Wenger | Goonerhead

Carl Jenkinson Illustrates Fallacy in Criticism of Arsenal’s Spending

Oct 162012

We know how good Carl Jenkinson has been this season. I won’t bother preaching to the choir. He’s been immense. So good that Sagna could find himself warming the bench when he’s fit. He has exceeded all expectations any fans had of him.

The majority of the fans weren’t convinced at all of his ability. As a 19 year-old kid, he wasn’t good enough or experienced enough to adequately replace the great Bacary Sagna. We needed a new signing desperately. There were rumors, and clamoring for certain names, but ultimately nothing concrete ever developed. The transfer window ended without us signing a right back, and the fans were incensed.

Arsene Wenger didn’t entirely disagree with the fans regarding Jenkinson’s ability. There is some evidence that Wenger was looking to sign a defender, not least the fact that he said he was looking for one. But he also maintained that we weren’t desperate for signings, that he had a good squad and we would only sign if someone “special” was available. He knew that Sagna’s absence would need to be filled, but perhaps he knew something about Jenkinson that we, the fans, didn’t?

It certainly looks that way now. Jenkinson’s done so well that it’s hard to imagine a new 15 million pound signing coming in and doing any better. Now, of course, he hasn’t been perfect, and he will undoubtedly make mistakes and go through spells of bad form, but as a back up right back we couldn’t have asked for more.

So would spending money on a player have done us any good in this case? The argument made against Wenger this summer was that he had money available for once and he didn’t spend it. He was accused of being overly cautious to the detriment of the team. The logic was, we know the team isn’t good enough, so Wenger should spend.

But what if Wenger thought it was? Or that anyone he signed, like an experienced right back, wouldn’t be any better than a youngster gunning for his chance? Maybe he didn’t spend the money because he thought he really didn’t need to, as his team was good enough to challenge as it was.

The whole departure of Song and emergence of Arteta in the DM role is another illustration of this. So is our team’s good start to the season when people expected much worse.

I believe the reality of what happened this summer is that Wenger decided not to spend because he thought the team as it was could challenge for trophies. He trusted the fitness of Diaby and the progress of Wilshere. He could see the improvement in Ramsey, Jenkinson, and Coquelin on the training ground. He saw the different roles that Gervinho and Arteta could play for us and excel in them.

Wenger decided not to spend not so we could save the money and tuck it away in a vault. He decided not to spend because he had an inkling that Jenkinson could be this good. Perhaps the other players who have yet to convince the fans get their chance, they will continue to prove this point.

And if everything does fall apart, there’s always January to make a panic buy or two.

There is Only One God, and His Name is Wenger

Uncategorized No Responses »

Jul 082012

What hurt about van Persie’s statements the most wasn’t that he had decided not to renew his contract, but rather the letter itself, the nature of it, the tone of it.

He said a few years ago that he wanted to win trophies, but win them with Arsenal. Winning them anywhere else wouldn’t satisfy him, because they wouldn’t feel like his trophies. He wanted to win with Arsenal, doing things our way.

So what happened? Only van Persie knows. All we know is that he’s as good as gone now, making his position at the club untenable. And that means Arsene Wenger has now lost another one of his captains.

Wenger makes them into stars, they leave, and Wenger is left to pick up the pieces, clean up the mess. His patience, his loyalty, his hard work, his perseverance, his resilience cannot be questioned. So many managers would have walked out to earn more, to win more, at Real Mad or Barca or even Chelsea. But he’s stayed.

Not that he’s stayed reluctantly, out of only loyalty. No, he enjoys it here at Arsenal. It’s his club, built in his image. But the fact that he stays shows that he cares about more than just money or empty ambition.

He wants to achieve something at Arsenal, but in a meaningful way. Win trophies, but do it the right way, do it while preserving our identity. While Chelsea and Man City won by buying all the best players using their unlimited resources, Arsenal would prove that you could win by coaching, producing your own players, while committing to attacking football. His dream was to create a team that grew up together at the club. And having been empowered by these ideals, went on to conquer Europe.

His biggest failing has been that he was not able to instill those values into his players. Unfortunately, the players couldn’t sacrifice a bit for the greater cause. Instead, as they “grew up,” realized that personal achievements were all that mattered to them. RvP would give up all of his Player of the Year trophies for the FA Cup? I find it hard to believe now.

Maybe Arsene Wenger took his idealism too far, but he had the right idea, and he did almost everything right. If only he was backed long enough by his players. If only Henry, Pires, Campbell had stayed. If only Flamini and Hleb had stayed. If only Cesc, and Nasri, and van Persie had stayed. There would be no limit to what they could have achieved under Arsene Wenger.

But his loyalty hasn’t been reciprocated by the players. He patiently works on them, overlooks their faults, gives them a chance at 16 years old, sticks by them through injuries, and then they say the club isn’t ambitious enough and leave (but of course they’ll “always be gunners”).

So the fans now have to make up for that. We have to stand behind our man no matter what. He is not perfect, but he understands what Arsenal is all about, and he has sacrificed personal glory to achieve something bigger, something more meaningful at Arsenal. He has been the only constant, the only one we can trust is a true gunner. The only one we can worship.

Sunderland – Arsenal FA Cup: Wenger’s Words

Arsenal Blog, Arsenal opinion No Responses »

Feb 182012

If you believe the widespread news reports, Wenger apparently went berserk on the training ground, and let the players know exactly what he thought of their pathetic display against Milan. Wenger’s anger will have reminded them that they are better than what their recent displays suggest. The confidence of this team, since the beginning of the season, has been fragile. This team, despite the obvious weaknesses, has talent, but you would never guess that based on the last two months of football. The Milan loss culminating in what was a very difficult, confidence sapping, period for this Arsenal team.

