clearly belong in a repressed socioeconomic class of have-nots both in terms of educational opportunity and financial means…!!!! (Seriously, did you think this through before posting?) And yes, the ability to speak and write one’s native language at a reasonable level is something I take for granted that most adults in developed nations should be able to do well even if they are employed to kick balls around for millions of pounds per year. And I wasn’t even particularly serious or invested in it, but you went and made it all hammers and sickles and capitalism on me. Sheesh, the social justice police these days, it’s too damn much.
Social justice? Hardly. Just pointed out it was a mean-spirited and inane comment. Cheers.
PS Have you visited twitter, or, you know, the internet outside of this website for the last 20 or so years? Apparently no one can and/or can be bothered to spell correctly.
“Repressed socioeconomic class of have-nots” = a hyperbolic caricature of a position that is nonetheless reflective of where English football players most often come from, not (crucially, in terms of the original comment) where they are now in terms of wealth. I’m sure you understand that, which is why it’s weird to encounter your underlying assumption that because they are wealthy now, they should have been well educated then; or, that because they have spent most of their lives dedicated to athletics, they should have also prioritized a belletristic education.
Regardless, your comment on spelling is silly, given the context. The linguistic register of social media does not have the same demands of a scholarly essay, employment application, or magazine article. There are times when satisfying the question of “does it communicate?” is perfectly fine, and, if it does, which Wilshere’s comments do, it’s churlish to point out spelling errors.
*fire emoji*
And to me it just confirms the things Tim said in that post about Wilshere and his lack of maturity and intellect.
Churlish and silly? Maybe. Inane and mean spirited? Definitely not.
The way you both sunk your teeth into this says to me you’ve been waiting for a chance to take me down a notch. Especially you PFO, having two bites, first with the Ramsey thing and then with the spelling, like I’m just being mean to Jack when I would coddle Ramsey for the same thing. Now that’s churlish and silly. I love Ramsey because he cuddles sloths and penguins and cares about protecting rhinos from poaching. True story. And yes, I rate him, but if you want to know the truth, Wilshere has impressed me more than I though he would on the pitch this season. Also a true story.
I stand by what I said: Wilshere and his peers grew up in a very developed nation so I am not buying his economic or educational repression. The thing of it is, and maybe this is why the spelling thing really bothered me, is I really think he knows better. At the very least he could use a spellchecker or tell the person he employs to manage his various social media platforms to proofread for him, if he is too lazy to do it on his own one paragraph social media bombshell which was poorly thought out in terms of content too. If you’re going to post something like that, and it isn’t the odd “oh went to the supermarket today, saw a funny looking dog” type of post then maybe he could bother to put some thought into it instead of just recording a stream of consciousness into his cellphone and pressing send.
Doc,
Honest, I don’t come on here waiting for a chance to “take you down a notch,” or even to engage with what you write at all, to be perfectly frank. You just have a remarkable habit of saying things that I find annoying (and then doubling down by insulting me when I criticize you), so too often I can’t resist the temptation to respond in annoyance and/or anger. I should do a better job of resisting that temptation.
I don’t mind being disagreed with, or disliked, I’m used to both on here, but when you moralize at me for something trite, that really does set me off and it does smack of something personal. If you’ve got an issue with me, be direct about it. Criticizing my views is great, that’s why I’m here. Passive-aggressive moralizing we could all do without. Leave that at the door.
“Well, excuse me for lobbing shame grenades from my ivory parapets into the teeming but worthy proletariat of England’s footballers,”
Next time you need to preface that with a trigger warning… Lucky for you I have a coffee-proof keyboard, otherwise you’d be hearing from my solicitors.
[Note to the overly literal, that means I found it funny]
But seriously, maybe he was just pissed off and made a spur of the moment decision to post from his phone.
Sorry, but I actually find this social media posturing after the game far more smug and self-satified than anything Bellerin has said or done. He’s typically english in that way, all about the posturing but not much substance.
Agreed. For some, he’s more relatable than Bellerin but HB was honest about what he sees as a problem, and no matter whether you agree or disagree about AFTV, we shouldn’t demonize players for speaking their minds. Weirdly, I see this as Wilshere almost defending/parroting AW’s excuses, which most of us are very familiar with by now.
ok, that’s you’re point of view, though I disagree with labeling the english as typically “posturing but without much substance” (is this english society as a whole? english football culture? individual english footballers?).
at least Jack doesn’t wear ludicrously expensive, patterned designer pajamas and slippers out in public.
Yeah, that english comment was over the top. I meant a certain brand of football man masculinity, the Alan Shearer brand of PASHUN.
So what if Bellerin like to play dandy.
