What ingredients does Wenger need for another Arsenal revolution?

I don't believe all negativity about Arsenal being in some major unrecoverable free-fall or that Wenger may have become a liability. Arsenal's problems, in my view, are much simpler than that. It is true that Wenger's stubbornness is part of the problem but it is even more true that Wenger is a most important part of the solution.

In my view, Wenger's biggest challenge right now (part of the solution) is keeping the important members of the team for next season even if Arsenal finishes below fourth place. I will come back to this point – who is important and who isn't should not be taken at face value.

The second challenge is finishing fourth. The top two are interlinked because if a player doesn't know he will be here next year or is planning to leave, then he doesn't care where we finish. Then there is the third challenge of coping with football as it is NOW not the dream of what it can be.

If I was on the Arsenal board, I would list my priorities to the manager in that order. Wenger has been used to giving targets to the board about his ambitions. The stadium he wanted, the training ground he wanted and the players he wanted. Now it's time for him and his team to get some targets from the board and the fans.

It is true that Arsène has been leading a revolution in football. But that revolution was over and another one started without Arsenal being party to it. Arsenal continued to believe they were leading a revolution and now they are being overtaken by the next revolution.

Before we go any further, let's make a few facts clear. Arsène Wenger is Arsenal's most successful manager of all time and is one the Premiership's most successful managers.

He's been manager of the year 3 times and his team has competed in the league for top or second place or been in major final every single year since he joined Arsenal apart from this year (if you discount the Carling Cup final). We are not talking about some dumb cowboy here, we are talking about one of the best coaches in the world.

In 1996 Wenger came to Arsenal and started his revolution – or at least had a place where his revolution could be put on the world stage. His revolution was based on movement, pace and good technique. It was one of the first football philosophies that ignored the opposition in game planning. It is based on the controversial view that if you play better, you will win.

Youth became very important in this philosophy. Youth offered pace and a blank canvas to teach the new skills and mentality required for this kind of game. The evidence from the players whose careers started with and continued with this philosophy shows that it can produce great players. Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Freddie Ljungberg and Lauren are the players that I know grew up almost exclusively under Wenger. They have all been world class players at various points but they have not had great longevity. Youth is crucial in Wenger's game and it perhaps no surprise that Wenger has a great reluctance to buying experienced players.

By 1998, Wenger had won the league and the FA Cup. By 1998, many managers in Europe and England were copying elements of Arsène's philosophy. In 1998, France won the World Cup with an Arsenal format and by 1999 midfielders that tackled and passed in successive moves had become the most expensive players in the world (overtaking strikers).

Manchester United bought Juan Veron in 2001 as Alex Ferguson himself wanted to build an Arsenal and all midfielders that looked half decent in the late 90s to early noughties like Djemba-Djemba, Salif Diao, Aliou Cisse were over-hyped and ended up in the Premiership.

That was the revolution that Wenger started but there were already signs that teams were going to react defensively if they could not afford to buy the talent to do it offensively. It's the Ying Yang that exists in every system.

The Italians and the Spanish realised the importance of disrupting the midfield game without being sent off knowing that in a counter-attacking system, all you need to do is to cause a one-second delay and the move is off. A nudge on Vieira delays the ball – it is a foul but it is not enough to get you even a yellow – but there will be no Arsenal counter-attack. The Italians had a long tradition of this in their football and it was deployed successfully against Arsenal by Spanish and Italian opponents in the Champions League.

As the offensive revolution got stronger in Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal and even at Manchester United, the defensive compact revolution – the reaction – got stronger too in order to cope. By 2003, Porto had won the Champions League. In 2004 Liverpool had reached the Champions League final through the same defensive discipline and won it (mainly through Milan complacency and nothing-to-lose attacking).

In 2004, Greece Won the European Championship by keeping-it-tight. The defensive fight back had taken the upper hand. Arsenal won the league for the last time in 2004. The next season, Arsenal were to find teams that were much wiser to pace and movement and Arsenal has not managed to find an answer yet. Neither has Barcelona or Real Madrid.

