Written by Mean Lean on Monday, 04 July 2011 12:37

I cannot believe we are here already. It only seems like yesterday when we witnessed another unsatisfactory display at Craven Cottage. The feeling of watching Theo Walcott equalise in stoppage time and absolutely no emotion going through me is still very fresh in my mind.

Today is the first day of training for Arsenal and some of the Arsenal squad members. A few will be filtering in over the next couple of days I am sure. If reports are anything to go by then we should be surprised to see Gael Clichy being put through his paces.

Pre season is such an important time to football managers at every level and it got me thinking about the different styles of football management. From Sam Allardyce to Phil Brown to the top level managers Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. All have a plan of how they want to set out their teams, they will want certain type of personnel to carry out those instructions and then they will all have their own method of man management.

There is no magic bullet, managers will have strengths and weaknesses. Alex Ferguson has been famous for his hair dryer treatment in the past but the manager has had to adjust his approach to management as players are a new breed today. Money and ego has caused a shift in power so working with your players instead of just controlling them is more beneficial these days compared to the 70's and 80's.

How I would love to see how Brian Clough would have dealt with the likes of Joey Barton and Emmanuel Adebayor today.

So what of our manager? Unlike Brian Clough, he is hardly likely to grab one of his players by the throat and punch him in the face. Arsene is a calm, thoughtful manager who gives his players trust and the freedom of expression. Without having any first hand experience of his management style I can only go by a picture that I have built up over time with comments from former players, interviews from the manager and what we see on match day.

I believe that Arsene Wenger is a pre season manager.

He is a manager that compacts the following season in a few weeks. He looks for intelligent, technical, self driven young players who will coach themselves. He wants his players to trust each other, develop into a unit and express themselves on the pitch with attacking football. I believe that Wenger has his defensive and offensive strategy and his players have to learn that during pre season. He picks his formation to suit the players he has, he works out how many players he has in each position as well as the players who can play in several different positions.

If he is missing a cog in that engine then he will take a look at his scouts reports for a player who fits that requirement and Arsene will try and bring that player to the club.

For example, having lost William Gallas to Tottenham, he would have wanted a replacement that could play the high line, have recovery pace, distribute the ball well from the back and be excellent at winning the ball back quickly.

Laurent Koscielny's statistics for Lorient the season before he joined our club were fantastic. He ticked all the boxes and had a phenomenal tackling record. Gilles Grimandi is Arsene's scout for the French leagues and would have pushed Koscielny's file under Wenger's nose unless Wenger has made that decision beforehand. Arsene watches non stop football and has an encyclopedic knowledge of players around the world.

Last pre season Arsene adjusted the team from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 in an attempt to stop the counter attack. The counter attack that saw Arsenal suffer at the hands of Manchester United and Chelsea. That adjustment had worked. Jack Wilshere was added to Alex Song ahead of the defence but one change that was not rectified was set pieces. I expect that issue to be high up his list of priorities this time round.

I imagine that once the season starts, Wenger sticks with what his team have been working on. This has its benefits and its own problems. Players are trusted to play through sticky patches and have to play their way into form. When you have the right players with attitude, hunger and skill then it can be wonderfully successful. Wenger's last title winning team were allowed to play with freedom and flair, they formed into a unit that would kill for each other on the pitch.

A few ingredients have been missing since then and it has not always been the same problems. Go back through the invincibles season and check out the injury record. I haven't been prepared enough to add them in this article but we had our key performers for most of the games and when they were injured, it was usually for the short term. In recent years this hasn't been the case.

More often than not we had Campbell, Vieira, Bergkamp and Henry fit and in top shape. Having had a run of games, all those players were purring nicely. When was the last time we had Vermaelen, Cesc and Van Persie let alone the rest free from injury for 10 games in a row?

I would say that the current Arsenal side hasn't had the win at all costs mentality consistently and this can be addressed with more players with the fight and hunger of Thomas Vermaelen or Robin Van Persie.

I would also guess that part of the reason why we have collapsed at the run in, is because Wenger's players do not deviate far away from the plan. Perhaps once the record get stuck, we do not have anyone on the pitch to move the needle. Past sides had the likes of Campbell and Vieira to unstick the record and continue through the scratches. The current team currently need to play a record from start to finish without jumping otherwise the chance disappears. It is a big ask to go an entire season without coming across problems that make the engine stutter.

