Written by Mean Lean on Friday, 21 October 2011 15:02

Football is a funny old game, actually it is not funny at all. Football is a serious, rather important part of life. Am I going a little overboard? Maybe but the fact that football, both playing and watching takes up a rather healthy percentage of what makes me happy in life, tells me that it is very important, to me at least.

A few weeks ago Arsenal were in crisis, a full blown, unadulterated crisis. Broken Arsenal badges splattered over the back pages of tabloids, Wenger's head in his hands being shown repeatedly over and over again on sly sports. It was all a little too much to take.

A few weeks later and we have won five out of six matches and that one defeat included a hand ball goal from the opposition that could and perhaps should have been ruled out. Vice captain and all round super hero Thomas Vermaelen has signed a new contract with the club. He is also ten days or so from a first team comeback.

We are toppa da league. Ok, it may only be our Champions League group but we are there, teetering on the brink of qualification to the knock outs. The players have been speaking about how the team is coming together because many of the new players are finding their feet, partnerships are starting to form and come together.

It is a part of football that is often overlooked. The idea that you can plonk six or so new players into our squad and expect a smooth transition without any teething problems would be to distort reality somewhat.

The reason for all this jibba jabba is basically due to Arseblog's post Marseille report. I found his thoughts of the way supporters are consciously or subconsciously fed nonsense from commentators and pundits very interesting. It is something that I have thought about for a while now and it goes way beyond this sport we love so much.

Every single time we flick on the news or open up a newspaper we are gently told what to think or how to think, some of it is very subtle, some not so subtle. I won't go beyond football but I find it amazing that so many people believe that life is what we are told or what we are made to believe life is like.

If the actual world we live in is portrayed in a certain way to benefit certain people then what makes us believe that little old football isn't dished out in the same way or worse. Last season did anyone hear or read the statistic about how Arsenal have gone five years without a trophy? If you are struggling to think about the answer then you need to either climb out from underneath that rock or give your local GP a call and book an appointment for yourself.

This season Liverpool FC will be where we were last season in terms of years without a trophy. Yet I can honestly say that I cannot remember one time that a pundit, newspaper, commentator or whoever dished out that stat that they love so much. We hear about the roar of the Kop, about Stevie G, King Kenny (not sure what makes him an actual King) about their wonderful history which is indeed wonderful, yet here we are today in 2011 and not a jot is said. Liverpool FC have NEVER won the Premier League. Not once, nuffink, nadda. Yet a huge amount of money has been poured into that club. They are given a free pass and we are told that it is ok. It isn't worth fussing over even though they are a more successful club than we are.

I don't have to mention the success of Tottenham, we all know that they are forever in our shadow. One of their players Gareth Bale has been painted as one of the best players in the world. He is seen as this amazing talent that could walk straight into the Barcelona and Real Madrid teams. Yet that guy who has no footballing brain or final ball as more goals and assists last season and I am pretty sure this season to date.

I have no doubts whatsoever that a section of Arsenal fans would feel very different about our situation if we read that 'King Arsene works his magic in the transfer window' or 'Magic man Arsene continues to punch above his weight' from Alan Hansen, Chris Waddle, Jamie Redknapp, The Daily Mail, The Sun etc etc. Many minds would be pushed into another way of thinking. This isn't to say that everyone who doesn't support Arsene as a manager is brainwashed, many people regardless of what side of the fence they sit understand that we are told what they want us to hear, but there is a large section of people in everyday life, whether that be football, politics or whatever, swallow whatever that is fed to them without questioning.

A perfect example of this is the transfer rumour. It takes a tabloid to run with the Arsenal linked to player x. Let's call player x Gary Cahill for example. Before said rumour, Gary Cahill's name could be mentioned a handful of times by Gooners. Then a few days after the transfer rumour, he is THE player that will solve all our problems. Then it gets all weird because he is English and the media start Gareth Bale-ing him to new levels regardless of what we are watching for his club side. This in turn makes Gooners even more insistent that he is the man of Arsene's dreams.

I am not saying that Mr Cahill wouldn't be a good fit for us, he might well be but this does not change the media-fan relationship.

