Ok, so I said in part 1 of my blog that the Arsenal Board should have been a bit more forthcoming with their plans for Arsenal. You see, if the board had given us a bit more information concerning our strategic direction for the foreseeable future, I think most of us sober minded Arsenal fans would have adjusted our expectations so that we would have taken pleasure only in the overall development of the team. Success then could be measured not only in trophies but more in how far we last in competitions. That’s the yard stick that Wenger uses to measure the success of the team of late ( if you hadn’t already noticed!).
Now dear Arsenal fan, what is the measure of a big club? Is it the number of trophies one wins? Is it the size of the fan base? (And consequently the revenue generated?), is it finishing in the top four of the English Premier League? Is it winning the Champions League? Is it paying the highest wages to players? I think the answer lies somewhere in that ball pack.
If we measure Arsenal on Trophies, particularly in the last 6 years, then we are a small club. If it is the fan base, then we are a big club without a doubt, although there is a lot of potential to expand in the Far East and Africa. Africa particularly is somewhat neglected when it comes to business potential, but just ask the mobile telephone companies and they’ll tell you it’s an absolute gold mine. I think Arsenal could do more to increase its fan base in this “neglected” part of the globe. Gazidis, give me a shout if you need some help tapping into the African Market.
Arsenal has never won the Champions League. But what of player wages? I recently read a blog that made interesting reading, as regards our wages and other interesting stuff. We are right up there with the big English teams. So overall, i’d say there is no question we are a big club.
So how big a club are we? That’s the question that needs to be put into perspective. Our stated ambitions normally dictate how people perceive us. Every year we know that Arsenal sets out to compete for the League title, along with Manure, Chelski, Liver-poo, Citeh and Spurs. Now, of this group of clubs, you’ll notice that Manure and Chelski are perennial firm favourites for the League. Citeh has just started coming into the reckoning, ahead of Arsenal- and with good reason. They have spent more than the GDP of a few African countries on players in the last couple of years. So why has Arsenal fallen out of favour in terms of winning the League and thus undermining our status as a big club?
Well, looking at events in the past 3 or so seasons, we have been collapsing at the business end of the season, going out of the title race with a whimper like little dogs. Do we fail spectacularly because we are a small club? No. Do we fail because our squad quality isn’t good enough? No. I think the problem is that we have had a bunch of players that are not committed to the club first and foremost. We have had the type of players who thrive when things are going great, but who lack a bit of fight when the going gets tough. We have had players who think they are better than they are; players who think they are doing us a favour playing for Arsenal. We have lacked players who are willing to die for the club when it mattered most. Indeed we have been poor defensively, but I blame that on the coaching.
The quality of players is not the problem when it comes to defending set plays. Also our lack of speed in offensive play has been our down fall. As you well know, attack is the best form of defence. Barcelona and even Manure are very good at attacking. They attack you relentlessly for 95 minutes, giving you no time to attack them. If you do attack them, its for very brief spells in the game. Effectively, they defend by attacking. Our style of play has not been very attack minded, more ball possession with little forward impetus. We have been passing the ball sideways in front of opposition goals, we lack fast, tricky movement between opposing defences, ala Barcelona. Our movement off the ball was so poor at times that teams simply waited for us to over-commit then hit us with a sucker punch on the counter.
So in conclusion, we are definitely not a small club. We proudly produce quality youngsters and I just hope we produce a few more british youngers who won’t want to go home one day, well even if they do, they’ll be home anyway... Our academy is probably the best in England. So while our strategic plan requires that we lower our immediate expectations of seriously competing for trophies, i’d say we are not that far off from the finished article. It took Barcelona a few decades to develop their brand of football and to start winning trophies consistently.. we are not far behind...
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