Fans have questioned why Wenger did not move to 4-4-2 at times last season or make substitutions early in games, well I believe it is because he is a pre season manager who shapes his side in that time and he trusts those players to make the difference even when it is not going well. We remember the times when changes were not made and points were dropped but we forget the times when we got through difficulty by staying the same. José Mourinho is the type of manager to remove Shaun Wright-Phillips after only 12 minutes if he is having a bad start to a game. That type of management has its pros and cons like Wenger's. Players are unlikely to play without expression but Wenger wants his players to have no fear and develop as people as well as players. Two different styles of management that can both give positives and negatives to a squad.

So to this pre season.

Wenger already faces problems. He cannot shape his team and rectify issues because he does not have a settled team. The contract issues with Samir Nasri are yet to reach a conclusion. I don't know how much he knows about the future of the captain and he is yet to finalise any deals. Obviously Wenger will want new players at the club as soon as possible but in the real world transfers are never as straight forward as they would be on the latest football manager. We do not know the facts, we do not know if agents are an issue, if the selling club is looking to replace before they sell, if the player is waiting etc etc

Some accuse Wenger and Arsenal of being cheap and this is the reason for our lack of activity so far. If that was the case then Manchester City and Chelsea would already have all their work done and dusted by now.

I have mentioned Gervinho on countless occasions and I will do so again. I think Wenger wants to fix the problem of the bus parking teams and he will add the Ivorian to add movement, direct dribbling and goals.

Wenger has already spoken about his desire to add height into the team to deal with set pieces, he will work on penetration from his attacking players and it is likely that the team defending will also be worked on.

In Wenger's first full season he had a massive pre season by turning a 5-3-2 team into 4-4-2. Adding the steel of Petit and the attacking outlet of Marc Overmars. That team went on to win the double because of his work during pre season. Season 2011/12 is likely to be his biggest since then.

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Comments (17)

• 04-Jul-2011 12:52 | | gervinho
  

  i agree but when will gervinho be official a gunner ?

• 04-Jul-2011 13:01 | | martin  - gervinho
  

  wen is gervinho going to sign for fuck sake sign him and nasri might stay

• 04-Jul-2011 13:49 | | Anonymous
  

  Yes sing gevinho & my drunking master will stay

• 04-Jul-2011 13:49 | | Anonymous
  

  Yes sing gevinho & my drunking master will stay

• 04-Jul-2011 13:51 | | Okeke  - Injuries
  

  Mean I think over the last few years, Injuries has been the cause of our underachievement. I remember when we almost lost our top 4 spot, Fabregas was out for a massive 4 months! it was only when he returned that we rallied. Then Eduardo's leg fracture unnerving us, then van persie out for 5 months, then vermaelen, then fabregas in and out of the team. Mean what do u think of all the injuries? are we cursed or are we the cause? Pray for a major injury free season.

• 04-Jul-2011 13:53 | | Anonymous
  

  Yes sing gevinho & my drunking master will stay

• 04-Jul-2011 13:54 | | Anonymous
  

  Yes sing gevinho & my drunking master will stay

• 04-Jul-2011 13:58 | | Dirty Turkey  - With a shot/goal ratio of only 26%
  

  I hope Gervinho can at least run and dribble

• 04-Jul-2011 13:59 | | MeanLean
  

  I think injuries have been massive on the whole. Last season we had our best run away from injuries in some time but Van Persie and Cesc still missed a good chunk of the season whilst Vermaelen only played a handful of games.
  
  I hope the injuries can get back to how it used to be with our previous squads.

• 04-Jul-2011 14:01 | | Vuja De  - Don't Believe The Hype
  

  Hey now. Hi Mean Lean.
  
  It is very clear now - if it wasn't already - that the forces of darkness are waging their extremely hostile war and negative coverage against Arsenal generally and Arsene Wenger in particular all year round, not just during the season, as there's been no let up during the close season whatsoever.
  
  I suspect that it won't stop unless and until we either re-start winning silverware, or Arsene Wenger's head is handed to the forces of darkness on a plate, which is what they ideally want, make no mistake about that.
  
  Arsene has said many times before that the best PR that the club can provide for itself is with our performances on the pitch. I agree with him.
  
  Other than that, I'm not convinced that any kind of PR strategy from Arsenal will suddenly change the non-stop hostile & negative coverage that we get from the sports media and the ever increasing number of blogs dedicated to commenting on all things Arsenal.
  
