Where I feel Arsene broke the bond with the fans. by KM
Hello Arsenal fans once more. What a turn of the tides has happened since 2010. If back then you said a bad word about Arsene you would be banned as absurd and ridiculous. Back in that season we were close or maybe even top after a 3:0 win at Birmingham on January first? My memory may be wrong, but we were in a good spot and we blew it.
The similarities between this season and back then are quite a few. We had a really nice squad back then, just like now, but the way we finished that season losing the league cup final and missing on the title I felt that a change of manager was needed. Not a lot of people believed me, but a series of events broke the bond between me and the manager.
First and foremost it was the way we let Fabregas and Nasri leave. I mean they were obviously my favourite players at the time and seeing them leave made me put serious question marks as to why? For a moment I tried to buy the lies that we don’t have the money, but as seasons passed by I realise this is not the case. We do have money, in fact we’ve had them all the time, we just refused to use them. What was worse was the way we let Van Persie leave. We should’ve let his contract run down to the final year, instead we had 3 seasons with Giroud as our only striker.
This was the killing blow for me. He was the last player that managed 20+ goals in the league and we should’ve added enough quality to let him win the title with us, instead we cashed in. This is a fundamental problem at Arsenal, we always cash in! The club cashes in on players and fans and it will cash in again if we fail to make the top 4.
But this is not the only problem at all! We threw away the 2007/8 title because we were outsmarted in the big games and it took until that 2:0 win at City for us to actually approach a big game in a new way. Which is far too long, but worse are the excuses. Arsene never once admitted he wasn’t good enough. How do we expect to move forward if we cannot see the flaws that are stopping us?
Another major breaking point with Arsene was the fact the guy hasn’t learned a god damn thing. Each year we repeat mistakes and Arsene continues to fall into the same pitfall every year! You kinda wonder if you have to laugh or cry?
Another big issue for me was the fact we abandoned style. The teams of 2007/08 as well as the 2009/10 season played with some style! We never managed to outplay the big teams, but even against them, we really played some slick football, which in the past 3 years is gone. I was all up for abandoning beauty for success, but having neither is worse.
The transfer window is another major pain for me. We just sleep through the window, and at the end we try to make one transfer and then it’s all good. Our transfer policy has been scandalous at times. Simply unacceptable! And not because we don’t spend money, but the way we approach the window without any idea of what to do is terrible.
For me this all comes down to the fact Arsene has complete power. What’s the difference between having Steve Bould or Pat Rice next to Arsene? Can I have that spot, maybe I can also earn some free money from Arsenal for doing nothing. Nobody ever questions Arsene, the board or the staff don’t for sure.
Problem is the growing disconnection between manager and fans is reaching the worse point. Words like “Arsene knows best” were the law 10 years ago, now they are a deadly sin. Arsene and the Board pretend like everything is OK, but the players are affected for sure.
If you look at the polls about Arsene, every one suggests he should leave, even the one put here on JustArsenal! Leave the fans and pundits aside, quite a few players will not miss Arsene too much if he leaves. Ozil, Sanchez and Cech do not owe him anything and will easily find a big club again, unlike Ramsey, Giroud and Walcott though! You can bet Joel Campbell, who has been one of the few better players since the turn of the year, would also be happy to welcome a manager that would judge him on performances rather than personal dislike.
And of course a point I keep hammering about – the desire. Look at the way Klopp engaged the Liverpool fans. He immediately recognised the apathy around the club and taunted the fans, and they responded! This triggered a chain reaction and the vibe around the club is different! Simeone at Atletico is another perfect example.
But before we jump on the topic on who should come in, we need to let Arsene know his services are no longer required. And there is no other way than doing it on the games, where he will be! He has to be given a red card from the fans. There is no way he’d abandon the only thing left in his life! You cannot blame your misfortunes on others though.
Arsene is losing his supporters day by day, but be sure he doesn’t care too much about that. Look, Allardyce did an ok job at West Ham, but he was eventually sacked, because it wasn’t the west ham way and look at them now! Leicester sacked Pierson even though he made the great escape and now they are fighting for the title! Even Stoke sacked Pulis and now they actually try to play football!
The waters at Arsenal have been stale for far too long. And stale water doesn’t taste so good. We need to break the wall and let the Arsenal river flow! Whether there is an ocean of success or a waterfall is something we will never know while we are stuck with Arsene, but one thing is certain, the Arsene pond is drying up!
Wishing you a better week than Arsenes!