Bellerin >>> Wilshere
And I don’t care what he wears. Put him in any organized, well balanced, motivated team and he is hands down top 10 in Europe.
You’re right about Bellerin.
I don’t really care how he chooses to play dress-up. I personally find it a bit obnoxious, but I honestly wouldn’t care if I felt he was putting in good performances consistently. And not just because I like players better that play well (no surprise there), but because I guess the combination of his off-field persona with (what I perceive as) his consistently sloppy, unintelligent performances has led me to judge that (to use a cliche) “he thinks he’s made it already, and he hasn’t.”
This judgment has clearly been made on very little concrete evidence (though it still might be true). So that’s unfair of me (incidentally, not unlike people who paint Wilshere as a nasty, stupid, entitled chav, when, as Bun says above, he actually comes across in interviews as one of the more thoughtful players we’ve got (not a hard feat, admittedly)).
I also think my growing dislike for Bellerin is significantly due to wanting to push back against others who have contributing to building him up far too much and too quickly: (a) Wenger, for playing him in almost every game, regardless of his iffy form, and basically eliminating any shred of competition he’s had at the club, and even more so, (b) fans like Andrew and James on the Arsecast who (in my opinion) have shown him a ridiculously unfair level of favoritism, absolving him of almost any amount of criticism for anything on or off the pitch, despite his performances being largely pants for a year and a half now, and despite his apparent desire to push for a move back to Barca last summer (and it was reputably documented, despite what they’ve suggested, though one can hardly blame him for it). In particular I thought that the way those two treated the Ox last summer in comparison–with scapegoating and borderline character assassination–when he was challenging for Bellerin’s RWB role, was really off-putting (yes we’re all entitled to our opinions, blah blah blah).
So, in short, I used to like Hector, now I don’t so much. And it’s only partially his fault. But if he showed signs of really working on the things I think he’s poor at–not giving the ball away cheaply, crossing better, tracking back better, stopping crosses, being switched on to runners–I’d like him again. And the off-field stuff ultimately is irrelevant, provided the on-field performance is good.
EMOB
re: frustration with Wenger choosing players regardless of form spilling over into frustration with the players themselves. I notice myself doing this with Iwobi. His form is poor, and yet he plays. It doesn’t help that he seems to take his celebrity status for granted (a little like Bellerin).
Jack Wilshere needs to re-watch the FA Cup final against Chelsea last year. A lot of calls went for Arsenal and Chelsea might have the same complaint about “what if” Sanchez’ first goal hadn’t stood? These things happen in football. I don’t like this technique of applied history being employed by the actors in the story. Leave it to the historians to play out what-if scenarios.
If you’ve ever played sports to an even remotely competitive level, you know it can be bitterly frustrating and disappointing to lose, and all the more so when the loss is mixed with a sense of injustice at perceived referee mistakes (I can only imagine how much harder it is when a. you’re a professional and b. you have millions of strangers eager to slag you off on social media after every performance). In these situations it is only human nature to react defensively and in a somewhat biased fashion.
It’s not about the bias, it’s about the immaturity and frustration nad a lack of introspection. It’s just a childish reaction and actually a lack of clear and focused leadership on show here.
No, he had a line in there where he said he wouldn’t excuse it, but that whole comment was exactly that. Pushing the responsibility away.
Emob,
It is possible to complain about refereeing, to think that an injustice has been done to your team, and STILL acknowledge that your team deserved to lose and is to blame for their own performances. Since that is pretty much a summary of what Jack literally said, you’re having to read him uncharitably to make him mean what you want him to mean.
Your uncharitable interpretation of his motivations and his psychological states may well be entirely accurate (of course he comes across as whining), but it goes against the explicit testimony of his own words.
I have played at the university level and ever since. I understand the bitterness. However almost never did I blame a loss on the referee. Personally, I loved the “black arts” of the game. Mustafi got fouled? Then within minutes I would “foul” two or three of their players in retaliation and they would not get up so easy. But if Mustafi were my teammate and I’d seen that on the field in front of me I’d actually have ripped Mustafi a new as#hole right then and there for being such a pu$$y, not get on the ref.
It’s a culture of non-accountability that has infected the club. It’s why we don’t fight and scrap because subconsciously the players have been conditioned to find excuses for poor performances elsewhere; the ref, injuries, lack of preparation, oh boo hoo the fans are jeering us etc.
if you read what he said he specifically did not excuse the performance or blame the result on the ref.
I don’t want to excuse our team’s performances this season, the lack of accountability, the stupid mistakes, etc, etc, (though I think purposely fouling opponents in retaliation for perceived injustices is disgusting).