In the last 8 of the Champions League this year, only Manchester United and Valencia seem to have an inherently attacking format – and not even to the degree that Barcelona has for example. In the Premiership, attack-minded teams like Fulham, Manchester United, Arsenal, West Ham and Reading are not impressively represented in the table. By attack-minded teams, I mean managers who will play 2 strikers and who will try to score from open play from the first minute and will still try to pass the ball at 2-0 down.

Manchester United provides an interesting lesson for Arsenal. They are a full-out attacking team that has a good defence and a good midfield – even though neither their defence nor midfield are an exception in any way. Manchester United do not have a Makelele-type player but they have compensated for that by attacking with the full complement of the team on every opportunity.

The lesson that Manchester United provides is that if you are going to play attacking football, you must have:

1. All six players in front of the defence and even the wing backs have to be excellent on the ball. You have one sloppy trainee there and counter attacks will breakdown.
2. You must have absolute commitment and fighting spirit. Your advantage comes from winning the ball and moving it very quickly so you must fight to win it and fight to bulldoze your way through after winning it.
3. You must have two or more special players. A special player is either one that is gifted and committed or one that is always committed and leads the team in commitment. You need two so they can generate momentum and support from each other and drag the team along.
4. And most importantly, you must find a way to get the first goal by fair, foul, clean, artistic, dirty, earned or opportunistic means. Your advantage comes from exposing teams who are attacking you. To make them attack you must get a goal so they feel obliged to equalise. Without a means of getting the first goal, you are dead!

In all the four areas above, Arsenal are deficient. We have weak links in the six players in midfield and attack. We have little or no fighting spirit; we have special players but they are not always committed. We have no way of guaranteeing a first goal.

Back to the four targets for the team that I mentioned earlier.

First we must keep the important players in the team for next season. Who is important? Well being a fantastically gifted footballer doesn't make you important. All our midfielders are special but they are all central players. It may hurt to see one of them go but the goal is to have a balanced team, not a collection of great players.

It's no good having someone who can be that special player in the middle but can only be average player on the wings. If you play them on the wings, all you get is an average player on the wing at huge cost. We need players that are as committed as Freddie Ljungberg with the skill of Francesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky, Alexander Hleb or Henry. And Wenger must stop trying to convert every player to another position. It works with young players but not with 24-year-olds.

I have no problem with the youth policy but we need to have the right players, not just the most talented. If we have too many in one position we should trade for the positions we miss. We also need players who can hold their confidence longer. Youth fails in this category so you need special ways to keep confidence up and have a good leader on the pitch. I am convinced that a lot of Arsenal's problems now are due to confidence also.

The second target is finishing fourth. I don't know how Wenger is going to do it but I know it cannot happen without a little more fire, trust and commitment. Trust is important.

Dennis Bergkamp used to assume that Vieira will win a tackle and got himself there waiting for a pass. He trusted Vieira. Henry, Robért Píres and Ljungberg used to make a run as soon as they saw a ball going to Bergkamp. They trusted him to find them.

I watch David Villa and David Silva making countless moves off the ball in the Valencia team based on trust alone. Commitment will only come if those players know they have to stay next season and that next season will be decided by how well they finish now.

The last is getting real about football now. That is a long term exercise. Wenger needs time to plan this. We know our football works when we have the right people in the right places. But without that we need to still be able to win. Injuries and suspensions happen and we must learn to cope with it.

We need good fortune and realism to finish fourth.

In summary, the news is good. Our football can work but it only works with the right ingredients and all we have to do is get the right ingredients back – movement, trust, commitment and use of our talents. We can see it working for Manchester United who have played similar to us this season – probably to accommodate Ronaldo.

They may not win the league but they have done well. Because these ingredients have been there before at Arsenal, we must assume that Wenger can get them again, it's not like asking a manager who has never done it before to come up with it. Wenger has done it for many years and he should be able to do it again and add something to give us more resilience.

User Comments

Saad

Posted on 13 Apr, 2007 at 10:47 PM - Reply

Great, Intelligent Article.

aabbs

Posted on 13 Apr, 2007 at 04:40 PM - Reply

interesting article,i agree wiv some points u make, but ultimately, believe me, if we had tucked away half the chances we had this season, we'd be comfortably 3rd, maybe even challenging for the league.
We need an out and out goal scorer, someone like peter crouch, someone who'll punt it, arse it or do whatever ,however ugly it looks just to get the ball in the net.
We miss henry, Van persie ofcoarse, but even with them players playing wev drawn and lost games we should have won comfortably, i think if it was up2 Arsene he would splash out on some experianced players, but i think the Arsenal board have alot to answer for on that front. i have faith that Arsene will make us a force not only domestically, but also in europe. Lets all hope we come good against bolton, its looking dodgy!!!

