It had to happen at some point.
But nevertheless, I’m distraught.
What a person. What a club.
Technically, his last words were ‘bye-bye’ I think, but this works better.
Your new format has some of your old blog posts linked at the bottom. I saw the one that links Jack to West Ham from last year, and clicked on it thinking it was recent.
As someone who does economic forecasting as a profession, I know how easy it is to get things totally wrong. Still, it’s fun to go back and see just how badly our predictions are off sometimes. You wrote this:
“Wet Hams are set to spend big this summer to paper over their Andy Carroll sized cracks in attack. In what will almost certainly be the best deal of the summer, The Hammers have an agreement to steal Chicharito from Bayer Leverkusen for a mere £13m. ”
– Nobody could predict Mo Salah, I suppose*
* the analytics community knew he was a good signing at 30m, but nobody knew how could be THIS good.
“And in what will almost certainly be the bust of the summer, Wet Hams are set to sign Marko Arnautovic from Stoke for £23m and make him their highest paid player. Arnautovic won’t add much in terms of goals or assists for West Ham but he does add a lot in attack with his striking ability to attack players arms, legs, shoulders, and to push people down when they are in mid-air.”
– Arnautovic: 10 goals (leads team), 5 assists (3rd in team. 7.01 WhoScored rating (2nd in team).
Even the brightest of minds lose when unable to control obstinacy and hubris.
When the hagiography is over I hope revisionism does not condemn this wonderful man to a lesser place in football’s history.
There will only ever be one Arsene Wenger.
Brilliant send off – on and off the pitch – for a brilliant man.
Also worth catching the presentation to him by the journalists in the press conference afterwards, rightly praising his humour, humanity and integrity.
It’s been a privilege to have been part of a unique era.
Victoria Concordia Crescit!
“But in the end, the consistency was no longer the same, and the disfigured resentfulness of time catches up with us all.
Perhaps the worry is, that long after he’s gone, we will see that he was never the problem at all. The entitlement and toxic atmosphere has grown its seeds and will remain, in a club that predominantly cannot fulfil them. And that the thing that made us special and unique in world football is not there anymore.
But this is not the value Arsene instilled in me, or in us. There is always tomorrow, there is always another battle and another priority and another way to take those steps of confidence, however slow they may be.
I really hope his successor is even an inch of the man he is. He must make the club his priority, there is no other way, as Arsene would say.”
I am gonna miss him.
Still gonna love Arsenal.
Coygs.
It was a merciful ending, and I don’t mean that as a pun. He deserved a great send-off . He delivered a great ending. All the animus of the past few years is gone and all is forgiven. Merci beaucoup.
That was a great send-off no more than he deserved, how much better for all concerned had he left at the end of last season.
I’m not so sure. We didn’t seem ready for the transition. The restructuring of the club hadn’t begun yet. The new guys got to come in and properly assess the areas to work on, the staff to keep/hire, and how to shape the squad. Instead of needing to make decisions on the fly. (Wenger would have been a part of managing the transition too)
As it is, now the only major decision they have to make is who will coach this team. And they can make a more informed decision on that knowing what they now do.
Oddly, I was more emotional before the game. After the game, the ceremony felt..nice.. but not too emotional. I think maybe because Wenger kept his emotions mostly under check. It was a nice speech, and he obviously feels the stuff he says about missing us fans, and the values and love for the club. But he stopped himself from letting the emotion out. Probably because it would overwhelm him. He seemed almost distressed in the post match press conference when they kept asking him about how he feels and what next.
I love Arsene Wenger. The manager’s achievements are great and what he’s done for Arsenal is immense. Unparalleled. He’ll never be forgotten. But the man. His humility, wit, intelligence, and his values. That’s what makes him the greatest. The club found the best man for the job all those years ago. Let’s just hope they can do that again. But whoever it is, there will always be only One Arsene Wenger.
PS. For the club to give him the Golden PL trophy is amazing as well. Maybe in the future, when he’s retired, they can also name the stadium after him. Arsenal are a classy club. Long may that continue.
It had to happen at some point.
But nevertheless, I’m distraught.