I just don’t think Wilshere’s post, clearly born out of frustration, is the best example of the poor culture at the club. He obviously gives a damn. And, though he was hardly great, he was probably one of our best and hardest working players on the day (fwiw, Adrian Clarke on the official website agrees with me).
Interesting to read others’ take on Wilshere’s comment. Personally I think it’s the single most damning thing on Wenger I’ve read. It’s so far removed from reality that in order for Jack to believe any of this he must be working and playing football in a carefully created Arsenal bubble where criticism and understanding cannot penetrate. The first goal was not a foul, the second goal was not offside. If either had been a goal for us, he would agree with the ref.
Wenger’s key philosophy is to motivate his players and build their confidence, make them believe in themselves – it’s a wonderful attribute and it has a huge payoff in terms of getting the most out of them. But if the team is not playing well, you can end up praising players for mediocre performances, or encouraging them to think there’s a conspiracy against them like Jack. Confidence then comes at the expense of quality and improvement, which means we continue to underperform, which makes it harder to build the confidence, and the only way to build it is to lower the bar again. You end up on a vicious downward spiral. This looks to me to be where Arsenal is right now.
Wenger changed things up with the back 5, it was a trick to try to change the dynamic, it kind of worked but not for long. His magic has always worked in the past, which is why he backs himself, but it’s not working right now. He’s always relied on having inspirational players in the team. Right now nobody looks around and thinks to themselves “with this guy playing next to me I can’t lose”. Sanchez should have been that player but his personality was aloof. Ozil is not that guy.
Cazorla was inspirational in so many ways, and we miss him greatly.
Thank you, exactly what I’ve been thinking. It reeks of a sense of entitlement without putting the work in on the pitch. “Woe is me, the world is against us”.
And the “we have to accept criticism” line is akin to “i’m not racist but…”. It’s doing the exact opposite of accepting criticism or showing introspection or accepting that they’ve not been good enough. It’s all about external factors again instead of starting with the things he could actually change.
I don’t think any unbiased viewer would judge the first goal a foul (Mustafi is SUCH an idiot), but I do think the offside call is debatable, given the fact that Sane was in Ospina’s line of vision when the pass from Gundogan was played. It’s not surprising that they allowed the goal, but I can see how it would be frustrating if you’re playing in that game and such a crucial goal is allowed, with there being such a lack of transparency as to how the offside rule really works. And maybe there was a case for Fernandinho to get a second yellow as well.
Of course, anyone who suggests that these are the reasons that Arsenal lost (which Jack didn’t) or who focuses on these issues (which Jack did, to a point) is biased and misguided. But I think it’s human nature: they just lost a cup final 3-0, in humiliating and incredibly frustrating fashion (e.g. how frustrating would it be to watch your teammate give up a goal like Mustafi did to Aguero?).
There are SO MANY other issues at this club right now more in need of addressing than this tweet.
“It had to do with me trying to reach my team and I have not reached them the last month. They’re tired of my voice. I’m tired of my voice. It’s been a long haul these last few years. I wasn’t reaching them so we figured this was a good night to pull something out of the hat.”
–Steve Kerr, Feb 2018
This is Kerr explaining why he allowed his GS Warriors to draw up plays and coach themselves in timeouts in a game against the Phoenix Suns a few weeks ago (this is the NBA, for anyone who doesn’t know). So to recap:
The Warriors.
Who have been to the last 3 NBA Finals, winning 2 of them.
Inarguably one of the most dominant teams in basketball history.
And Steve Kerr’s only been there coach since 2014!
Yet he’s acknowledging that it’s difficult to get through to his players after a few years as their coach. Now, maybe it was all a self-satisfied media stunt, but if not, if he was being genuine in the above quote, then it’s a revealing insight into the nature of modern day coaching in elite sport.
When I thought about this and applied it to Arsenal the other day, it felt liberating, because it freed me from having to mentally wrestle with the question of how Arsene Wenger, a man I’ve greatly admired for a long time, could suddenly become so bad at football management.
I think Arsene’s tactical philosophy and training methods are, at least somewhat, tired and outdated. But questions of
1. *how* outdated they are
2. whether it’s the methods or Wenger himself
3. whether a few relatively minor tweaks could make the difference
4. if so, why he steadfastly refuses to make those tweaks
5. whether the methods could still work with a different set of players
6. whether they could still work if he moved to a different club in a new league
7. when exactly the rot set in (i.e. we’ve been a bit soft in crunch situations for years, but we were NEVER anywhere CLOSE to this bad, not on a regular basis, and as recently as 2-4 years ago we were a much better side with, arguably, lesser players overall)
etc, etc, etc, are all beside the point, because the real point is this:
8. Arsene Wenger as Arsenal manager is tired and outdated
The evidence for this truth is now mounting so high as to make it virtually irrefutable. If Steve Bloody Kerr struggles to get through to his players, what hope does Arsene Wenger, in 2018, with this group of players, have?