Sofia

Posted on 13 Apr, 2007 at 03:48 PM - Reply

I would like to remind Rombosia that the unbeaten team DID have fighting spirit and so did previous teams.

In many past seasons, Arsenal were often described as indisciplined, dirty etc. Do you remember those days? Do you remember Arsenal picking up more red cards than most teams in one season? Do you remember Arsenal winning with 10 men on the pitch just about everytime they lost a player to the extent that the half time odds did not change even when we had a player sent off?

That my friend, was fighting spirit. Fighting is not just about getting booked and making rash tackles. It is about never giving up and keep thinking you will win even when you are not on top and even when you are fewer.

On the wingers debate, it's not that Arsenal need winger, it's just that they need someone who can get behind defenders - call it whatever you want.

Rain Dance

Posted on 13 Apr, 2007 at 11:35 AM - Reply

I think ,we need a goal getter more than wingers. In some games we made over 55% ball possession, a dozen of CK, a dozen shots But no goals because no one to finish the final ball. I miss RVP shooting, and Henry's (last 2 seasons he is lacking it, though). We need a striker who doesn't care too much about passing and just shoot.
Arsenal really misses these two

Tall

Posted on 12 Apr, 2007 at 09:02 PM - Reply

You've hitted the nail on the head!

Brilliant article.

Swarnadeep

Posted on 12 Apr, 2007 at 05:36 PM - Reply

=>It is said that ROSICKY and HLEb are world class midfiels players but average on the wings. I think that it is totally a misconception. How many times had PIRES PLATT or OVERMARS has made those huge runs on the flangs to cross the ball to WRIGHT, BERGHKAMP or HENRY ? And how many times had our strikers headed the balls in the net? Well, the answer is pretty simple---hardly any! Arsenal's style of playing is quite different from the orthodox English clubs, who have special players for that purposes only. ( i.e ronaldo, giggs for MAN UTD. ; robben and SWP for CHELSEA). But in case of Arsenal.......these players link woth the strikers and thye central midfield players, instead of going wide. That's how we play and that's why we look so attractive.
=>Another vital thing that I think what is missing from the above article is the amount of injuries that Arsenal players had to suffer. The reason why we are not scoring enough goals is simply because we are missing two first team strikers. Still, I think that Adebayor is not fit to be in Arsenal. His work rate is fantastic, has a great energy level and plyas with great commitement. But he lacks the final quality. Anyway this season we did not have half of the squad due to injury. Only Fabregas, Lehmann, Toure and Clichy have been without any serious injuries.
Compare this with Man UTD. Simply noone.
Or Chelsea or Liverpool. But now Vidic is gone for MAN UTD and they are letting in goals and we
all know what happened to Chelsea when John Terry had an injury. In spite of this we are still in fourth and Liverpool, although has'nt had any injuries has struggled.

Rombosia

Posted on 12 Apr, 2007 at 01:59 PM - Reply

As usual, lots of words but just trying to show how much soccer U have watched. I have watched the unbeaten season DVD. We really didn't have that gang ho, fighting attitude we seem to look for, all we had and what we lack now, is two things: (1) Our finishing is awful. We need to be able to finish the chances the mid-field creates. Whether you get wingers or not, as long as whatever is delivered isn't converted, it all a waste of energy. (2) We need to defend better, especially on set-pieces. The foundation of counter attack football is that you must have someone lurking just outside the 18 to initiate the counter. Currently our defence on set pieces is so bad, everyone is in the box doing nothing great.

I know this is controvercial, but I think signing Gallas was detrimental to our defensive set-up. Yes he's a great defender, but he doesn't compliment Kolo. The Kolo-Campbell combo was great. I think from the last part of last season, we had seen the Kolo_Senderos combo jelling and we conceded very few goals, allowing us to reach champs league final and secure 4th spot. Now when Senderos makes a small blunder n we concede (To Drogba only!) we bay for his blood coz we have Gallas. In reality, we have conceded more goals when Kolo n Gallas play together than at any other time. We need to look at that.