The reverse is very much the case also. Laurent Koscielny came over as an unknown, needing to adjust to the pace of the game and gain a bit of strength. Pundits labelled him as average foreign player who should be locked away with Cygan, Senderos and Igor Stephanos. Koscielny had adapted, developed and put in some top performances but it was too late. Alan Hansen had already said that he and Squillaci were poor buys. To this day, many are still scoffing at Koscielny which I do not quite understand personally.

I don't want to sound like Mr paranoid Gooner so I will take a backwards step from comparisons for the moment. I do want to get back to the start of the article though. What makes a club, a club in crisis? What is a crisis?

With eight games crossed off and four points behind big spending Liverpool does this mean that we are no longer a club in crisis? If we are in crisis then can we invite Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton to our crisis party? If everyone brings a bottle then perhaps we can make an evening of it.

But I get the feeling that invitations are not available. This is a reserved party only for Arsenal fans who accept that we are in crisis. For those who believe that it has been an absolute failure not to have overachieved enough to wrestle away trophies from those above us  with vastly superior resources.

Don't get me wrong, I have been massively disappointed in the last few years, especially last season because we have managed to overachieve enough to have found ourselves in a title challenging position with only two months to go. To nose dive so quickly was a bitter pill to swallow. The following poor form was ridiculous and very frustrating to everyone.

The summer was awful and everyone, including the board and manager know it could and certainly should have been handled differently. But does losing your best player and another very good player mean that you are in crisis? Were Manchester United in crisis when they sold Ronaldo and replaced him with Valencia? Or was the crisis on hold because of the £80m? Ah but was that cash used for debt purposes or playing staff? Which way does the crisis go? Did the Ronaldo selling crisis stop when Manchester United won the league?

Define a football club in crisis? Is a crisis subjective to each supporter or do you have to over step the crisis line drawn on the floor.

I cannot really answer my own question to be honest. If I was to throw the broken badge crisis at any clubs then how about Juventus getting done for match fixing and having to drop a league. Well worthy of a back page broken badge. Leeds United who got big for their boots, just needed that little bit extra to buy those three more quality players to take them to that next stage, just borrow a little more, perhaps even use the television money from the following season and all should be ok. Cue financial doom and a nose dive out of the top flight, never to be seen again. LEEDS UNITED IN CRISIS!

Portsmouth and are old friend Harry, never 'scared' to spend a few bob that doesn't belong to him, unlike Wenger who we are told from the media and some fans, is petrified to spend money. I hear he wakes up in cold sweats screaming 'Don't make me spend it!'

But Harry slept like a baby after he twisted his then chairman's arm to buy some more 'triffic players. Until the money dried up, players were sold for peanuts and the club was on the verge of vanishing into thin air.

I don't know where that magical crisis line is but when I look over at the Emirates when I walk down Holloway road, I do not see a club in crisis. When I look at our squad on .com and see that we have RVP, Vermaelen, Sagna, Koscielny, Wilshere, Song, Chamberlain, Coquelin, Frimpong and many more internationals or up and coming talents then I struggle to find this actual crisis.

Before I am accused of wearing Arsenal coloured specs, I shall take them off and wear the colour of the opposition for a moment.

Wenger's plan to bridge the gap didn't work as he wanted it to. Players who he has put plenty of trust and faith in did not deliver the goods so in that respect he failed. Eboue, Bendtner, Vela and Denilson have not yet or will not go down the same path of Alex Song who continued to progress and establish himself as one of the best in the league in his position.

So rather than a crisis, I see an unfortunate and premature transition of this Arsenal team. The players who have left should have been part of our success over the last few years. But it hasn't worked and we have to start again.

Right now that 17 year old Denilson who ran the show at White Hart Lane all those years ago is Coquelin, that new Thierry Henry from Southampton, Theo Walcott is now Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the Cesc that scored at home to Juventus is Jack Wilshere.

Backwards steps, I would say so. But crisis?

There are a whole load of Wenger comments that have just flooded the news feeds but I shall save those for tomorrow's blog as time has just caught up with me and smacked me straight in the face.

Back tomorrow.