Great comment.
All really said, and I think it’s true.
There are, however, a few issues that go beyond the psychological, such as Wenger’s team selections and long-term failure to address key problems in our tactical approach.
A similar point to yours was made on the Arsecast today, about Wenger’s instructions going in one ear and out the other, but James and Andrew also made the claim that Wenger really doesn’t offer instructions to his players (the example of Xhaka’s surprise about this upon arriving was interesting). Modern footballers need clear instructions and game plans instead of just ‘go out there and express yourself’.
I agree, though I think it must be an exaggeration to say he doesn’t offer instructions (I’m sure we’ve all heard examples of things he’s told players, though perhaps rarely at the level of fine detail that many younger managers address).
Yes, I think it would be an exaggeration to claim he offers ‘no’ instructions, but it’s a question of degree compared to other clubs. According to the anecdote about Xhaka, he was shocked at how little instruction he received here compared to his previous clubs. Pires basically confirmed this in his interview with Andrew from Arseblog. Again, I’m just basing this on what I heard in the Arsecast today, but it rings true, especially because Wenger’s philosophy has by his own admission prioritized expression, creativity, and self guidance. All good qualities, but they don’t seem to be balanced with the counterweights of cohesion, organization, structure, etc.
And you have to undertsand where Xhaka came from, he has been trained and was most successful under Lucien Favre, a control freak who plays very measured counterattacking football and instructs his player exactly within an inch of where they have to be at any give situation. So he always knew where to be at any given time, where to pass, where the runners are.
Wenger really hasn’t lost his fastball as a coach. He was never a great coach. He is a lot of things. He’s a great man. He was a pioneer, an innovator, a revolutionary, a great scout, a great mentor. Add all those things up and you have a great manager, a man who revolutionized Arsenal and English football and a man without whom a great many of us wouldn’t be commiserating on this here website.
He’s just gotten old. The game has passed him by. Games pass almost everyone by, eventually, even the greatest ones. There are a very select few who can stay at the top level even into their old age but most are hanging on by past glories – unable to motivate men young enough to be their grandchildren the same way they were able to motivate men only young enough to be their children.
All of Arsene’s edge’s have faded away, some early – the league caught on to professionalism and physical training/diet pretty quickly. Some later – the scouting edge persisted for at least ten years, first blunted by the rich teams just buying the players we identified for sums we couldn’t match as we were paying off the stadium, then killed when those same rich teams figured out how to identify even more players even younger and by the time Wenger’s team would identify them they were already in PSG, City, Chelsea youth teams. The last edge to evaporate was his ability to inspire quality attacking football, one we still seems glimpses of here and there but nowhere with the same regularity as before.
That his edges have all gone leaves us all staring at him naked and picking at his warts. He never was a good defensive organizer – his first teams had it from Graham’s men, his middle teams kept good defense through great ball possession and men coached up by the last vestiges of the Graham defenders in their youth – the defense has been poor for the better part of this decade with all those men gone. He was never a great tactician, better than the worst critics suggest but always more about imposing your own will than countering your opponents.
Has he lost the team? Probably. But it wouldn’t change much if he had them. The game just passed him by, as it does everyone. For someone who demands total control of the operation, it could only end this way. And now we’ve reached the point where the only Arsenal news that matters is if the manager has been sacked. If the answer to that question is no, everything else we discuss is just noise.
I love Steve Kerr. I loved him as a player and a personality too. And that’s a fair point. Arsene Wenger tacitly acknowledged that sometimes a difference in training can help the players focus as he said that’s what happened with the switch to the 3 at the back. But I think there’s a difference between the Warriors’ lack of focus and the Arsenal’s. One’s driven by a lot of success, and the other by a lack of expected success.
To be clear I’m not arguing against a new manager here. That’s likely to be the single largest thing that would boost player focus. Just saying the emotional and mental states are different and so not quite the same thing.
Fair point.
Losing to City after being beaten by Nottingham, Swansea, Stoke or Östersunds felt like my baby daughter pulling me by my hair at 7 o clock in the morning after I’ve been working all night without sleep. The horse is already dead.
7amhairoff
Experienced this recently. Nice to hear I’m not the only one.
Off the top of my head (Can’t be bothered to check) I think that’s defeat #6 of 2018. Oh, and we’re still in February.
I’m cool because there’s only two ways Wenger’s still in charge next season, and both avenues are beyond the realms of probability for HIM.
Why? Because he lacks belief in his team and HIMSELF.
He’s officially a dead man dying.