THe team doesn't have many faults. The major one is WE MUST SCORE GOALS!! And if we can't score them, we must DEFEND BETTER!

I believe we need to get rid of Lehmann and get a goalie that commands the defence on set pieces and crosses the way Cech and VAn Der Saar do it. THat will stop teams relying on that to beat us. At the moment, Lehmann is very very poor with those, and thats where we've conceded most goals!

Seye Bassir

Posted on 12 Apr, 2007 at 01:35 PM - Reply

Nonsense!

It takes every team time to transition. Arsenal were seriously hampered by injuries. It is to the credit of the team that we're even in the Top 4. If we didn't have quality we'd be like Newcastle in neverland. Arsenal has been extremely unlucky with injuries...you can't lose Henry, Van Piersie, Ljungberg, Gallas for the most crucial parts of the season and it won
't affect you. Chelsea's season almost unravelled just for losing Terry.

The philosophy is not the problem.

I agree that some of the Midfield players have failed us. Fabregas has not scored nor has Hleb, Rosicky and Ljungberg. That, and injury is the problem.

I just have no doubt that this team will do well. They're too good and player for player we do have the best squad.

navz

Posted on 12 Apr, 2007 at 12:10 PM - Reply

i think its time wenger started buying mature players cuz we have alot of youth.lets get real..we need players,commitment and fighting spirit

Danish

Posted on 12 Apr, 2007 at 03:41 AM - Reply

Great Assessment, and we need wingers with pace to stretch the rock solid 10 player defence

Chetan

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 10:31 PM - Reply

Fantastic atricle mate, only wish Wenger could have a read.

I agree with every point you mentioned, especially the fact about finding right players for right positions, i.e. you can be a world class central midfielder, but average winger, whats the use of playing the player as a winger.
Once more, great article

vik

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 10:26 PM - Reply

Nice article, finishing fourth is a short term goal while achieving the football and the four ingredients is a long term ..... i believe the team had all the four ingredients even when they didn't score first vs ManU at emirates .... if there are no injuries and we get a full pre season ... all the players will gel and we can achieve great heights .... if it is just chopping and churning then count another year or two for the new plaers to gel and we will be at the same place as we are now at the end of next season

MJL

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 09:44 PM - Reply

Excellent article mate!

The One

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 09:44 PM - Reply

You're right; we don't have one true winger. Hleb is one of our most technically skilled players but when he’s on the wing he doesn’t get behind defences enough for my liking. Our left flank used to get us so many goals, I wish Reyes would return. Even though he's a softy he is fast and skilful, also he’s left footed like left-wingers should be (sorry Pires). I feel you can get away with having a right footed winger on the left in the premiership but in Europe good teams find it easier to defend against, just my opinion. We really need pace on one of our flanks if we hope to win the Premiership (both would be nice), I’m sure Wengers got someone up his sleeve, maybe Ribery, who knows.

ben dunne

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 09:14 PM - Reply

interesting article it makes you think about would could happen with the youngsters of arsenal. you should have a poll of who arsene should sign to make the impact we need in the prem. my first would be Ribery and second, nonda cause he is the strength we need up front to really get into a tackle and win balls. but really if you want a stack of hits on your site you should do a poll

Ferret

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 07:17 PM - Reply

Two words. Fernando Torres. All the chances we need to take three points week in week out are there and have been all season long - supply isn't the problem.

We just need a ruthless striker who will think to shoot before thinking of yet another pass - and for me, that ruthless striker is Fernando Torres - the perfect partner for Thierry.