• Add New
• RSS

Comments (52)

• 21-Oct-2011 16:43 | | Anonymous
  

  very good view

• 21-Oct-2011 16:49 | | midou
  

  didnt read a senseworthy article in a while,let me tell u this im from algeria which is in north africa (in case someone wants to know),i`ve had my own father and my best m8 talking about that crises and the fact that wenger need to spend the kwan.yes my dears that`s how far the media are taking their stories.ps i suggest to everyone to question and debate the biggest decisions taken by the refs toward the top 4 teams (which we still are as most pundits and journalists are trying to take it from us) last season,and dont even get me started on the 50 50`s.and still how many point they already cost us so far this season.you will really be surprised

• 21-Oct-2011 16:52 | | northernbof
  

  brilliant article; full of provocating views. Maybe ,just maybe it might come good again,and as you say.I (that's yours truly) wasn't saying that a few weeks ago.

• 21-Oct-2011 16:55 | | northernbof
  

  Provocating? Sorry I just made a word up there.Can I blame the computer?

• 21-Oct-2011 18:08 | | Eagleye
  

  Excellent article ML.
  
  For me this is the first year i have started to question whether it really would be beneficial to Arsenal Football club if Wenger was to go.
  
  It's not been because i doubt Wenger as a football manager, its nothing to do with his transfer policy or the terrible summer and start to the season. But it is everything to do with the fact i honestly believe the media have an agenda against him. They have an unhealthy obsession with Wenger in that they want him to succeed but strangely get a kick out of seeing us fail.
  
  Everyone has seemed to have an opinion on Arsenal. If i wasnt an Arsenal fan i'd be sick of all the attention Arsenal get on the back pages - mostly unwarranted.
  
  And when that starts to happen you have to wonder if it is better for the club on the whole to move on and let the media get their own way.
  
  Overall now that the signings are starting to gel, now that our football is once again being embraced, now that existing players are showing commitment and all the criticism is being answered with solid performances I am so glad we havent given into the media's pressure to get rid of a man that has brought us so much joy and is still determined to right the wrong of beating the financial injustice of just buying the best players to succeed.
  
  I say let everyone keep thinking we're in crisis while we slowly peg back and surprise everyone

• 21-Oct-2011 18:24 | | Jakes
  

  Man some positive stuff is always good to see, excellent article

• 21-Oct-2011 18:45 | | Ad
  

  
  
  Superlike

• 21-Oct-2011 19:11 | | Taiwo  - nice piece
  

  wat a lovely article this is,am really very impressed...lets them think we are crisis,while we climb table silently.Come on Arsenal

• 21-Oct-2011 19:35 | | Gooner'79
  

  Take a bow son. Your best article to date.

• 21-Oct-2011 20:00 | | Vuja De  - 45 Years Without a Trophy
  

  Good article Mean Lean.
  
  The real crisis exists with the hypocritical, hysterical, misleading and ill informed football writers, broadcasters and opinion formers, whose work consistently brings journalism - both the written and broadcasting versions - into disrepute.

• 21-Oct-2011 22:04 | | Patty
  

  Very insightful article, can't say I disagreed with anything you wrote.

• 21-Oct-2011 22:06 | | Tai Obasi, Lagos  - GREAT POST!
  

  I follow this great club from Nigeria, my country and I"ve continued to wonder why the British(or Brutish) media hate Arsene and Arsenal to such degree. Yes, Man Utd have 19 titles...how many of these were referees-aided? Howard Webb alone could account for more than five with his daylight roberies!
  
  My biggest worry is that even majority of Arsenal fans have been effectively turned by the wicked media to believe Arsene is the problem instead of the messiah he truly is. Barcelona didnt help matters the way they went for and eventually snatched Fabregas from a man that made him the best visionary player in World football.
  
  However, I believe that Wenger's project hasn't failed. He might have lost Fabregas and Nasri but I do believe that in players like Sczezzeny, Wilshere, Gibbs, Song, RVP, Walcott...there still exists some patches of the project that was scuttled by the coming of Abramovich into World football. Then Mourinho, whose only real legitimate success was winning the CL with Porto. Every other title since his Chelsea days were purchased with money. He always had and still has unlimited resources to go for any player in the world. Just Christiano Ronaldo costs more than Arsenal first team! Yet, the arrogant Portuguese calls himself the "special one."
  
