Scapegoats

36 comments

1. Sigh…we moved on Serge Gnabry but we are still stuck with Willian.

   Xhaka? Is Xhaka…

   Xhaka is a special(ist) player. He can pass. He can hold up. He’s good to have for set pieces. He’s a leftie who can be effective with LB/wingers on the overlap.

   He can drop back in a back 3 formation but he cannot defend. He can be terribly ill-disciplined. He is almost as slow as Willian.

   Meh. In 2021 with the season days away, it’s better value to have him around then try to try and sell him, given Roma are only offering a slice of Margherita when we want a decent pie with protein.

   And that part of supporter culture in which others have an opinion about you and how you should support the club? F%&k you and anyone who looks like you. A$sholes. And that’s me me being as articulate and polite as I can be on that topic!

   Anyway. let’s do it again, once more into the breach and COYG!!!

   1. Sakhalin is a regista, a thing of days goe by even in Italy.
      We are still holding the totem

2. I am one of those awful American Johnny-come-lately fans. If “real” Arsenal fans don’t like my kind, I’m fine with that. I wear it as a badge of honor that I’ve fallen in love with the club during this period of decline, rather than hopped aboard the Invincibles bus back in the day. It’s thanks to Tim and this community that I feel welcome and part of the Arsenal family. My gratitude to all!

   I’ve been ‘Granit out’ for a long time. Can’t say how disappointed I am that he’s going to wear the shirt again this season. Having said that, I will support him with everything I’ve got, because he’s an Arsenal player. Full stop.

   But sweet Jeezus please don’t let us extend his contract. There’s no reason to add another year of high salary obligation to a player who’s not a fit for the club. There is no asset value to protect for a player who’s 29 and too slow already. Run down the contract and move on, for God’s sake!

   1. LA, it’s all good. I started out my Gooner life by asking the question, so who is this Arsene Wenger, anyway?

      Long but fun story, which I’ll save for another day but, I actually met him when I had zero idea of who he was or anything about Arsenal.

      Didn’t involve music, but CCTV cameras in a new footballing venue in North London called…Emirates Stadium.

      1. I would love to hear that, 1Nil! One of those things you get excited about in retrospect. I’ll trade you my Bob Marley story!

   2. You’re loved and highly regarded, LA. I look forward to your smart takes. And (as I’ll keep repeating) you got ESR spot on before he made his mark. But for heaven’s sake, man… you’re a gooner, not a gunner. That’s a dead giveaway, you interloper; unless there’s something you’re not telling us 🙂

      Look, most of a big club’s fan base these days never went to a match at the club, and never will. Hard to if you live in Sierra Leone, not that much easier (apart from financially) Singapore or LA. Remember the good old day, pre-Covid, when the pre-season was one, big extended marketing tour? btw, Im both exile and ex-local. Lived in LON for 20 years, and went to Arsenal home games. But I was an immigrant, and Im back in the sunny Caribbean. So Ive been in both camps at one time or the other.

      1. Thanks, Claude. No guns in this LA house! Yep the gunner vs gooner thing was a dead giveaway, lol!

         Didn’t know you were in the Caribbean now. I visited Antigua 1x-2x/yr back in the 90’s/00’s. My mom and late stepfather lived there for about 20 years. Miss it dearly.

      2. 😂😂😂

3. If you eat caviar every day it’s hard to return to sausages.

   Harder still to order a second portion of day old ones, heated back up in the microwave.

4. Your last sentence beautifully sums up the last few years, but supporters of my age, early 70s, can remember many an earlier season, the 1960s, when steering clear of relegation was our main hope, an altogether foreign thought process for this centuries fans!!!

   1. You may have never heard of the Toronto Maple Leafs (ice) hockey club, but other than bleeding Red and White, I also bleed Blue and White (Maple Leaf colours). And we’ve been waiting for it to come home just year less than those S$%s reprobates up the street from us. It’s been 1967 since we won the Stanley Cup.

5. I can understand holding onto him. But why the new deal ?
   We either
   a) Think someone’s going to come for him next season when clubs’ finances improve
   b) Really want Xhaka to be part of the squad

   If (b) is true, why did we wait till the Roma deal was off ? Also, are we still looking for a starting CM, or are we rolling with Xhaka again ? If so, seems like a massive gamble to take on such a pivotal position. Our attack will be hamstrung to compensate for Xhaka’s weaknesses.

