Why we trust “The Process” by Lloyd
Arsene Wenger’s lack of ruthlessness and holding on to players who were under-performing, and eventually losing the dressing room which led to his demise, is what led to the challenges we are facing. For years under Wenger, the supporters had to watch the team regressing until Arsenal was dumped out of the UEFA Champions League competition.
In came Unai Emery who was treated very unfairly. Because the players were running the scene and didn’t want to buy into his philosophy. The same Unai Emery who is leaving Arsenal with Egg on our faces, guiding Villarreal to Europa cup glory and now in the semi-finals of the ECL. That just shows that the players were the problem all along.
In December 2019 Mikel Arteta was appointed as coach of AFC. There was much unhappiness among Arsenal supporters. At the same time the world was hit by the Covid – 19 pandemic which saw the footballing world come to a standstill. Not ideal for a manager who just started his career at the club. Despite the many challenges, Mikel Arteta managed to steer Arsenal to the FA cup final. The defending champions, Premier League side Manchester City, were eliminated by Arsenal in the semi-finals on 18 July. Arsenal won the final 2–1 against Chelsea, their first win since 2017 and fourth in seven years, for their fourteenth FA Cup trophy.
It was at this point that the Gunners faithful saw something that was lacking by other managers. Mikel Arteta had inherited a very ill-disciplined Arsenal outfit with rifts in the dressing room. Senior players like Mesut Ozil, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and others were making the team a nightmare to manage. A clear out was imminent and it required wisdom and tact to start rebuilding the Arsenal team.
This was the beginning of “The Process”. The rebuilding process had begun in 2020 and this would be gradual in order to transition in a new dawn under Arteta. It would require a manager that is ruthless and unapologetic, yet diplomatic enough not to bring the Club into disrepute.
Arteta laid out his philosophy in his first interview for Arsenal’s media channel back in December 2019. On the pitch, he called for passion, dominance, aggression and playing in the opponents’ territory. Off it, there were “non-negotiables” – respect, discipline, humility, accountability, unity and trust.
It was evident that the players he inherited were not up to the task at hand. It was time to wield the axe. To get rid of the rot in the Arsenal team seemed like a very challenging if not impossible task. There are not many managers that would survive this process. It became very evident that players expected the manager to be fired. They were not willing to move on and looked to sit out their contracts, making the rebuilding process a daunting task. But Mikel with the help of Edu and the board pushed back even harder. Side-lining players forcing them to go out on loan and even terminating some contracts. It was necessary to disband the player-Mafia ruining our club.
We have managed to get rid of most of them, but there are still many more whose contracts are running out. Not all players are part of the rot. There are players like Mohammed Elneny, Alexandre Lacazette and Granit Xhaka who has shown immense professionalism, under very hard circumstances, playing alongside inexperienced yet brave young players, acting as an example. However, Lacazette and Elneny will probably be leaving end of the season and it is unfortunately time to replace them. The difficulty is that we need to get rid of many players on our books in order to complete the rebuilding process. Therefore “The Process” is not yet complete.
When you look at the players that still need to leave, the same players that many Arsenal fans were moaning about, you will realize that it is not easy to just replace them. We need the right calibre of players with the right discipline and age. Given the transfer market it is very difficult to do this all in one season. Therefore “The Process” needs time and patience – and a lot of money that cannot be splashed all at once and recklessly.
Let’s look at some players that will be leaving. Hector Bellerin, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Pablo Mari, Lucas Torreira, Ainsley Maitland – Niles, Matteo Guendouzi, Reiss Nelson, Alex Runarsson, Bernd Leno (all these not good enough to don the Arsenal jersey).
Then there’s Alexandre Lacazette, Mohammed Elneny (although professional were just not good enough, unfortunately they have come to their end), and Eddie Nketiah (who we cannot allow to dictate to management how often he should be played. He still has a lot to prove at this level. He is still young and must be patient.)
Looking at the above list it is clear to see that the manager still has a lot of work to do. Therefore, The Process continues. We Trust The Process!!!
Please note: your opinion is your opinion, it is not everyone’s opinion. We are all entitled to an opinion so let us be respectful and have a healthy debate.
Kind regards
Lloyd Schatz
VIDEO – A great win for the Gunners at Stamford Bridge and Mikel Arteta was in an upbeat mood after the game…