  Wenger should keep his cool and remove his fingers from the panic button. Eden Hazard is not worth 40 mil. It seems the norm these days for all coaches, including Alex Ferguson, is to wait for Arsene Wenger to identify a player and then price him out of Arsenal's reach. If Wenger says he's good, then he must be absolutely good! Yet people wont give the Frenchman his due. The most annoying in this regard is Harry Redknapp! From Juan Mata, through Gary Cahill and still counting, the Tottenham gaffer doesnt trust his own ability in identifying players and allows Wenger do his scouting. Pitiable! Even the arrogant ego-ladden Mourinho is not left out in this craze.
  
  Wenger has to change his enquiry/bidding methods and fast! Either he leads them to players he doesn't really need or he makes his purchases touch-and-grab!
  
  But Arsenal is coming back to life, I can feel it. I counted moments of over 15 completed team passes in matches against Sunderland and Olympic Marseille. I noticed a more compact team, working for each other and defending resolutely. I saw Rosicky, in both matches, dominating the midfield like he's never done since his 18-month injury lay off. The cup, as I always believe, is half full..

• 22-Oct-2011 09:11 | | pika
  

  because the english are clueless and they dont like it that a foreigner can be seen as the one who tranformed their football and brought evolution and civilisation to a rotten league of neanderthals.
  
  on a money spent /points won ration he is second to none, his invinsibles team is part of english football history with only one or two englishmen.
  
  some people here wont rest until they see the frenchman gone. he is smarter, wittier, more intelligent and more knowldegable in football than naything theyve got. they love to rub it in his face when he loses a game, and they love to present a picture of crisis and decay. some of them even have an agenda (by dein), which makes it even sadder.
  
  had united won that marseille game with a defensive discipline and and a late winner the country would be droolling all over them talking about character.
  
  chelsea finished last year trophyless after leading the league for three months and spending 70 million in january and while also having the chnace to win it in o.t but they failed spectacularly...anyone hear any anyone bashing them?
  
  they dont like arsenal and they dont like wenger , which makes it two times embarassing that the sheep fans of arsenal dance to the tune of biassed media and turn against their team.
  
  wenger = football civilisation. the rest = a hair of his testicles

• 22-Oct-2011 12:19 | | richie  - The ever insightfull ML
  

  Great article the trouble is your preaching to the converted! Only Gooners who know the score will appreciate this read, it will fly over the head of the shall we say our less well informed "fans" who's opinions are formed listening to the Savage on 5 live, Hanson & Co or your very aptly named Sly Sports pundits. Too many are too easily led to believe what they hear.

• 22-Oct-2011 14:52 | | Man United Killer  - The ever narrow visioned ML
  

  Another tunnel vision article.not a surprise coming from you anyways..My Arsenal used to be a football club.It's now a full time business model...So yes.you are right football is serious 'business'...There once used to be a club here.

• 22-Oct-2011 15:04 | | MeanLean
  

  I see you have either chosen not to argue your counter views or perhaps you cannot. Which one is it?
  
  So like I said in the article, do you think Liverpool and Spurs are in crisis?

• 22-Oct-2011 15:06 | | Man United Killer  - Truth be told
  

  Arsenal has one of the largest wage bills in the Premiership because Wenger has consistently overpaid and over-rewarded some very average players. Players we can't get rid of because other clubs aren't prepared to pay the ridiculous amounts Wenger has agreed for their existing contracts. So, is it any surprise that the board are now a little more cautious? If they allow Wenger to pay van Persie £150k a week, then no doubt he'll tie Walcott, Song, Diaby, etc. to £100k a week contracts for the next five years. To some extent, I agree with the board's stance. There's no need to pay £150k a week when there are an awful lot of good players out there who are available for less than £100k a week, all of whom would improve our squad. But instead what do we see a bunch of under-performers who are draining our wage bill week in-week out.Why would we send so many players on loan when some of them might actually be ready for first team football?They are ready for first team football but a bunch of them are not good enough but they do have contracts-so that is in effect, a cost reducing strategy.Wenger may have pulled some good stunts but he has also mismanaged a great deal.

• 22-Oct-2011 15:07 | | MeanLean
  

  And that club you speak of that apparently is no longer there has always been run as a business. The club have been sensible and prudent way before now and way before Wenger. Would love if you could find evidence to prove otherwise.