   All our hopes of getting close to top 4 rest on Partey. If he’s injured/out of form for a reasonable part of the season, we’re f**ked.

   1. We’re already f**ked. At the time of this writing, Partey’s injury is not looking good. Please…time and fate, prove me wrong.

      1. Partey will be fine.

6. Not one of them is a Gooner, as far as I know, but my old friends are finally hitting the road in the U.K. if anyone’s interested:
   https://bluetones.band/

7. With Xhaka we may be hoping for what they call in basketball a sign and trade. I dont blame the club for telling Roma to take a hike, but once they do that, theyve got to securely contract the player so that he doesnt walk for nothing in a couple of years. And once you securely contract the player, youve got to bump him up in salary. Otherwise, he has no incentive to sign. Fans dink the club for getting rolled over in the market; and they dink the club for not swiftly moving unwanted players on. Pick your poison. Im more pissed-off at the club for keeping Elneny, though I recognise he’s a squad player. Twice in 2 preseason games Elneny coughed up the ball under pressure playing it out from the back, and twice we conceded, think. He’s a press disaster waiting to happen. And did you see Chelsea’s really good 1st goal? They broke on our right on the counter, both Tierney and Chambers were upfield and OOP, Mari tried to put out the fire on the right on his own, and Elneny, who’s meant to be covering the vacated RB, had to hare back like a Merc on the autobahn. It was chaotic, and our Pharaoh was at the heart of the dysfunction.

   1. It’s an interesting theory but I think it’s much more likely that Roma just weren’t that interested unless they could get him for cheap.

   2. I’m ok with him walking for nothing vs being tied to him into his 30’s, though. I can’t imagine suffering through Xhaka’s 31 year old receive-and-turn, given the hours-long ordeal it is at 27. I know the market is bad now, but if we can’t get anything decent for the guy after one of his best years and a strong showing at the Euros, we aren’t getting anything in 2-4 years, either. Let’s get out from under the contract and move on as soon as we can.

      But yes, Elneny is another level down altogether. Only emergencies and cup games, please!

      1. LA: “I’m ok with him walking for nothing vs being tied to him into his 30’s, though.”

         Yes, absolutely. And it’s like spending $15 to save $5

         And if youre rebuilding, youre rebuilding.We’re sill giving Arsee grief for selling Gnabry on the cheap, but he took what he could get in the market at the time, and under the circumstances.

8. It’s hard for me to see the headlines ‘Xhaka to be offered new contract’ without being really suspicious of some journos deliberately seem to want to trigger Arsenal fans in particular. They do exist, even some ex-player pundits are in on it.

   The idea of a new deal is absurd to me. We can’t get an offer of over £10m now, what would you get in 3 years? A one year extension at £100k a week is an extra £5.2m. Makes no sense whatsoever.

   I also find it quite worrying that Arteta seems to rate him so highly which might make the rumour true.

   Xhaka isn’t awful, he gives everything and we have worse players. But when you have Arteta insisting on Willian being in the team for most of last season added to his loyalty to Xhaka, a player with obvious limitations, it makes one question his judgement of the whole team.

   Bringing in Willian, Soares, Mari, selling Martinez, the Saliba mess, all decisions that were strange at the time.

   I just hope Kiddo and Miguel can come through to the first team this year, they look very promising, if we’re gonna finish 8th we might as well give the kids a go.

   1. Triggering Arsenal fans must be profitable. Imagine the traffic your site gets. It’s classic Trumpism in the media at large; attract attention and profit.

9. I am quite happy with the new deal for Xhaka, and thought it would a mistake to let him go at all (hear me out). I understood why selling him was an option, but for what he is, what we are and where we are, I am still surprised at how we find it so easy to turn our noses up at players of this calibre.

   I have always said that players should be judged on what they naturraly bring to the table, instead of what we would like them to be. I have heard most of the criticism of Xhaka, and just like with Mikel Arteta and Michael Carrick (2012 – 2014), I feel like it misses the point of him as a player and puts unfair judgements onto him for sacrificing his natural game for the team.

