Arsenal have evolved so we can be tough and Ruthless again….

Arsenal have already leapt forward 2 decades by Neil Watson

The most progressive thing for our club in the last decade has been the introduction of the new management structure. Regardless of whether Unai Emery is a success during his time with us what his arrival demonstrates is the forward thinking that is now being adopted by the senior management.

It is feasible that part of our past problems have been the presence of a power struggle within the club, with one party wanting complete control while the other favouring diversity of control through the designation of specialists in specific areas.

Emery’s arrival has facilitated the latter to evolve, which will allow the replacement of individuals should they fail to deliver in their specific roles, without their removal causing upheaval or extreme decision making. In simple terms the club has finally evolved and can operate in a way the modern game requires.

One undeniable consequence of the change will mean the days of a 20 year managerial posting are well and truly behind us. Emery maybe with us for a season or perhaps even several but nothing anywhere close to how long Wenger was with us. If he succeeds he will be offered more money, more funds to spend and the adulation of our fans. If he fails his tenure will be short and he will be replaced with far more brutality than we have witnessed in the past.

The modern game requires top clubs to be efficient on and off the pitch and, as a consequence, sentimentality has no place. Arsenal football club are now structured to function in a mercenary manner and, as agents have conducted themselves on behalf of their players for some time, our senior management can now show a stronger and ruthless edge to how our club moves forward which can only be positive thing for fans.

Neil Watson

35 Comments

  1. Exciting times ahead, my joy is seeing the new coach having faith in Maitland Niles, DAT guy is built for greatness, and I also lyk the way this transfer window has been going for us. And it seems the rumors we hear abt us trying to sign any player nowadays seems to carry more credibility compared to before because we seem to end up signing them compared to Wenger’s era. Things have actually changed for the better over there at the Emirates. And am loving it #UpGunners

    1. haha haha I pray we get him!… and Leno and 2 CB’s and maybe a winger! I have respect for Wenger but I’m starting to see why we were all chanting “Wenger out” coz he didn’t care about defense at all but now Emery has made it his priority. Not even one game managed by Emery but I’m so excited about his tenure here. COYG

      1. Emery hasn’t made it his priority. Sven did. You have to question why a Raul type wasn’t brought in sooner though. Wenger suffered without Dein. Gazidas takes the blame for that as he took on that role and is still somewhat involved with transfer negotiation even with Sven/Raul. Gazidas penny pinched (it’s documented publicly and we saw it with Auba anyway) and made mistakes but he’s older/more experienced now so hopefully it’s not so bad.

        It’s also a lucky year for a new manager. The explosion in the market last year both with PSG and recent BPL deals means players like Torreira/Leno have way too low buyout clauses and it’s right across the market (Barca really would not of given Umtiti a new contract this year but his release clause forced them.) Honestly given the lack of release clauses in the BPL I expect this recent issue to really swing the pendulum towards the Premier League and that will be seen in the CL (although the manager battle Jose/Kloop/Pep/Poch will get the credit and it is a factor but this market thing is bigger.)

        As we have experienced a lot players on short contracts are reluctant to sign unless for significant improvement because it makes them so attractive in this market but this is not exclusive to the prem (See Sokratis.) As this is playing out globally we’re also somewhat free to pick up players. Sanchez went United, Goretzka went Bayern etc. and PSG/City/Real/Barca will still go for a headline buy whatever and have had to tie up contracts. Lichsteiner was probably free no matter as I think he wanted a new challenge but the value of it is so much more. Good time for a transition on limited funds to be honest.

  2. I think there’s been a huge power struggle at Arsenal in recent times, which Gazidis finally won. We started seeing a progressive change last season, and now we can see how quickly the club are getting on with the business at hand, without Wenger. I really felt Wenger has been holding us back for years, regardless of the funds available, and now we’re seeing the evidence. Not only are we on the verge of bringing in 4/5 players new players before July, we’re strengthening the weak areas first. Wenger NEVER did this! He always felt he had enough quality already, and would often strengthen our strongest areas, whilst completely ignoring the gaping holes in our team. DM position being the best example.