Or a geriatric seagull.
Oh and for whatever it’s worth, i agree with Jack Action in that Wenger should just announce he’s going in summer. At least it will bring some feelgood factor and hope back to the stadium whilst relieving some of the high pressure from the old dogs head if nothing else.
We seem to be entombed in 6th spot for the season, so what have we got to lose? The worst has happened this season the rest of it will b be as we expect with the odd rays of victory here and there
Not going to happen (early announcement)–even if I’m coming around to the idea that it would be a good thing. That’s just not Wenger’s style. He doesn’t break contracts. The board are going to have to sack him. I suspect things would have to go EXCEPTIONALLY bad in the next month or so for the board to sack him mid-season, and, like you say, I’d say we have 6th sewn up.
IF the board want him gone, they’ll wait until the season finishes.
o be honest, I want Wenger gone rather sooner than later. But there’s also much to be said to wait until summer, so the new regime isn’t “tainted” by the failure of this season. I’d rather we start afresh with a new focus in the summer, ready for a new challenge and a bit of rest. It’s much easier to breeak organizational continuity like that and instill change than in the middle of the ride.
A lot of talk today about Henry’s comments on Sky about how it’s a dream of his to manage Arsenal.
Have to say, the only thing I’d like about him as our manager is that he’d cut a sharp and handsome figure on the touchline. I hope the rumors about Josh Kroenke wanting Henry as the next manager are false (much as I will always love Henry).
I’m also a bit concerned about those comments. To me it seems to have a different underlying meaning to his previous comments on the topic.
I’m all for a change but I think someone with more experience is vital in this setting. Henry coming in and being successful would be a marketers dream but I think the chances of him being successful are slim.
Slim to none. He’d be an absolute disaster.
Would love to see Arteta at some point. I hope he’s learning a lot but working with People.
Damn you autocorrect
*by working with Pep.
I’m on the Arteta train (as I said in a comment to the last article), provided he really does have the smarts and character that everyone who speaks of him seems to think he has.
In some ways we need a massive culture shift (no longer being ok with mediocrity, etc), but in many ways I think we need to preserve the culture (emphasis on passing/attacking football, bringing through youth, class on and off the pitch, not spending for spending’s sake, etc), not rip it up entirely, which is why Arteta would be great.
If he really is a smart/observant guy, there’s NO WAY he could work under Pep directly after working under Wenger and not want to implement MUCH greater intensity/cohesion/organization into training and tactics if given the Arsenal job. Of course it would still be a massive gamble given his inexperience.
After thinking about it, it might be better for him to work where the stakes are lower first. I would love to see him become our manager (assuming he’s a good one) but I don’t want to ruin him by putting him in a difficult situation. I’ve seen Sarri’s name thrown around a bit, which intrigues me, though some have been quick to call him out for a) smoking on the pitch or b) allegedly using homophobic slurs against Mancini. Mancini also called him a racist but offered no support for that claim. Jardim seems an interesting choice as well. Hell, I’d take Gattuso at this point.
We need wholesome institutional changes. We need to completely overhaul the coaching staff from top to bottom. We need a whole institutional cultural shift. That’s one hell of a job in itself. Add to that our match preparation, tactical discipline and training regimen. That’s not something for someone to learn on the job. We’re not Real Madrid, an excellent institution filled with A class talent and know how that basically just needs some man-management and a figurehead. Philipe Auclair always mentions the concept of a “ferryman” from Seria A, which I think descrivbes best what we need.
Henry for coach. Henry for president! Why not? He could hardly do worse than what we’ve got and he would have a near inexhaustible well of goodwill. Imagine if he also happens be a good coach on top of that! We have no idea if he is a good coach or not until he actually does it, and I don’t think managing some doormat club in France for a year would make him any more or less likely to succeed as Arsenal’s main man. Managerial experience is completely overblown these days. What matters is, do the players believe in him? Can he excite the fans and build belief and trust? That’s 90% of it, and I think he has as good of a chance at that as anyone else. The other 10% he can learn on the job from a more experienced assistant or three. For the record, I do prefer Arteta but I would be in full support of Henry as well.
To me, Henry’s punditry has no relationship whatsoever to his potential coaching ability. For sake of anecdote, I quite like Gary Neville as a pundit, and he made an awful coach at Valencia. Punditry is about making pithy cliches and jarring comments that give people something to talk about.
Your last point is fair enough, but I think the sample size of Neville’s coaching career is far too small to reach a confident conclusion as to whether he might make a good manager or not, given time and the right opportunities. Valencia were in an absolute mess at the time, and were burning through managers. I’d still take a punt on him as a manager over 99% of the other regular English football pundits.