   I hear about his defending, but he was an attacking midfielder that was dropped deeper to take advantage of a HUGE strength of his, which is his ability to get on the ball and pass through the lines. He will do his part defensively (as any attack minded playing defending would), but should not and has never been relied upon for that. Santi didn’t have anywhere close to the expectations Xhaka has had defensively even if he was the initial replacement. Xhaka even spent a few seasons as our most defensive midfielder (mind blowing nonsense right there). Maybe it is because Santi was insanely good at his dribbling and transition play, but they both were attacking players who were dropped deeper for what they bring in that role.

   Xhaka has never been fast in movement or in his reactions, from a very young age, at Basel or in Germany, nor for the Swiss sides. Just like Per (and most non-athletic players), Xhaka has had to build his game to hide his weaknesses and accentuate his strengths. Xhaka, having been an attacking midfielder, built to hide his weaknesses in the attacking phase. This defensive midfield role at Arsenal was new, it is and has always been wrong for him. He is not and never has been a defensive midfielder. His defensive game has a very low ceiling, but expectations and judgements on that are as if he were Gilberto Silva’s re-incarnation.

   But what he does bring to the table, is a very useful set of skills. Skills that make him a nightmare for a lot of opposition midfields and even worse, the opposition’s defensive structures. Most skip what he brings to the table, most just need a scapegoat and since he is a player playing a particular role badly, he becomes an easy target. Even if it’s not his role. I remember watching a video online a few years back, and fans were asked who they thought led certain stats for their side. Xhaka was their reply for all the bad stats, they were wrong. He was the answer for all the good stats like progressive passing, key passes, etc.

   For those who also think that Arteta made him better, I wonder what you think the Xhaka that plays for Switzerland is, an imposter? Or is all other football easier if it is not in the EPL? Lokonga looks pretty good so far and he played in Belgium. The Switzerland Xhaka, that is the best version of Xhaka, and has been for many years now. From his time at Basel, to Germany alongside Dahoud and Kramer, at Euro 2016, the 2018 world cup, Switzerland’s run to the nation’s league semi finals and the current Euros. The best of Xhaka has always been there for us to see, whatever Arteta’s version is, is just a version of the player who just does not get exposed to the hardships of playing a role that is already wrong for him. Its like saying Auba is playing better as a winger if he gets some assists, he isn’t one.

   All in all, Xhaka’s quality is better than an 8th place finish in the EPL. He is one of the best deep lying playmakers gracing the football world currently, dont believe me, go scouting and you will see. What we as Arsenal fans do is judge based on what went past instead of looking around us. Xhaka is not as good as Santi, Fabregas and so on, but look around now and you will see that Xhaka is elite. Arsenal are lucky to have him, and not just him. Players like Ainsley Maitland Niles, Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah, are all quality options for what we are. An 8th placed side trying to get back up. We will not find better footballers to act as rotational options out there, of a similar level and willing to come to Arsenal.

   Selling any of them because they don’t have the same ceiling as Saka or Smith Rowe is very irresponsible and downright stupid. development isn’t to unearth Messis and Ronaldos alone, but to develop the players that will provide the structure for your Elite signings. I thought we would learn from Ferguson’s use of players like Welbeck, Brown, Evans, O’Shea, Cleverly, Butt, Neville, Ben Foster, Fletcher, Danny Simpson, Gibson, Rafael, Fabio. They have league titles and Gerrard does not. Its a team sport, or more importantly, its a squad sport. Are they useful? if yes, then use them. I think our players showed on loan and for us that they are EPL level players. Then tie them down and use whatever money to buy truly top quality players. Cedric makes no sense when an Ainsley is around. Runnurson and Ospina make no sense when Okonkwo and Emi are available. Can anyone say we truly improved on our Kieran Gibbs with Kolasinac? what about Elneny and Coquelin? Was Lucas Perez worth more than giving Malen a shot? And so on, and so forth. Its all a shame.