  In terms of actions on the pitch last season, Arsene did change the formation to a 4-4-2 at different times during some games rather than at the start of them, but that was only when we were chasing the games in question and urgently needed to score.
  
  I suspect that we'll be much closer to winning silverware when all of the current squad are ready to kill and die for each other on the pitch, amongst other things.

• 04-Jul-2011 14:07 | | MeanLean
  

  As usual I agree with you, especially about the media wanting Arsene's head on a plate. It has become quite poisonous and it certainly will not slow down unless we shove the words back where the sun doesn't shine.
  
  Yes, I take your point that Arsene has and will change system if we are in desperate need for a goal but he will not usually deviate from his approach if we are on level terms unless it is late on in a game and we should be winning.

• 04-Jul-2011 14:32 | | ziggy  - patience gooners .
  

  Gooners I think we have all been given a run around by the media and we have bought their hype.All we hear is negativity about arsenal because there is no story.We all knew Clichy Denilson Bendtner and possibly Fab would leave. There has been nothing concrete in or out but we're fretting. Be patient guys cos the media just sells papers. Since Wingers reign when has any blue riband signing been public news before it has taken place? Overmars,Campbell,Pires,Reyes and Possibly Henry. The rest have been unknowns who became heroes.I also know a couple who went to the press first and the deal got scuppered. The truth be told that all our players who others want tend to have been available but only got noticed at Arsenal. This is because they fit perfectly into our style of play but become also rans when the playing style changes. How many left Arsenal and no one seems interested anymore or have vanished into obscurity. Lets be patient because thru same were said about the Vieras, Flaminis. And Henrys but we are still competing.We should not allow the media to dictate out transfer policy we just have to back the club.Of which i problem i think is Gazidis, he is no David Dein and can't seem to close a deal and he is more a business man than a football man. What we need is another Dein type C.E.O.

• 04-Jul-2011 14:57 | | rajanbhatt  - us & injuries
  

  That was an excellent read Mean Lean.........as usual.
  You put it perfectly at the end - this would be Arsene's biggest pre-season since his debut season. And you gave very good insight into how the pre-season is such a vital part of Wenger's management style.
  
  And the injuries bit - let me tell ya I haven't seen any other top club suffering such long term injuries at critical junctures of so many seasons back to back. You alluded to most of the severe ones but everyone seems to forget that had it not been for a certain mr.shawcross - Ramsey might have been our trump card had he continued his marvelous progress he was making at that stage. And the competition and variety in our midfield would have been all the better........
  
  Lets just hope that we have a relatively better season injury wise.

• 04-Jul-2011 16:51 | | podge
  

  The media play on fans hopes and fears. Arsenal finished the season poorly so every day there are rumours of star players leaving. Reporters read these blogs and especially the comment sections. If they read fears about Theo VanNasriGas then they will come up with a story about them leaving as they have and RVP will be linked with a move away within the next month as soon as the fans have forgotten about his "rest of my career" interview a few weeks ago. Contrast this to Liverpool who finished very strongly all rumours are about incoming players Downing, Adam, Clichy etc.
  If the Sun(cunts) ran a headline "Nasri commits to Arsenal" would you buy the paper? No you saw what you needed but if you see "Nasri wanted by City" you would buy it to find out what truth there is. The best tabloids have an accuracy of about 8% when it comes to transfer stories (transfers.co.uk) for Arsenal so far this summer there has been Cesc out 1 nasri out 2 clichy out 3 bendtner out 4 denilson out 5 rosicky out 6 Theo out 7 arshavin out 8 so with Clichy having a medical in Manchester thats 1 of 8 for 12.5% but I haven't done anything on transfers in as the window is still open

• 04-Jul-2011 18:11 | | redboy
  

  why have we not got s.gibbon as part of the clichy deal we could do with a decent keeper who the fuck is running are club

• 04-Jul-2011 18:39 | | Iron Man
  

  Blah, blah, blah. Media anti-Arsenal bias etc. Repeat to fade.
  
  Yaaaaaaawn!

• 04-Jul-2011 22:36 | | Andrew
  

  You can attribute our horrendous injury run to players ( like that viciour little runt Patrice Evra ), pundits and managers alike, banging on about how Arsenal are puny kids who don't like to be kicked. End result - we get the shit kicked out of us every week and potentially career ending injuries to Ramsey, Eduardo, Diaby.

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