• 22-Oct-2011 19:03 | | richie  - MUK come on Honestly
  

  Where do you get the info that Wenger has ever agreed a players contract? My info says the opposite. I'm reliably told Wenger stays as far away as he can from contract negociations, and the buying of players. I'm told he always gives his opinion if asked if a player is worth "X" amount but he's never present when deals are done with players agents. Do you have info that we don't?
  
  Like you I think we should have a wage structure and a wage cap but I can't hold Wenger responible for something I'm told he's not part of. His choice of players and tactic's in a game I will criticise him for but how can I say he didn't drive the team bus well when he wasn't the driver?

• 22-Oct-2011 19:42 | | Man United Killa  - you are told ei?
  

  ..so am I..so I guess it's my word against yours.

• 22-Oct-2011 19:58 | | Man United Killa
  

  Why would you consider Liverpool and Spurs in crisis.I am not necessarily saying we are in crisis.We are not showing intent with our dealings in the transfer market and our inept tactics which sees us with the lions share of possession and so little to show for it is beyond belief.Look at the team.Who are our start players?Who are the players that can drag us out of abyss of poor performances?Who are the players that can produce that magic moment and keep the spirit alive?Take RVP out and there is not much left.So you really cant compare us to Spur ( i hate to say this) or Pool.Both of them are strengthening and we on the other hand our disintegrating our team.No wonder we have struggled to beat Spurs in recent years.Does it strike you as a coincidence?
  I expect the club owners to make money..fair enough..But when at least 80 percent of the money from sale of our 'world class' players (of whom we do not have enough of anyways) is not plowed back into the team,ti's a no brainier that we have lost our compass of ambition.
  Football has seen many phase changes through the years.The ways of doing things before might work but little tweaks are always needed to keep up with the dynamics of the game both on and off the field.The way I see it, Arsenal is now managed from Money first Football second perspective.

• 22-Oct-2011 20:01 | | Man United Killa
  

  **who are our start players should read,,"who are our top players"?

• 22-Oct-2011 23:23 | | richie  - Yes I'm told by people who work at the club
  

  Muk I'll name names Ricie told me and so did Charlie George. Who's tild you different?

• 22-Oct-2011 23:45 | | richie
  

  Muk I'm highbury born and bread, I live in Highbury still. I know we've moved down the road but I still see people I know who work at the club every other day. Fella's I know who use to play for the club and used to work at Highbury Stadium now work at the Emirates, when I say I'm told Muk it ain't that someone in the pub told me.
  
  If I see someone who I've known for 30 years thats been working at the Emirates and Highbury before that and I know his daughter who works in admin and he tells me something I feel that its liable to be true. Next time when I'm in the company of someone I know definatly knows, I ask if what I'd heard is true? If its confirmed I feel like its reasonable to believe it.
  
  David Dein told the whole world in an interview before he left us that AW deals with football I sort out the wages contracts and paperwork because AW hates that side of things.

• 22-Oct-2011 23:56 | | Man United Killer
  

  Fair enough....But for you to want me to believe Wenger has no say in who he chooses to play for Arsenal is not going to fly with me.Are you saying the board chooses who to sign? And then goes out and signs them?

• 23-Oct-2011 07:44 | | Spectrum
  

  richie - You're still insisting that the wages and transfer policy is nothing to do with Wenger. I thought we had cleared that up once and for all. I should have known better to think that you A.K.B.'s would believe otherwise.
  
  I have linked you and other ( genuine ) truth seekers on here, to stories, articles and even a radio broadcast involving a Wenger biographer. I have demonstrated through Arsenal's financial accounts reports, the board's information sessions with the Arsenal Supporters Trust, e.t.c. that a) the debt is manageable, and we have no wage ceiling.b) Wenger has total control over the wages and transfers.
  
