Arsenal fans need to take the blinkers off and face harsh realities

WINDS OF CHANGE OR LAST GASP SALOON? by Viera Lyn

Winds of change have swept through North London over the last several weeks – or have they? While some may be quick to suggest that the newest members of Arsenal’s administrative staff have started to exert their influence over player movements. So long as Arsene Wenger still roams the sidelines things will continue to devolve. Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic that Auba has joined our ranks, even if it’s a year or two late. He makes perfect sense for a club looking to restore some of the world-class directness that has been notably absent for far too long.

Unfortunately Wenger’s sideways tactics could prove problematic once again as PEA’s success is largely predicated on the manager’s ability to make the necessary tactical and personnel changes so that our newest strikers are provided with the proper service. If Wenger had any balls left he would have employed a 4-4-2 or even a 4-1-3-2, with Auba and Laca up top, immediately upon PEA’s arrival, but we know this would have been difficult for a manager whom has sh*t the bed for the better part of a decade regarding our defensive options, and it likewise wouldn’t have provided him with the usual excuses if it failed to produce the desired results right out of the gate.

We simply can’t afford to waste this new opportunity to get things right. So it’s high time we put on our big boy pants, rid ourselves of the TRUE deadwood from within the clubhouse and boardroom then turn this sh*t-show around. Only by ridding ourselves of the monarchical structure that has long plagued this club can we finally address our obvious defensive shortcomings, then start to acquire those players who could best assist in our transition to a more direct brand of football. So no more square pegs in round holes, no more playing favorites without cause, no more ticky-tacka with no end product – and no more settling for third, fourth, fifth or sixth best. It’s time to end this horrible charade once and for all and start anew.

In order to facilitate such wide-sweeping changes this club needs to start exerting it’s financial might or we must be willing to do whatever is necessary to force this money-grubbing Yank out of North London. Regardless of those who continually spew nonsense about how we can’t compete with the oil-rich fat cats and the like, this club and it’s majority owner have bags of cash at the ready, but simply refuse to deviate from the business model that has allowed them to reap the rewards of our financial loyalty without assuming any monetary risks whatsoever. Why do you think every financial journal or wealth assessment tool places us squarely within the top tier of richest teams in the footballing world or do you think that is just another example of the elaborate conspiracy on the part of all media institutions bent on bringing down the 6th place team in the EPL, as Wenger and his most ardent supporters would have you believe.

While you’re still pondering the ludicrous possibility of such a widespread conspiracy, remember that Kroenke is the only individual on earth who personally owns teams in all 4 of the richest sports leagues in the world (EPL, NFL, NBA & NHL) and is likewise married to the uber-wealthy heiress to the WalMart fortune. So before you try to sell the ridiculous notion that our manager’s hands are tied by financial constraints or that we were burned by the ineptitude of the Financial Fair Play pie-in-the-sky mandate, or that we are just a humble, family-oriented club that is resigned to counting our pennies and cutting corners to make ends meet, I implore you to take your blinkers off just for a brief moment and honestly examine the harsh realities currently facing our club. Once you have done your due diligence you will see why it’s imperative that the fans never stop voicing their displeasure or things will continue to steadily erode.

There is no doubt in my mind that the most disastrous decision we made during the past calendar year, up to and including the most eventful January transfer window in recent memory, was not the Sanchez debacle that saw him off to Old Trafford, which will forever be considered a failure of epic proportions, or the selling off of Ox to Liverpool following a thrashing less than a fortnight earlier, or even the triangular clusterf*ck that saw Giroud head to our crosstown rivals in the 11th hour, but the re-upping of our manager after another tumultuous and cringe-worthy campaign both on and off the pitch.

Let’s face it there isn’t enough cane in the world to sugarcoat what has transpired here over the last 18 months. The contractual amateurism displayed by our management team, the planting of seeds in the press to negatively sway fan opinion regarding our best players, the glaring lack of tactical nuance displayed by our manager, the continued failure to address the most obvious of deficiencies and the utterly disrespectful way this manager has treated the fan-base, especially when it came to the child-like manner in which he handled his own contractual situation, are but a few of the legitimate reasons for his immediate dismissal.

The bottom-line is this tale reads like an idiots guide to how NOT to run a professional footballing club, yet nothing REALLY seems to change. It’s almost like watching the world’s longest episode of the Twilight Zone, without the payoff. So don’t let the Puppet-master or his minions fool you, we deserve so much more!!!

Viera Lyn