   Back to Xhaka though, and after watching the Euros 9and all along actually), I want Xhaka to stay because him and Partey could be a very good partnership under the right guidance/coaching/management. In those two, we have two of the best midfielders in their respective roles in the EPL. I would even say top ten on the planet. Losing the leadership, technical ability and tactical intelligence of Xhaka would be a huge mistake. Until we know precisely what we need and we see that there is a clear direction that the performances are getting us where we want to be, and the only thing we need to do is get an upgrade on Xhaka to get there, then sell him. Right now? it is not worth the risk. It will only plunge us deeper into our problems.

   We already got rid of senior and influential players in different roles without finding out if it was necessary for us to get better. It was based on emotions and individual takes on the player (Xhaka-in, Xhaka-out). First it was Ramsey, who made me mad tactically, but we never proved to be better without him, before dropping him and finding out that we actually need a player like him when it was too late. Then it was Ozil, who we proved to be very terrible without, until learning that we actually need a player of his ilk in his role. Again, we didn’t prove on the pitch that we would be better without him before exiling him, then turning around and buying the closest player you could find around that resembles Ozil’s game. Now it’s Xhaka. I have not seen us be better without him, even with Xhaka just taking on a role that makes him the least effective version of himself. Hell, we even played him at left back just because we need him on the pitch. Isn’t that a red flag?

   Look, Xhaka can leave or be sold, just like with anyone. He is not special. But we have to be a good enough side to not need him first. And if you think this rebuild is going to take 2 or 3 years, you are going to need the guy around for that period. Moving on from a player does not only happen when they gone, the player himself can show you how far past him the team actually is. So until Xhaka becomes the weakness in this Arsenal side, we would be selling away one of our strengths, and even worse, one that we are holding back from its own potential and somehow calling it an “improvement”, or “best performances”.

   So when it comes to Xhaka, and Lacazette too. I say watch what you are asking for. Arsenal are an 8th placed side in the EPL. Teams in that position would bite your hand off for this calibre of player and yet we shun them. The drop will continue with any of their sales, and just like with Ozil, we will be saying they were never good enough anyways, when they actually held the team together.

   or maybe I am just blindly defending players again.

   1. Agree with everything here.

      I get the feeling Arsenal fans haven’t accepted that we’re an 8th placed team and that it isn’t something we can just demolish and buy our way out of. That’s even if the owners were spending huge money, which they are not. They are blowing money ever since Wenger left though, only to get worse. Hopefully that changes this season but I am not very hopeful, precisely because I feel we’re not going to use the WIllocks, AMNs and Nketiahs like we should.

      I’m an idiot about football tactics, but I have been watching football and Arsenal for a while, and 18 months in to Arteta’s tenure I still don’t feel like I know what the plan is on the pitch. Are we just failing to play the way we want to, or what is missing. Partly why transfers don’t excite me right now. I have no ‘fantasy’ way to fit them in.

      Build on what we have and we should get better is my opinion. Keeping Xhaka helps us overall. And extra 10m or so commitment to pay him is nothing in a world where we splurge a 110m on Ben White.

      1. Agree entirely with both of you. The Xhaka sale only made sense when we thought we could upgrade on the position, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely. The new contract, if true, would be to protect his value. I doubt for all his professionalism that Xhaka would want to sign it, unless there’s a tacit agreement with the club that he would be sold regardless for the right offer a la Koscielny. But that’s a dangerous game.

   2. Xhaka is dependably available. Since always is cruising at 40kmph no injury worries, except when gets fortuitously red carded , which is only 3 games . A Club will never be disappointed in losing out on his services

10. I’ve been an Arsenal fan for 24 years now. I’ve definitely heard the tourist jibe, but somehow it’s never bothered me. They don’t know what it’s like to follow from thousands of miles away and in the pre-internet age where I had to look out for any resource I could find to learn just a little bit of information about the club that I didn’t have before. Listen to every piece of commentary that mentioned something about our history. Try and access bootlegs of the FA Cup final because TV only showed some select PL games at the time.

    They don’t know, but I do. I feel secure in my labour of love as regards this club. Feel no need to justify it through shouting my support, spending my money or anything else. It’s also why I feel secure in calling out those at the club now for going against what I see as the club’s values. I’ve never attacked a player for not being good enough. I wouldn’t attack Arteta if that was the only issue with him.

