Do We Know Where We Are Going?

"Out of my huge respect for Mr. Wenger, the players and the fans I don`t want to go into any details, but unfortunately in this meeting it has again become clear to me that we in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward.

I`ve thought long and hard about it, but I have decided not to extend my contract.

You guys, the fans, have of course the right to disagree with my view and decision and I will always respect your opinions.

I love the club and the fans, no matter what happens. I have grown up and became a man during my time with Arsenal FC."- Robin Van Persie, 2012.

When Robin Van Pussie said published this statement last year, the entire Arsenal world descended upon him and we (myself included) called  him a traitor, among many other names that I do not care to repeat. But looking at what is happening at Arsenal right now, can we really say that he is a traitor? Since leaving Arsenal, Robin Van Pussie has won the Barclays Premier League with Manchester United and the Community Shield at the start of the current season. What have Arsenal won in 8 years?

We have now gone and made a bid of about £10M for Yohan Cabaye from Newcastle United. Yes, that's Yohan Cabaye. Now, Cabaye is a decent midfielder and that's all I can say about him. Is he the super, super quality (Wenger!) type of signing that we keep being promised? I don't think so. And when did we decide we needed Cabaye at Arsenal? Did we plan to have him in our squad for this new season? If so, why did we not bid for him 90 days ago? Will we even manage to sign him or is this another Luis Suarez? Certain Alan Pardew is not amused at our timing. 

What was our plan, at the end of last season to bring in new players? Certainly Ivan Gazidis announced to the whole world that we can afford to pay the +£200K a week wages for quality players. Did we have targets to improve our squad for this new season? Who are they? Was Cabaye one of them? or are we reacting to the loss at the weekend?

Who else are we trying to buy? Are they top, top quality (Wenger!)? Or are we buying average players and hoping to win the League?

And coming to the players we have, is the standard of coaching any good at all? From the evidence of Saturday, it appears that our coaching staff have run out of ideas. There appears to be serious sterility to our tactics. I have opined before that looking at the quality of players we have generally at Arsenal, a better coach would consistently get better results out of them.

"As a consequence of this policy, which is dressed up as prudent financial planning, it is down to our manager, and not the shareholders, to have to deal with the Club's tight finances, carry the burden of repaying the stadium debt by selling his best players and having to continue to find cheaper replacements. All of that, naturally, comes at the expense of performance on the pitch.

This policy is leading to the loss of our best players, often to our main competitors, and even causes the players themselves to question their future at the Club and the Club's ambitions. The situation with our captain and outstanding performer from last season Robin van Persie sums this up. Yet again we are faced with losing our true marquee player at the Club because we cannot assure him of the future direction and give confidence that we can win trophies. Where are the safeguards to ensure that this doesn't happen again and again in the future? As a top Club we should, at the very least, match if not beat the offers that other clubs make to try and lure our very best players away, and also provide a more compelling vision of the future. You can try and put a good face on a bad game for as long as you want, pontificating about the merits of this model, but it will not hide the obvious fact that it just does not allow our great manager to fully realize his managerial talent and deliver success for the fans who are paying the highest prices in the land. It appears that a place in the Champions League will be the pinnacle of our ambition again next season. Unfortunately, in the future we may see this ambition lowered further. It doesn't help to turn a blind eye to the reality of the situation and keep thinking of ourselves as being in the same league as Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City and Barcelona. To have a fighting chance of success, which means winning trophies, we need to match them in every aspect, including, if not first and foremost, financial.”- Alisher Usmanov- Open Letter to theBoard of Arsenal

I have read Usmanov's open letter to the Board and with hindsight, I think that I, along with many other self-righteous Arsenal fans were too quick to dismiss Usmanov. I think that we were all afraid of change and bought into the enemity which Gazidis and co were selling us as coming from Red & White. Make no mistake, Stan Kroenke did not just invest in Arsenal because he loves the club. He did so because he stands to gain financially. So too Usmanov.

But what we failed to do as Arsenal fans was to influence change at the club. We could have demanded that Red & White, having almost 30% stake in the club be given a seat on the Board. The deficiencies that have been identified in our Board might just have been addressed. Perhaps Usmanov would have placed David Dein on the Board, which is what I think was the whole idea behind David Dein selling his shares to Usmanov.

Yet we called David Dein a traitor too. Here we are, 8 seasons later with no trophy at all and worse still sinking into mid-table mediocrity. But what are we doing about it? Nothing. Whenever Usmanov comes out to question the club's Board, we label him the devil. Yet the very things that Usmanov is saying are what our very own players who have left said of the club Board: Show us your ambition!

I am sorry, but I am fast coming to the sad conclusion that Arsenal has no clear strategy to compete at the very top. We are mediocre that is why our manager celebrates 4th position every year and says it is like winning a trophy. Is that the height of our ambition? Isn't there anybody at Arsenal that can hold Arsene to account for stagnating our club? We are seelling our best players to our rivals and buying shit players from them. Look at the player we sold to Manchester United  last year. And we bought Mikel Silvestre from them...

Our Board and Manager appear incompetent to me right at this stage. It is time we tried something new. Bring on Usmanov and see what he has to offer. As fans we can influence what the Directors and shareholders do. Regardless of the millions they put into buying shares, we hold the power to the value of those shares. It is time we start introspection and asking the tough questions: do we know where we are going?