  Are you saying, assuming we can believe you, that a few of your friends and associates that you chat with now and then, are in a better position to know the inner workings at the club, than the Arsenal Financial Accountant, C.E.O. and others, that have been quoted in my various links ? Denial and ignorance won't change the facts.You're avoiding the reality that Wenger decides who we sign, what we pay for them, and what their wages are.
  " ******************"

• 23-Oct-2011 07:52 | | Spectrum
  

  Man United Killer - Of course that's what he's saying. He doesn't have any decent excuses for the shambles our club is in, so he clings to false beliefs, to deflect the blame from his idol.Of course, having an evil media with an "agenda" against the club, assists in this aim. Mean Lean is only too happy to whip up that particular frenzy, too.
  " ******************"

• 23-Oct-2011 08:20 | | Spectrum
  

  Man United Killer - That's why this blog is called "Arsenal Tunnel Vision".Well to the realists like you and me it is, anyway. And with each new article, Mean Lean proves the point.
  
  On the crisis issue - To even doubt or deny that we have been in a crisis, at least for the first few weeks, is undeniable. But here we have the A.K.B.'s in denial again. Thankfully, the crisis is easing, but why did it even have to happen in the FIRST PLACE ? What's overlooked in all this, is that with Wenger having convinced his sheep that we were "very very close" last season, we were then, according to his "plan", supposed to show intent,and to buy "super super quality" players to add the finishing touch to his project.Then presumably, we would storm to the title. Or this is what he led us to believe.It didn't turn out that way, surprise, surprise.
  
  Poor results aside,this expectation he instilled into the more gullible amongst us,is what ADDED to the sense of crisis. When it was clear his assurances were proven to be a mirage - a mere continuation from last term's poor form - out came the excuses.It was his lack of decisiveness, and poor pre season planning that contributed to it, along with his CHRONIC tactical ineptitude - witness the Old Trafford fiasco.
  
  As I said before, Mean Lean is like Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar. He puts a telescope to his patched eye, and exclaims "Crisis ? I see no crisis."
  " ******************"

• 23-Oct-2011 08:28 | | pika
  

  what crisis?
  
  crisis is when a club is in the brink of extinction due to debts. facing administration.
  
  a club that comes close to winning titles in the EPL with a bunch of 17-22 yearolds and eboues cant be in any crisis im afraid.
  
  and if you dont like mean lean;s website you can always go to another one where alike minded idiots like yourself can talk about crisis when none is there

• 23-Oct-2011 08:30 | | pika
  

  your word counts for nothing though MUG...youve shown your true colours ...

• 23-Oct-2011 08:31 | | pika
  

  THE ONLY THING THAT IS CLEAR IS THAT YOU DONT SUPPORT ARSENAL

• 23-Oct-2011 08:33 | | pika
  

  lol ..what kind of intent do you expect from a club that is still trying to repay the stadium they built?
  
  what abyss are you talking about?
  
  what magic?
  
  lol you re so clueless.

• 23-Oct-2011 08:35 | | pika
  

  the media do have an agenda against arsenal though. and the refs have one too.
  
  only a blind peasant would be unable to see it.

• 23-Oct-2011 08:37 | | Spectrum
  

  Taiwo - "Climb the table silently". To where ? The mid table position, which is what we're likely to end up with. We are NOT going to achieve Wenger's aim of winning the league this season - AGAIN . That was his, and our ( the supporters ) hopes, no, EXPECTATION for THIS season, wasn't it ?
  
  We have failed in that aim ALREADY. And we're just a couple of months in. We've been let down badly - and this on his seventh attempt to get it right !
  We'd have to do extraordinarily well from this point on - a total form reversal - to have a chance of making the top 4 and Champions League qualification for next season. As it stands, I'd say we're 50-50 of doing that at best. And this is improvement ?
  " ******************'

• 23-Oct-2011 08:42 | | pika
  

  hahaha take an aspirin mate ...you need it
  
  
  you will suffer here i promise you

• 23-Oct-2011 14:46 | | richie  - Spud you've demonstrated nothing!
  

  More Spud lies! I can't keep answering an obvious Spud infiltrator!
  You've never put up a single creadible piece of info!
  You sprout Sh** second hand from a biographer that Wenger never spoke to, and who got plenty of known facts about Wenger wrong.
  The suppoters trust demonstraighted that the debt was manageable as everybody knew. But they the trust never ever said Arsene Wenger has total control over transfer policy. You made that one up Spud!
  
  Arsenals finacial accounts are published yearly there is no mention in them about Arsene Wenger being solely responsible for transfers and wages. We all know that Kroenke's trouble shooter flew to Germany Turky and then went to Liverpool and bought some of the players on the list. Its also common knowledge that he attempted to sign Mata before money talked.