What a person. What a club.
Technically, his last words were ‘bye-bye’ I think, but this works better.
Your new format has some of your old blog posts linked at the bottom. I saw the one that links Jack to West Ham from last year, and clicked on it thinking it was recent.
As someone who does economic forecasting as a profession, I know how easy it is to get things totally wrong. Still, it’s fun to go back and see just how badly our predictions are off sometimes. You wrote this:
“Wet Hams are set to spend big this summer to paper over their Andy Carroll sized cracks in attack. In what will almost certainly be the best deal of the summer, The Hammers have an agreement to steal Chicharito from Bayer Leverkusen for a mere £13m. ”
– Nobody could predict Mo Salah, I suppose*
* the analytics community knew he was a good signing at 30m, but nobody knew how could be THIS good.
“And in what will almost certainly be the bust of the summer, Wet Hams are set to sign Marko Arnautovic from Stoke for £23m and make him their highest paid player. Arnautovic won’t add much in terms of goals or assists for West Ham but he does add a lot in attack with his striking ability to attack players arms, legs, shoulders, and to push people down when they are in mid-air.”
– Arnautovic: 10 goals (leads team), 5 assists (3rd in team. 7.01 WhoScored rating (2nd in team).
Even the brightest of minds lose when unable to control obstinacy and hubris.
When the hagiography is over I hope revisionism does not condemn this wonderful man to a lesser place in football’s history.
There will only ever be one Arsene Wenger.
Brilliant send off – on and off the pitch – for a brilliant man.
Also worth catching the presentation to him by the journalists in the press conference afterwards, rightly praising his humour, humanity and integrity.
It’s been a privilege to have been part of a unique era.
Victoria Concordia Crescit!
Amazing post, have a read
http://www.arsenalvision.co.uk/articles/5620-forever-indebted-dear-arsene.html
“But in the end, the consistency was no longer the same, and the disfigured resentfulness of time catches up with us all.
Perhaps the worry is, that long after he’s gone, we will see that he was never the problem at all. The entitlement and toxic atmosphere has grown its seeds and will remain, in a club that predominantly cannot fulfil them. And that the thing that made us special and unique in world football is not there anymore.
But this is not the value Arsene instilled in me, or in us. There is always tomorrow, there is always another battle and another priority and another way to take those steps of confidence, however slow they may be.
I really hope his successor is even an inch of the man he is. He must make the club his priority, there is no other way, as Arsene would say.”
I am gonna miss him.
Still gonna love Arsenal.
Coygs.
It was a merciful ending, and I don’t mean that as a pun. He deserved a great send-off . He delivered a great ending. All the animus of the past few years is gone and all is forgiven. Merci beaucoup.
That was a great send-off no more than he deserved, how much better for all concerned had he left at the end of last season.
I’m not so sure. We didn’t seem ready for the transition. The restructuring of the club hadn’t begun yet. The new guys got to come in and properly assess the areas to work on, the staff to keep/hire, and how to shape the squad. Instead of needing to make decisions on the fly. (Wenger would have been a part of managing the transition too)
As it is, now the only major decision they have to make is who will coach this team. And they can make a more informed decision on that knowing what they now do.
Oddly, I was more emotional before the game. After the game, the ceremony felt..nice.. but not too emotional. I think maybe because Wenger kept his emotions mostly under check. It was a nice speech, and he obviously feels the stuff he says about missing us fans, and the values and love for the club. But he stopped himself from letting the emotion out. Probably because it would overwhelm him. He seemed almost distressed in the post match press conference when they kept asking him about how he feels and what next.
I love Arsene Wenger. The manager’s achievements are great and what he’s done for Arsenal is immense. Unparalleled. He’ll never be forgotten. But the man. His humility, wit, intelligence, and his values. That’s what makes him the greatest. The club found the best man for the job all those years ago. Let’s just hope they can do that again. But whoever it is, there will always be only One Arsene Wenger.
PS. For the club to give him the Golden PL trophy is amazing as well. Maybe in the future, when he’s retired, they can also name the stadium after him. Arsenal are a classy club. Long may that continue.