    The Diaby affair was horrid, and I know for a fact it affected him and his teammates. I can never forget how Armand Traore’s face fell when I asked after Diaby’s health (we were discussing our injuries) and he immediately started to defend Diaby’s reputation presuming I was mocking him as an Arsenal fan. It’s just sad.

    And whether justified or not, I don’t mind players showing some personality. Telling the crowd to **** off? Unless it’s an entirely broken relationship, I see it as more of a quarrel. I much prefer that to Cesc’s badge thumping anyway. It’s honest.

    Despite thinking we’re better off with Xhaka than without at the moment, I have a problem with the club’s ..ugh…process. If they really think they’d be better off without him, then the calculation over say 5m in transfer fees vs moving on to the future is a no-brainer. If you can push the boat to get the player you want, you can accept less to move to the future. It’s a different matter that I wouldn’t trust them to get the replacement right (despite Lokonga and Tavares looking like good signings)

    I also disagree that we stuck with Wenger too long. Imagine if we’d given him the ~200m we’ve spent since. We may or may not have won the title, but we’d be complaining about being in the UCL spots and winning only a paltry cup competition.

    1. Letting his contract run down, the uncertainty at the club, the chaos in the dressing room, players rebelling and going to the press to complain that Wenger doesn’t really coach them anymore and then giving Wenger a two year deal after that was a huge mistake.

       As for whether he’d finish top four.. umm.. he had £200m (chose to net spend “only” 100m of it, but he bought 300m worth of players in his last two seasons) and finished 5th and 6th in his last two seasons. The belief in Wenger, the Arsenal mystique, everything collapsed after that 2015/16 season. I will always love and respect Arsene Wenger but I’m also realistic when it comes to what happened.

       1. Absolutely agree that 2015/16 was the beginning of the end for Wenger. Players lost faith. The board began to reduce his hold on the club. The last window he was here was basically Sven setting us up for a post Wenger Arsenal.

          I’m just saying he’d have bounced back from that given time, faith and money. That we collapsed after his departure is not entirely to his influence (Gazidis and Sven being pushed out caused it too) but our failings were magnified simply because it was Wenger.

          There’s a chance we’d be better off if we moved on from Wenger in 2014. But there’s also a chance we’d be worse. What I would have done is let Wenger see out his final deal but bring in Arteta/Freddie/Vieira to be his assistant and eventual successor so they could form their own ideas about where the team was and decide how to evolve rather than come in with an all change attitude. I think that has been more damaging than anything.

11. Really nice, insightful post today. I’m definitely a tourist fan, so much so that I haven’t even been to a real game. I know I would be exactly like you if I did. I went to a pre-season game in 2012 I think it was, Liverpool vs. Roma. I remember it well. It was just after NESV bought Liverpool and they were trying to drum up interest by having them play at Fenway. I remember seeing Eric Lamela play for Roma and thinking he was a good player. Ech.

    Anywho, I wore this 1998 Arsenal vintage home kit. My GF at the time was with me, she didn’t know much about football other than that I liked it. I was immediately spotted by a Liverpool supporter who by his accent was probably from South Africa and he spent a lot of time heckling me and calling me Alan Smith. I hardly knew the name. I just smiled and tried to ignore him but I was SO uncomfortable. I didn’t want to sing or to make fun of anyone, I just wanted to sit and watch and clap politely.

    I couldn’t be farther removed from the carnival fan culture that you describe and I can empathize with their feeling that their sport has been taken over by tourists and nerds. For me, football is an altogether unnecessary, emotionally fraught and in many way inexplicable past time that I’ve gotten attached to for unclear reasons. I don’t have any connection to the tribalism, the raw matchday experience, none of it.

    But there’s a strange magnetism of that carnival culture which draws you in. The first time I knew I really liked football as an adult was after I witnessed a completely random match in the Scottish PL between Hibernian FC and Heart of Midlothian. Such quaint, charming names! The match is a derby (also: how quaint!) and took place at Hibs’ home ground, Easter Road. The atmosphere was unbelievable and came across even from my TV screen like I was there. The match was borderline violent. I never knew football could be like this. The Scottish announcer had a low growl that just added to the authenticity of the experience. I still remember everyone would gasp when Hibs’ star player, Aiden McGeady got on the ball. I think I’ve been trying to get back to that experience ever since, like a huge first high that you can never again attain. It was so real, so visceral, so outside myself. I wanted to be a part of it. But only from the safety of my couch.