• 23-Oct-2011 15:12 | | richie  - No Muk I'm what I'm saying is this
  

  Arsene Wenger gave the board a list of 20 players starting at number 1 and ending at 20. That list was made up from the Arsenal scouts. AW either agree's with the scouts list or after watching tapes of the players and reading the scouts reports he disagree's. Wenger then gives the final list of names to the board. The board (read Kroenke) says who we can afford from the list. Now I said one player in the 1 to 5 section would've been nice. Another in the 1 to 10 we should've expected. But not 5 from 15 to 20.
  
  In the old days he gave the list to David Dein who went out and bought Henry Vieira Pires etc etc. Now days Kroenke has his own negociator a Yank who he sends out to do the buying. I said its no coinsidence that since Dein left we've been unable to sign anyone signifigant because the Yank who works for Kroenke ain't got footballing contacts unlike Dein who had loads.
  
  Now you and me can scream at Wengers substitutions, we can scream at his team selections, we can scream that the defence needs massive drilling behind closed doors. But the wages paid and the players contracts ain't Wengers job. He does football like all continental managers, in Europe a director of football does contracts and the buying and selling of players.
  
  When Wenger came to us David Dein was the director of football, since Kroenke took over he has his own man who does that job.
  Remember Arsenal as a club had only recently recovered from the George Graham scandle, so they liked the idea of not giving the manager control of the purse strings. That suited Wenger because he'd never done that job before. Certainly not at Monaco.

• 23-Oct-2011 15:14 | | richie  - Muk look at what written below carefully
  

  Spectrums a Spud analyise what he says, it obvious.

• 24-Oct-2011 03:36 | | Man United Killa  - mismanagement
  

  Richie,quite some interesting points you have made.I knew fragments of them but not all so this comes to me as a piece of good information.Thanks for that by the way.
  I guess it will be consistent to say that Wenger had players like Denilson,Traore,Djourou, etc on his list.Half of these players are not, and will never be good enough for Arsenal.Yet they drain the wage budget week in,week out.Whose fault is it that we are trying unsuccessfully to convert so much dross into Arsenal quality?Some things will never change.Wenger persisted with Denilson, Traore,Aliadiere to name a few.I still think he is should carry a significant amount of blame for listing players of that caliber.No disrespect but some of these players may be good for some teams but certainly not for us.
  What is the reason why we send so many players on loan at the start of every season?Apart from the fact that some are genuinely sent out for first team footballing experience, others are sent on loan to mitigate the negative impacts their wages have on our wage budget.
  Also, remember that this issue of signing substandard players has been existent for longer than Greedy Stan has been with us.Why couldn't we just have gone the route of "quality" instead of "quantity"? We have signed to many average youngsters and put ourselves in a tight spot per our budget.This is my books, is mismanagement.
  Finally,If we have an academy that we want to see blossom with dozens of talented youngsters who have been groomed from the inside, why do we spend so much money on more young players and put them on ridiculously large wages? and the worst part-half of them never make it at Arsenal.Doesn't this strike you as a mismanagement?

• 24-Oct-2011 04:57 | | Man United Killa
  

  hahah@ Arsenal Tunnel Vision..I like this!

• 24-Oct-2011 04:59 | | Man United Killa
  

  Oh Pika..you are such a clown! lol...you always make me feel so intelligent.

• 24-Oct-2011 05:03 | | Man United Killa  - Spectrum=Concerned Gooner
  

  Richie for the Love of God cant you tell a real Gooner when you see one? Spectrum is obviously a Gooner.No Spud in his right mind, even if he was jobless would spend half the time Spectrum spends here.

• 24-Oct-2011 11:02 | | richie  - Yes mismanagement but by who?
  

  Yes well with an absolute sh** load of that you and I are agreed on. I looked at Aliadiere when he first arrived and knew he didn't have it. I looked at him 2 years later and knew he'd never make it, not with us anyway. Now I didn't think the same with Denilson I expected him to come good because (dare I say it he looked to me to have potential) I expected him to step up. Now I criticised Wenger for showing both of the above way too much loyalty, by sticking with them and giving them way too many chances to come good.
  