And while I think you’re right that being a good pundit isn’t a sure sign you’d make a good manager, I think being a bad pundit, because you have next to nothing intelligent or insightful to say (as Henry usually is, imo) *is* a pretty good sign you wouldn’t be great at management.
Another thing about Neville that I liked, even when I hated him as a player at ManU and what he did to Reyes, was a display of character that he showed at some random punk’d type show that Rio Ferdinand hosted. I know that sounds random, but it involved Neville being shown in the wrong by a policeman. A lot of footballers would have panicked, bribed, or gone all ‘do you know who I am’? But Neville though obviously angry and annoyed refused to indulge in the game and just demanded things be done properly. I don’t remember the exact context but I do remember thinking that he showed good character.
And his failure at Valencia (hardly unique at the time) came only because he was willing to put himself out there and go to Spain to try his hand at management. Which is a far cry from what most English retired pros do.
I think he’s a better pundit than many, and I agree with you that the case for him being terrible at management isn’t comprehensive.
I also agree with you that Henry would be a terrible choice as manager. He was divisive as captain and comes across as a bit of a snob. His aura might seem great from a distance but I think both he and the players will find it difficult to sing from the same hymn sheet after a while. And that’s without talking about a lack of managerial experience.
I’d rather see Vieira try his hand. Now that’s someone who has put the time in and is willing to learn the ropes.
No, I certainly didn’t mean to represent the case against Neville as comprehensive, but it’s also true he hasn’t had another job before or since Valencia. Maybe that’s by choice.
Good points about Henry’s personality. I do remember the latter years of his Arsenal stay he was definitely too good for the rest of his team, though in fairness he was correct in his own self-assessment. I’m surprised by how few people think he would be a good choice for manager, actually, I thought there would be a lot of support for him. I think an instructive example is that of Zidane, himself also not exactly easygoing as a player and also went straight into the hot seat but he has done alright. Maybe it’s a case of hoping for lighting to strike twice, but why couldn’t Henry follow that model?
Hmm..I want to disagree with your last point but I can’t think of any counterexamples. I do think there’s more (or less) to punditry than having insight or intelligence. In fact some of the best (not informative, but entertaining) pundits act more like wrestling heels than anything else. I seem to remember Henry playing this role when calling out Giroud a little while back.
Very nice piece of writing, Tim. To paraphrase Dylan, we don’t need a weatherman etc…Arsenal are what they are and will remain that until Arsene bids us all a fond adieu . We all know that and that proverbial horse does not require flogging. rather than read a recapitulation of what WE all saw, I for one, rather enjoyed a heartfelt respite. Again, nice piece, tim.
Tim doesn’t care for Bob from my own past usage of that very line which is one I often use both here and in my ‘real’ life.
Ian Wright has said this on BBC5:
https://twitter.com/MrArsenicTM/status/968209141419462657
I am so mad after hearing this but now we know.
I suspect the next manager will be an authoritarian prick in a reactionary move by management to this reported behavior on some players’ parts.
So add Iwobi to the clear out list.
Remember when we all would have a moan about Pascal Cygan’s defending. I would drop Mustafi for Cygan in a heart beat. No in a nanosecond.
Iwobi’s been on my list for a while now. Seeing him on that Nike London ad, when he really doesn’t do much on the pitch+partygate is a bit infuriating. What motivation does he have to improve with no chance of being dropped?
cygan was a good defender, he was just slow and arsenal played with a really high line. he didn’t fit.
How would you define “authoritarian” vs. “disciplinarian” or do you use the terms interchangeably?
Let’s consider the front runners;
Leonardo Jardim – good with young talent, tactically astute, not a disciplinarian though from what I read.
Carlo Ancelotti – not a disciplinarian. A scolding father type who can do the odd hair dryer treatment in the dressing room. OK with young talent but better with superstars. Sent Ozil packing from Madrid.
Brendan Rodgers – great with young talent. Tactically iffy. Horrible at recruiting, but that would be out of his hands at Arsenal now. Not above giving players a good rollicking. Probably wouldn’t let Iwobi (and Ozil) skip training.
Jogi Low – ummm. Been so long out of club management it’s impossible to say. When you have German internationals to manage how much discipline do you need to bring to the table?
Patrick Vieira – I have no idea. Great captain. Does that mean he’d be a great manager?
Mikel Arteta – too soon. Maybe after another 2 or 3 years with Pep.
Thierry Henry – too soon. Maybe if he agreed to apprentice a la Zidane with Ancelotti for a few years.