    Really exciting times at the moment for Arsenal fans, it’s just a shame PUMA screwed us over with the new kits! Haha

    1. yup. I think it’s been kind of known Gazidis wanted AW out for a bit. He’s taken a lot of flack from us fans too, because we didn’t know who was to blame for the mess our club had become and he made promises that weren’t being kept. I don’t know what Arsenal were doing before in terms of transfer dealings before, but they were embarrassing. IF we pull off the transfers that are being rumored (and only when they are official), then it would seem AW was a huge problem in why Arsenal were so far behind in terms of structure of the club as well. I’m warming up to Emery as well too. Wasn’t fully on board at first but he seems like a passionate guy and PSG is just a hard club to succeed at. Now lets get some of these signings to the finish line and not drop the ball at the last second. Ruthless Arsenal is hopefully around the corner

  3. Probably fair comments from the article writer about managerial longevity being no more. But I, FOR JUST ONE, WAS NOT AGAINST Wenger because he had been here 22 years. I was against him because he was old fashioned and out of date. Had he kept up to date and been in touch with and used modern methods , we would not now be in the hole he left us in. Were he still capable , as many 68 year olds are, as I know from personal experience, I would have been happy to keep him. He lost, or chose to abandon (to be strictly accurate) his proven successful early years methods and became a slave to playing in only one style which stopoed working years before he was finally ousted. It is NOT AGE, BUT EFFECTIVENESS THAT MATTERS. If Emery is doing well I see no reason to lose him. Time alone will tell, but age is not the problem. The manager in question and his ability or lack of it, is the ONLY pertinent matter. Fergie won the title when around Wengers age, or even older, which rather proves my point, I think.

    1. Well said Jon, exactly my sentiments. His stubbornness was his final undoing but, that said, I really do wish him well in the future.

      1. Andrew, I very much agree and wish him well in his future too. His niceness and legendary stubbornness as a person was his weakness in making difficult team decisions and we all know he was far too loyal to players who needed either a boot up the backside or to be sold. But he refused and hated confrontation. This is all well and good in good team times and often goes then unnoticed. But when the chips are down and tough decisions HAVE to be made, he ducked out of doing so, time after time. Prime among these weaknesses for me were the constant chances given to the unreliable Walcott and the keeping of the cinstantly injured Diaby. They would hav eboth been booted out years earlier by Fergie, Mourinho, Conte, Klopp , Guardiola and we all know this . But Wenger was too decent to do the necessary deeds and so we fans and the club suffered. This personal niceness and hating for confrontation was his biggest weakness. It was just a shame that the regime above him realised this years after most of us fans. But we are where we are and must move on. Now we have tough , decisive people in charge, as it appears, we may well make huge strides forward far quicker than many of us expect. It will be an exciting ride for sure. You can be nice and still tough. But WENGER COULD NOT BE BOTH, SADLY!

    2. There’s a reason I called him Dictator Wenger. He wanted control over everything. Arsenal seem much more efficient this summer by collaborating. Whether it’s Mislintat, Gazidis, or Sanllehi, it looks like they know what Unai wants, know what players are possible, and are going for it. No purposeful bids below a very clearly stated value so far either. If we get these deals over the line I will give them a lot of praise. still work to be done. still need to see these players on the website before getting too carried away. But can’t hide some of my excitement tho, lol.

  4. Interesting to see how Unai uses Ozil, play him in his favored no.10 in a 4231 lineup or play him in Unai’s favored 433 lineup pushing Ozil to the flanks

    1. My bet is that he gets pushed out to the flanks with Ramsey at 10 but Emery figures out a way for him to play to his strengths (hide his weaknesses)

    2. i think its the reverse he plays 4231 and was forced to a 4 3 3 at psg because of the ££££ signings. either way we got the players for his way of managing and we are looking good in identifying what we need so happy days.

