Arsène Wenger complains with some validity about other clubs’ “financial doping”, spending more than they earn, but Arsenal’s celebrated, cerebral manager stands accused of inhabiting an environment at the Emirates where the focus on profit distorts sporting criteria. The widespread perception of Arsenal is that as long as they finish in the four lucrative Champions League positions, the board is happy. Who needs top?
Under Stan Kroenke, the majority shareholder, Arsenal’s culture has become about the bottom line, not the finishing line. It’s a deeply damaging concept, softening the dressing room and dugout. Wenger, the genius who assembled the Invincibles, who flew into a fury when not winning the league, has accepted this credo of fourth is first.
Maybe Wenger, now 66, has changed with age. Maybe financial restrictions imposed during the building of the Emirates inculcated a philosophy of second best. No justification for that now. Wenger has spent £72.5 million on Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez. His continued money moans resonate with less conviction.
Wenger observed that even with 13 players injured, Louis van Gaal, the Manchester United manager who was his conqueror on Sunday, could “still put a few million on the pitch”. Indeed he could, £185.7 million — compared to Wenger’s £158.2 million. Arsenal still had £11 million left on the bench, including World Cup stars Per Mertesacker and David Ospina, contrasting with the zero cost of the quartet kicking their heels in front of Van Gaal.
But the Frenchman gets away with such nonsense. He is admired by the media because he never ducks a question, because he is committed to purist, passing (if overindulgent) football and because there is also lingering respect among those of us summoned by David Dein, then the vice-chairman, to the Highbury boardroom in 1996 to meet this exotic coaching creature just flown in from Nagoya Grampus Eight. We sat and listened in awe at this footballing missionary. But he’s lost his way. Watching his decline now just evokes sadness.
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And anger. Nobody in the building is willing to challenge Wenger. Arsenal’s paralysis is the board’s fault as well as Wenger’s. He was involved in the recruitment process of Ivan Gazidis, the man who is technically his boss, which is a crazy dynamic in any industry. Gazidis is a money man, respected among Barclays Premier League peers, but a leader? No sign of that. Is Kroenke? No sighting of him. A vacuum exists at the heart of one of the world’s great footballing institutions.
Arsenal’s frailty during the 3-2 loss to United on Sunday prompted the usual, understandable, laments from fans about the team’s lack of leaders. Petr Cech is captaincy material but no other Arsenal player on the pitch at Old Trafford offers such qualities. Mertesacker, who remained on the bench, is a leader but an occasional liability in defence.
Wenger needs to look at himself as well as the board. He has to ask himself why he has become afraid of surrounding himself with strong individuals. Patrick Vieira would certainly like the question answered. The decision not to invite the epitome of the Invincibles back to the club, doing his badges, assisting the manager, educating and inspiring the next generation, was folly supreme. Steve Bould, Wenger’s assistant, is a resilient character and the type of warrior the team crave, but does the manager listen to him?
Scrutiny intensifies on Wenger, whose contract expires next year. Does he deserve a new one? Not on this evidence. Not unless he rallies his players to defeat Swansea City tomorrow (highly possible) and then prevail on Saturday in the most important north London derby since the FA Cup semi-final of 1991 (awkward). Does Wenger understand the importance of St Totteringham’s Day to Arsenal followers, the day on the calendar when they celebrate their ancient rivals being unable to catch them?
What next in north London? St Goners’ Day? Mind the gap is changing stops. Under the formidable Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham Hotspur threaten to become a force in the league, grinding out results, showing backbone, even nicking old Arsenal tenets in going “one-nil down, two-one up” against Swansea on Sunday. Who would you rather have shaping your team’s future? The hungry, ambitious, smart Pochettino or the seasoned Wenger? Pochettino, clearly.
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This being a crackpot trophy season, Wenger could turn things around and win the title, but Arsenal should be running away with the league, given the problems of traditional rivals. Arsenal may well end up retaining the FA Cup, making it three in a row, but they are worth more than (admittedly) great days out at Wembley. Arsenal fans see Leicester City five points ahead of them. That hurts. Arsenal fans see Tottenham with three more points than them (realistically four given a plus-11 goal difference). That really hurts.
“Individuals must take responsibility for their careers. But Wenger does not push them
So much is right about Arsenal. They command huge support locally and globally. Enter a pub like the Tollington Arms near the Emirates, talk to season ticket-holding regulars and appreciate their enduring passion. Look at Twitter: Arsenal have only recently been overtaken by United for most-followed, 7.13 million to 7.11 million. Visit the Emirates, the best stadium in London for quality of staff, pitch and view. And yet Wenger, the man who built the Emirates, who even had input in designing the pies, lets them down. He does not buy tough individuals, those with the requisite physical and mental robustness to compete. He does not develop players sufficiently. The raw promise of three kids from Southampton — Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Calum Chambers — has not been nurtured. Injuries are admittedly a hindrance. Individuals must also take responsibility for their careers. But Wenger does not push them, challenge them, harden them.
Arsenal are drifting under Wenger. He is the club’s most accomplished, successful manager, edging Herbert Chapman and George Graham, but he needs to wise up, acknowledge his mistakes and confront the enemy, the threat of Tottenham. Unless he does, Wenger should resign this summer.
Call to host World Cup shows arroagance
Typical. Scarcely has Gianni Infantino, the FA’s chosen candidate, been voted in as Fifa president than the English are stamping their feet, shaking their leftover 2018 World Cup bid Mulberry handbags in the air and hollering for the 2030 centenary tournament to be staged in this green and pleasant land. The FA rightly moralises about scandalous past bidding processes shaped by unethical liaisons within Fifa, yet now it is perceived as calling in a favour. It’s all too quick, too unseemly. It is just the type of colonial self-entitlement that infuriates other countries. Leaving aside the historical claims of Uruguay (the 1930 hosts), the strong case for Australia and the possibility of China coming to the party, the FA should remember its primary duty: developing the grass roots and deepening the pool of England playing and coaching talent to make a concerted challenge to win the World Cup, not just host it.
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Scrap shirty yellow cards for goalscorers
Yaya Touré escaped being shown a red card twice at Wembley on Sunday. The Manchester City midfielder should have been dismissed for a filthy, spiteful lunge at Adam Lallana, the Liverpool forward. Michael Oliver, generally a good referee but far too indulgent during the Capital One Cup final, bizarrely let the Ivorian off with a yellow. After converting the winning penalty in the shoot-out, Touré ripped off his shirt in celebration. The FA was content that Oliver applied common sense and refrained from issuing a second caution, as the laws dictate. It would have been especially petty to send off the match-winner. It would help everyone if the lawmakers of the International FA Board gathering in Cardiff on Friday could scrap this joyless, pointless rule (with the obvious caveat of continued sanction for undershirts revealing political or offensive slogans).
● Scurrilous songs about Katrien Meire, Charlton Athletic’s unpopular chief executive, are unacceptable and undermine a legitimate protest movement forming in the car park outside The Valley after games. Supporters should direct their anger in a more sophisticated manner. However, Meire needs to wake up and understand that fans’ alienation over the club’s ownership — particularly Roland Duchâtelet’s strange business model and the swift turnover of managers — could play into the hands of West Ham United as they look to entice London fans to the Olympic Stadium. Most supporters are loyal but some could switch. Charlton face relegation to League One and declining attendances. Meire and Duchâtelet need to heed fans’ concerns before their beloved investment implodes.