Wenger’s training ground tirade would have told the players that Arsene Wenger still believes in you. That he expects better from you. We are only disappointed by and get angry at people whom we expect better from. The supporters’ anger can often adversely affect a players’ confidence, because we the fans are not personally connected to the players, nor are we really qualified to judge. Upon hearing jeers from the crowd, the player can explain it away as a misunderstanding, as an unfair attack from a mob. But when your coach, who knows you well, and whom you have respect for as an expert and a teacher, shows anger and disappointment, it can mean nothing else other than the player can do a lot better than he has shown.

I don’t think even for a second that this was Wenger turning on his players. He knows better than to lose patience with the very people that he needs to trust to be successful. No, I think this was Wenger telling the players that the 4-0 scoreline did not do them justice. It was him reminding them that they can do a lot better, and be successful. But they have to start producing results. There can be no excuses, nothing they can hide behind. It really is now or never. Either the players turn their performances around now or face the consequences of a mediocre, embarrassing end to the season, and the prospect of Europa League or no European football altogether.

So I expect the players to respond positively from the 4-0 mauling against Milan. How the match itself will play out doesn’t concern me. We know what to expect from what we saw last week. If Milan has taught me a lesson, it is to not be too optimistic with my predictions. 1-0 to The Arsenal will do for me.

Expected lineup:
Fabianski
Sagna
Djourou
Vermaelen
Gibbs
Coquelin
Arteta
Ramsey
Chamberlain
Chamakh
Gervinho

AC Milan – Arsenal: What Actually Happened and What it All Means

Arsenal Blog, Arsenal opinion No Responses »

Feb 162012

Before the match, Wenger said we would attack, we wouldn’t sit back in our own half, but rather push forward and play in their half of the pitch. The importance of away goals encourages teams to be more audacious, Wenger said, and that’s the approach he would adopt. It was a brave, positive, and appropriate plan. The execution left a lot to be desired.

There was a sign that things wouldn’t quite go as planned when Wenger complained about the quality of the pitch. Then we saw the pictures right before kickoff. To me it looked like Milan had intentionally dug up the wide areas to give themselves an advantage. It is widely known how narrow Milan’s shape is, and it was supposed to be the flanks where Arsenal would get some joy. The state of the surface made sure it wouldn’t happen.

What happened after kickoff we already know, so I will not recreate the massacre. We were never in the game, and Wenger admitted as much. We looked nervous, disorganized, utterly clueless. There is no doubt a lot of effort went into preparing for this match. Wenger places a lot of emphasis on having the right preparation for the match. I’m sure the weaknesses and strengths of the Milan side, and our own team, were discussed, and a cohesive plan drawn out. Unfortunately, the way the match played out, it looked as if we didn’t know what to expect from this match, like we didn’t know what we were doing, like we didn’t belong at this level.

The players and manager have been slaughtered by the fans and media in the aftermath. Many saying this is the worst Arsenal side they’ve seen in decades. They have a point. The players were poor on the night. This team, since the summer loss of Cesc and Nasri, isn’t quite a vintage Arsenal team, or an Arsene Wenger team. This is a team still in transition, a bit short of technical quality needed to compete at the top. But they are not bad enough to lose 4-0 to Milan, they are not bad enough to not even create one clear cut chance, let alone score a goal. And that’s why the defeat hurt so much more. We expected a lot more from these players.

For me, the pitch was a crucial factor. We were set up to attack, to push men forward, and like we usually do, pull defences out of shape with our quick passing and movement. However, the pitch was uneven and cutting up badly, the ball wasn’t traveling fast enough, and it was difficult to control. And that rendered our passing game very ineffective. We were too slow to build up from the back, allowing Milan to get back in numbers and restore their defensive shape. It also meant, crucially, that we gave the ball away cheaply in midfield, often in dangerous positions, and Milan pounced, counter attacking with pace and efficiency.

We needed to adapt better to the conditions. I would have instructed our players to sit deeper, and play on the counter attack. Play some long passes over the top for Walcott to run onto. But Boateng’s early goal made that approach difficult. We were chasing the game , and chasing those very important away goals. The counter attacking approach didn’t make much sense, but in hindsight, it might have worked better. But who would have thought we wouldn’t be able to score? Even a loss with one or two away goals would have been good enough to take back to the Emirates. And that is what bemused Wenger, who said “I believed there would be areas where we would have problems, but I did not think we would not score.”

There was criticism of Wenger’s tactics. Why play Rosicky? It was a good decision, it gave us another midfielder, to better match the four Milan play in the center. There was also criticism of his changes after half time. Wenger decided to switch to 442, playing without proper wingers (Ramsey and Rosicky were on the flanks). I think at that point he had decided that attacking down the flanks was not working, and that our collective game had failed, so he played to his strengths – Henry and van Persie. We decided to rely on their individual quality to create something. However, even their combined genius wasn’t enough to pull us out of the mess we were in.

We are essentially out of the Champions League. We will play for pride in the second leg. I just hope this defeat doesn’t destroy our already fragile confidence, because defeating the Tiny Totts at home is of extreme importance, especially after a result like this. We need to secure our position in the top four, and also prove the doubters wrong who have said all season that the Spurs are the better team. This team is not perfect, but we played nowhere close to our ability against Milan. Now we have to be at our absolute best for the rest of the season if we are to end this season on a high.