  5. The new Management team will be judged on results in the short term say 2/3 years.If we have not regained our top four status during that period Emery and his backroom staff will be on their way.The signings that are in the pipeline do not impress me at all but I hope they prove me wrong.In the case of Torreira at five foot five he is hardly a physical presence as a defensive midfielder and is not in the same class as Kante.He is a busy little bee who will bring energy to our midfield but I cannot see him dominating games in the Premier League..As far as I am aware he has only two caps for Uruguay and is likely to be on the bench in Russia.

    1. Talk to uruguay fans and they want him to start tho. Was impressive in their friendlys leading up to WC as well. When it comes to internationals the best players dont always get what the deserve. Look at France, who called up Gignac last Euro’s and dont call up Benzema anymore, Belgium didn’t even bother with Naingollan in their preliminary squad. Internationals is a lot of politics and personal preferences. Moreso than club football. This guys has amazing stats, and is exactly the bite we need. Also keep in mind we are in Europa League and are going through a massive change right now. We aren’t the most attractive club at the moment and can’t get players like Vidal, Fred, Lewandowski, etc. This is why we have scouts who can still find highly rated players. (And keep in mind we did just get Aubameyang who is without a doubt world class himself, so we’re not doing too bad. Guy is going to score bundles next season )

      1. I am an older fan and over the years have seen scores of small but teak tough players who you would not argue with. It depends on the fight and spirit in the man, even though size is vital in goal and at CB. Other than those positions, strength on the ball is vital everywhere but size alone does not guarantee that happens. What does guarantee it is will to win. Or in the vernacular,”balls.” Watch the coward and coaster Benteke, playing for Palace. He is a physical monster but with a heart of marshmellow. Then watch little Kante at Chelsea, for the opposite.

        1. Exactly … And all my Italian friends who follow serie a closely rate this guy … A combination of coquellin and santi would certainly fill a big gap that wenger failed to plug … Who complements him best will be a first test of emery’s capabilities I feel

  6. There is a lot of hype around Torreira. He appears good though what worries me is his tiny size and the fact that he appears to go to ground quite a lot. Serie A is supposed to be where the softest football is played. If they are hacking away at him there what if he comes to England where the game is much more physical?

  7. Lichtsteiner already signed, if we can add Sokratis, Torreira and Leno I’ll be happy but, if we add Soyuncu and Martins, I’ll be ecstatic. This is what us Gunners have been craving for since the days of Campbell, Viera and Petit, we need other teams to fear us for a change.

    I don’t know much about Sokratis or Martins but Torreira and Soyuncu both look classy players and totally fearless. If we get ALL of them I am confident we will at least get into the top four.

    1. Sokratis, Torreira, and Leno all look to be done deals. If we can get Soyuncu and Martins too, which are distinct possibilities, we would be a top team.

  8. It Ian actually very sad to see how Arsene has systematically destroyed this club through his stubbornness. The quick movement after he has left along with the signings made this past season go a long way to show how he was holding the club hostage when he didn’t get what he wanted. It was rediculous of him to think that he could continue to control EVERY aspect of the club and then shameful that he sabotaged so much when he didn’t get his way.

  9. Edgar Davids is almost having the same height as Torreira.

    But guess being aggressive and mentality do help.

    No more wimps….

    1. I don’t know how much bigger Roy Kean, makelele, and even recently Mascherano have been than Toreira but they all weren’t a Matic, a Wanyama or even a Viera
      so let’s give the Kid a chance.

  10. Personally i have thought over the past 3-4 years Wenger power had been eroded and SABOTAGE by Gazidis, over those years Wenger had no control over the purse string, his buys was no longer in his destiny, therefore Wenger can not be the only one to blame for the state Arsenal is in at the moment.

    Wenger’s greatest weakness was the faith he placed in players, never fixing the cracks but covering them with a new coat of paint, in the hope his favorite players would become world beaters by self-realisation and not by competing amongst the best.

    Our new team will not be world beaters no matter how many talents we recruit in the team, once the laid back attitude remains, what needs to be hammer into our players head is the need for victory in every match we play.

    So if we want to be tough and ruthless every fiber in our players must want victory in every game we play

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