  Wenger is a developer of players and mostly he gets it right, but thats not to say every player he buys comes good. Not only that but for every Anelka and every Cesc there may have been 6 others that didn't come good. That can't be helped because someone with potential might not develope or they might go backwards. The case of Richard Wright comes to mind, remember him the GK that looked incredible against us playing for Ipswich? He arrived played 2 great matches and went to pieces.
  
  The reason we send so many players out on loan is to keep the wage bill under control and give players still under contract to us a little expirence. If there is any mismanagement of resourses its down to the person responsible for agreeing terms with the players agents. As I've said I'm reliably told that ain't Wenger. Moreover I've been told that Wenger promised the board (Which back then wasn't Kroenke) that he'd continue to unearth little gems to sell at a profit to cover any short fall that the club incurred over the Emirates.
  
  My rumours from within tell me that, that position has become massively more difficult for Wenger since Abromovitch's arrival at Chelski. Remember that Chelski hasn't only pipped us at the post to nick players we were about to sign. They also nicked our chief scout. The money that Abromovitch was offering meant Roman got our (Arsene's) whole scouting network. On top of that unfortunatley Kroenke's trouble shooter who signs players ain't a football man so his contacts in the game are very limmited. Its what I said since David Dein stopped doing his job as footballing director we ain't signed anyone. RvP was one of DD's last buys.

• 25-Oct-2011 11:17 | | pika
  

  lol..explain yourself troll. you and that other tosser are whinging and bitching about crisis.
  
  well why dont you show us all what kind of crisis youre fkn talking about einstein?
  
  or is it that you cant reply ?
  
  do u see any positives at all in the way arsenal is run and the way arsenal is set up? none?
  
  do u see any positives in our players/ our playing style/ our manager? anything at all?
  
  is it all shit then ? lol ..........

• 25-Oct-2011 11:20 | | pika
  

  a real gunner doesnt castigate his club demanding titles when they ve just built a stadium.
  
  a real gunner takespride in what wenger has done and continues to do for us.
  
  a real gunner takes pride that our rivals need to outspend us by a couple of hundred million to marginally beat eboues frimpongs and rosickys.
  
  take your filth elsewhere mug

• 25-Oct-2011 11:30 | | MeanLean
  

  Speccy,
  
  Oh I see. So this crisis were in only lasted a few weeks but now it is easing. So this was a part time few weeks version of a crisis.
  
  Interesting.
  
  Like the article asks, define crisis.

• 25-Oct-2011 11:46 | | pika
  

  hey mean lean just fkn ban them mate. why the hell do u let these shitheads post here anyway ? with every word and letter they type they prove they are anything but arsenal fans

• 25-Oct-2011 11:49 | | pika
  

  since you dont like this tunnel vision you can always f*ck off to the spud forum where you can all agree at how bad arsenal is

• 25-Oct-2011 13:02 | | pika
  

  youre wasting your time mate. these two have admitted they are here to debate the anti. by definition debate means that one side keeps a pro attitude and the other an anti attitude.
  
  why would an arsenal fan want to have any debates taking the anti-side?
  
  only a person who doesnt liek arsenal would be adamant at keeping an anti stance in order to prove whatever he has in mind.
  
  if you wanted to present united or anybody else as a failing club youd also pretend the manc and take the anti-stance and talk about debates and freedom of speech and such bollocks. thats all theyre doing.

• 03-Nov-2011 06:51 | | Mohamed Zubairu
  

  Some people are so hoodwinked that they cannot think straight again.
  In Arsene YOU rust.

• 03-Nov-2011 06:58 | | Mohamed Zubairu
  

  Spot on man! It is unfortunate that we have too many retards as Arsenal fans. I have a feeling that many pseudo-pundits will be forced to eat their word at the end of this season. Alternatively, they will have to find a way to down play the feat when what they thought was impossible happens before their eyes.

• 03-Nov-2011 07:02 | | Mohamed Zubairu
  

  If the business aspect is not run prudently, the football aspect will crumble with time. I hope you've heard that people are having a hard time getting ticket for the next premiership game. They don't seem to mind watching a club that "used to be".

Write comment

Your Details:

Name:

Comment:

Title:

Message:

Powered by Compojoom comment 4.1.7 stable