12. Great post Tim. Thanks again for all you do.

    I agree that Xhaka is not really the biggest problem but he has been with us for a while and he is certainly not shown himself to be part of the solution. We need more then just a bunch of players who are good enough to not the main problem. I understand about his range of passing and making him a scapegoat for all of our attacking ineffectiveness is completely unrealistic. However the other side of the coin is he has been with the team now for several years and I don’t think his range of passing has really made us a better and we need someone who clearly makes us better. Perhaps and even bigger problem that you point out is we have to adjust our positioning and strategy and the players we can use to make sure the he is not exposed defensively

13. Tim. I agree with your comment at 4:17AM regarding the team heading downhill after the 2015/16. My belief is the main reason that happened is our critical players on that squad almost all had moved past their prime by 16/17 and despite Arsene spending big money we did not replace them effectively. There are exceptions but like it or not history clearly shows most players start to drop off in their early 30’s and sometimes in their late 20’s. Ozil’s productivity started to dropped steadily after 15/16. Kos, Nacho Mert got older, Cazorla’s injury problems took him away, Wilshere faded, Ramseys recurring muscular injuries limited his usefulness. Giroud was never a great scorer but his productivity dropped to a level where we could no longer start him. Sanchez dropped off a cliff very quickly in 17/18. Another huge problem is the league got better especially the competition for the top 4. I suspect several of our teams that finished 3rd or 4th in past years would have missed the top 4 in 16/17 and 17/18.

14. Everyone wants to tell me I am wrong and blame the manager instead when I suggest that a certain player may be starting to slide into the downside of their career arcs. There are certainly exceptions if you look around all of world football but Arsenal’s history is crystal clear that the downside starts in the early 30’s or sometimes in the late 20’s especially for attacking players such Auba. Everyone blamed Emery/Arteta for Ozil’s decreased productivity but look at the numbers and his goals/assists clearly started to slide in the last 2 years with Arsene. Sanchez dropped off a cliff before age 30 and Giroud’s productivity dropped at age 30. I think the evidence is overwhelming if you are looking at what happens to the significant majority of players rather then focusing on a few anecdotal cases of players who are outliers.

15. Devlin. Your point about Fergies ManU teams having plenty of very average players is completely accurate. However what Fergie did was to build the best defensive team and he had the best goal scorers and he filled in the rest of the team including his midfield role players like Park and Fletcher. When Fergie saw his team was aging and on the brink of being over the hill but he needed one more title he bought Van Persie instead of a super creator or a ball playing CB. On the other hand Arsenal built its teams around stunning technical skill, creativity. Passing skill especially in the midfield and a more aggressive attacking ethos. The result was we knew Fergies teams were going to conceded fewer goals but they also scored more goals then we did every single season from 2005-the end of his career and it was not really that close. Watching that play out the way it did is a big part of where my current ideas came from.

16. During the 2005-13 era our objective was to compete with ManU and Chelsea. Every season we accepted that our attacking philosophy would mean we conceded more goals. The only way we could have finished ahead of them would have been to significantly outscore them. However what chance did we have of ever catching up when they outscored us every season.

17. I’m glad that Xhaka is staying given we have no one else. We would have been in real trouble without him all other things being equal. He’s the best, current, partner to Partey and certainly worth more to us than £12m. Of course we should be looking for someone better though at the same time- someone who can transition quicker and is better defensively but it would be madness to get rid of him until we do, otherwise we would be starting with Elneny and Lakonga at the start of this season. It’s a key position we need to improve on, along with a few others, but I don’t feel too optimistic with Edu at the helm, unless of course the Brazilian u23 team or Kia have the perfect answer to this problem.

18. The Tourist vs Carnival feels like a perfect summary. I seem to be in the former and told off for pointing out bad performances by players!

    I don’t comment much (although a regular reader here and another) but I’ve pretty much stop common anywhere else.

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