Given the length of his time with the German national team (sustained success over a number of tournaments and in long qualifying campaigns, rather than just a one-off summer like Scolari) and given that the German team, more than most others in world football, is run more like a club side (same tight knit group of players and staff, with very gradual evolution over time as a few young players are introduced every two years or so; a very clear playing philosophy implemented and tweaked over many years), I don’t have the worries about Jogi Low that many Arsenal fans seem to. I think he’d probably make a great manager: very much a passing/attacking philosophy, but with WAY more tactical flexibility and sophistication than Wenger exhibits.
When you look at Low’s cv, he has not managed a big club that has to play games week in, week out. Your comparison to Scolari is actually a good one. I don’t think Low translates. But maybe that’s why Ozil re-signed, he got some assurances that Low would be in the running to replace Wenger. I can’t believe Ozil would want Ancelotti.
I think it will be very interesting what happens. It’s clear Henry has Stan Jr.’s ear. Vieira is part of the City family and hasn’t distinguished himself as a manager in MLS. If DeBoer hadn’t been such a bust at Crystal Palace I would argue a DeBoer/Bergkamp team could be amazing. Ancelotti is almost a perfect caretaker but you’d need to start planning a succession the day he starts. Allegri is never leaving Juventus, c’mon, be serious – great club, great players, one of the world’s great cities in Torino. Same for Simeone leaving Atletico. Enrique looks set for Chelsea and Conte for returning to the Italian national team. Pocchetino will have a lot of pressure on him to consider the Real job. If Spurs job comes open with that team and ours, don’t presume a manager would pick our squad/club over theirs with the younger talent and better academy. Jardim knows zero English. Sarri knows zero English and he’s at the club he always wanted to coach.
The more I read about the candidates, the more I’m convinced the club might go for Rodgers. If you take recruitment out of his hands and want a manager with a certain aesthetic style of play, media savvy, good at youth development et al, I can see it happening.
You know, Rodgers at Celtic almost won me over. But I don’t see future Arsenal manager when I look at him. There’s just something about him that I think would put off players and would jar with the Arsenal brand. I would have liked De Boer before he failed at both Inter and Palace.
But I think the next manager will likely be either German or Spanish. The two nations that in recent years best represent the sort of football, and the youth development, that we want to see. Whether it’s Low, Hassenhutl, or an upcoming young coach from Germany that Mislintat likes, or a Spanish coach that Sanhelli likes. Maybe Marcelino, who’s got Valencia up to 3rd after a major revamp?
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42095164
I have doubts. As a club manager, the demands on him would be very different with respect to form given the time between matches and length of a campaign. He’s shown excellence at managing several generations of German talent, but how would he deal with a drop in form over several matches amid increasing pressure by a demanding fanbase? He also has less of a squad to work with than at the national level, given several competitions occurring simultaneously and a comparatively fixed squad along and long-term injuries. Finally, it’s hard to predict how he would handle working with the club to get the players he wants in the market, rather than being able to pluck them at will from the breadbasket of German talent.
Shard, would love Marcelino. What he’s done with Valencia is amazing.
OT (apologies)
I’m sure Tim will be pleased to see that The Guardian’s won all the awards again.https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/26/taylor-mcrae-kelner-ingle-sja-awards
I haven’t been against Arsenal having a new manager for a couple of years now. I just don’t agree with some of the criticisms that are thrown Wenger and Arsenal’s way as a matter of fact. And I continue to dispute these.
I think it was one of the commenters on this site who observed that in the East, Wenger’s ‘approval ratings’ seem to be higher. It’s not an entirely Eastern vs Western thing, but I really think Arsenal seem to take it in the neck because they don’t run the way they are expected to in the intensely Western ‘capitalist’ league that is the PL.
The variants of the no ambition, and no accountability, or too slow to act, as criticisms. I don’t think they are true. Arsenal has ambition, accountability and acts in accordance. They just have their philosophy and it is not based on the same principles as much of the PL. It has also served them well to get to the heights that they have. Of course they make mistakes, but they value something beyond just the immediacy that football today seems to promote as never before.
So the demand for Wenger to leave is not a knee jerk reaction. But it is certainly not how Arsenal would do these things. Not because they don’t care, or they have no ambition blah blah.. But because they know that they need to first lay the structure to move further from the fantastic Wenger era. Which in turn meant identifying the problems, the personnel to fix said problems, and waiting for them to be available. (Like we do with players) They also know that part of the attraction of their brand is based on the ‘values’ that they show, and sacking Wenger, the grand old man of modern Arsenal, just won’t do. If the results really get overwhelmingly bad, they will be forced to do this because the long view cannot entirely disregard today’s realities. However, I don’t think they are eager to sack Wenger until they are confident they can come out much stronger at the other end, and do it respectfully (Wenger might walk after not getting CL two years in a row)
I don’t get into the tactical part of it too much because I know very little about such minutiae, and that will surely change with a new manager. What will not change is how Arsenal go about things. They may tweak a few things, but Arsenal will still be the club that takes the long view and looks to build itself up organically and doesn’t pay shady agents whatever they want to get deals done. (Arsenal are the club that sacked George Graham over taking kickbacks when this was apparently common practice) None of those things are going away even with Wenger.
Doc, yes. Dinging Wilshere over his spelling was unnecessary. To what end? To show that a young professional athlete had less formal schooling than we did? It reminded me of Laura Ingraham’s ugly curled lip response to LeBron, who had the temerity to criticise her man, Donald Trump.
And speaking of Trump, he frequently mis-spells words and uses bad grammar… not in a typo kind of way, but because the President of the United States no less has glaring grammatical deficiencies. That’s leaving aside the racist, sexist, insensitive and plain dumb nature of many of his intemperate screeds.
I’m not comparing what you did to Trump’s actions. Just offering some perspective.
Ok, I mean, I even said it was petty in my own comment to begin with. The “outrage” that followed was even more unnecessary than the original comment. I stand by what I said after further reflection though, the spelling is emblematic of an overall carelessness in that message. I do think he knows how to spell, it’s that he didn’t bother to try that rankled. Overall though it really is SO much ado about nothing. Let’s move on.
Wilshere’s comments should not be viewed in isolation. It is a reaction to the larger issue surrounding refs, the media, and Arsenal, and is a part of an ongoing Arsenal effort to talk about it more. In the past year or so Wenger has more expressly gone after refs, Mustafi has taken on the media, Bellerin has been more open about criticisms and agendas, and I can’t remember who else but ref decisions have been mentioned by other players, including Cech more recently. This is not a sign of a mentally weak, excuse driven culture. It is part of a decision made by Arsenal to try and highlight what has been a long standing issue for them largely beyond their control.
“If the results really get overwhelmingly bad, they will be forced to do this because the long view cannot entirely disregard today’s realities. However, I don’t think they are eager to sack Wenger until they are confident they can come out much stronger at the other end, and do it respectfully (Wenger might walk after not getting CL two years in a row)”
Nail on head.
Re: wilshere, I don’t suspect he is capable of such coordinated subtlety, the post was a stream-of-consciousness “vent” more than anything. I think he just wanted the fans to know that they still care.
Also, remarkably little has been said about this due to he ultimately comprehensive nature of our defeat but if you watch the breakdown of the cup final (Adrian Clarke on the .com) he shows a very convincing freeze frame when Gundogan plays the pass in from the edge that shows Sane standing offside and interfering with play. Wilshere does have a point, as I said in my original post about the subject.
Oh I don’t think Wilshere coordinated with Arsenal to release that statement. I just think Arsenal have taken some of the shackles off as regards what the players can say about the refs or other injustices (real or only perceived) Wilshere vented at refs because Arsenal’s media policy now allows him to.
DeBoer didn’t fail at Palace. He was given a RIDICULOUSLY short amount of time to change a team’s style from Pulis/Allardyce ball to Ajax-ball, with very few new recruits. When they results weren’t immediately spectacular the Palace board got cold feet. Foolishness. Now Inter may be a different story.
Agreed. But Arsenal is not the place to rehabilitate your reputation. He needs to take a job in Spain or Germany and try again.
Agreed.
Lovely piece. Life is weird and wonderful.
Doc, there are differences with Zidane and Henry. First their personalities. Zidane was a firebrand but also much more of a leader. Maybe that came from his Algerian roots and becoming a role model in French society after the World Cup, or the fact that he was clearly the ‘technical leader’ of any team he was at. Or maybe it’s just because midfielders tend to be better leaders than forwards (This would be an interesting survey. Do strikers make good managers?)
Henry was never a leader at Arsenal even when he was our best player. The role of inspirational leader was Vieira’s, and Bergkamp was clearly the guy most looked up to for his abilities, even as Henry was tearing it up. He was a divisive rather than an inspirational captain.
Also Zidane worked his way up at Real. He had some duties as a scout first as I recall, then became an assistant, was appointed coach of their reserve side, before walking into the job because Benitez was just not respected by the uber talented Real squad.
He brought gravitas by virtue of his career, but he had other qualities, and had put in the work as well. Things that Henry doesn’t have and hasn’t done.
I highly recommend Phillipe Auclair’s biography for reference. It’s written through the prism of the France’s team strike during the world cup and reflects on Henry’s leadership or lack thereof.
Wenger has just said in his press conference that he wants to see out his contract until 2019. It has to be hubris. He’s done. The board must show they have the cojones to eject him. The man needs to be saved from himself.