An alternative to Torres is David Villa.

utkarsh86

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 06:57 PM - Reply

first of all mate the problem is that we dont have a good enough squad its big enough but not enough quality or proven players as reserves flamini wont get into any teams 11 the top 4 i mean baptista has faded in the last 2 years from sevilla walcott is unproven at 17 to young and inconsistent to be playing every week ljunberg is fading though i see signs of revival plus u have 3 playmakers and a holding player in the mid field so where are the runs gonna come from hleb rosicky fabregas are used to creating not going and making runs and finishing the play thats why the 4-5-1 worked as u had reyes ljunberg or pires who make runs and try and finish .

the defence is weak senderos has proved he will get exposed against strong players (drogba) or fast players (bellamy) so like other teams its time we get 3 if not 4 high quality centre backs all close to each other in terms of Quality which at the moment senderos is not close to either gallas or toure nor is djorou thats where the problem lies according to me

the youth thing is all fine but it doesnt help if theres a gap in the quality between the players

would u replace flamini with gilberto no because there is a big gulf in the class but 3 years back u would have replaced edu with gilberto and to an extent viera because edu though 3rd choice was very good
the problem now is quality mate nothing else

Dirty Turkey

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 06:48 PM - Reply

What a great article - looking at things factually, but with the hope that we all have. Well done !

Shmoo

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 05:26 PM - Reply

One fo the most stimulating and constructive articles I have read about Arsenal. Thanks

h2dude69

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 04:44 PM - Reply

I hope our dear old manager reads all of this and takes it into account....We can talk all we want but in the end it is he who's gonna make all the decisions and we're gonna be the ones to mourn once Arsenal loses..

Olaf Brinkmann

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 04:31 PM - Reply

A fantatsic article. Well well written and I concur with all you have said.

osagie

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 03:28 PM - Reply

I think you are over analyzing this thing, what we lack this season is penetration down the wing. If Wenger can sign a good winger that can do what Pires and Overmars did for us we will start winning.

ronin09

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 02:39 PM - Reply

interesting article, some points i agree with, some i dont. i dont think we need a revolution. i think our problems stem from three things, defensive tactics, experience and finishing

defensively we have good enough players but its almost like we have the attitude of 'it doesn't matter if we concede one, we'll score two' . the problem comes when you create ten clear cut chances and cant score one. Man U scored from almost every chance they had last night, and its not that they played better football than us, they will just take the chances they create whereas we wont. this is a problem i have seen previous arsenal teams have and hopefully as it was before, will be rectified. Arsenal have never had the same kind of figting spirit that Man U have, and i dont know wether it comes down to an ability that is instilled by the manager, or wether its a british mentality that is lacked in foreign players, though i doubt it is the latter. but having watched every game this season fighting spirit was not the main reason why we didnt win, it was simply not converting chances into goals if we played players such as rosicky and hleb in there rightful positions we may have created more chances, but that counts for nothing if we dont take them. We at Arsenal have been spoilt with the success we've had and we have Wenger to thank for that. rightfully, by the resources we have, we are in our righful position, and yet we are on the verge of seeing another great Arsenal team, be patient, Arsene knows!

aj

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 02:31 PM - Reply

Excellent piece. Spot on.

Farry

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 02:13 PM - Reply

If ever there was a player that I would like to see leave Arsenal FC at the end of the season, it would have to be Eboue!

Yes, he has provided goals for Arsenal and been decent at the back, but if someone doesn't get his over flated head back to normal, he is going to loose it for the team.

The newcastle match - he almost caused more trouble. Why let Flamini go?

samantha

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 01:31 PM - Reply

Wow, brilliant article. Agree with just about everything you said. Good to know there are SOME fans who still keep faith

clockendjim

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 01:20 PM - Reply

What a great article. It encapsulates all that most of us know in our hearts what is required to turn Arsenal into a winning team, but are not quite able to put it into the words as you have so accurately accomplished.
Reading other Gooners comments on this and other sites, most are roughly in agreement about the present setup's shortcomings. They are so patently obvious eg no width from the wings, no goalscoring players when Henry and Van Persie are not playing, the increasing falibility of Lehmann etc etc.
I believe that what is causing the fan's frustration is Arsene Wenger's seeming inability to recognise what needs to be done. I cannot believe that such an intelligent manager can think we are one step away from a Championship winning side with all the current weak areas in the team.
If he really believes this and that we do not need to make any significant signings, then we are really in trouble. I suspect that the true situation is that he is being constrained by the board not to spend money. The long term consequences of this would be disastrous, not only from a footballing aspect but from a financial one also. If this team starts next season the way they are playing just now, then filling that beautiful 60000 seater stadium may not be as automatic as it is now.
Some fans seem to think that any criticism of Wenger/Arsenal is tantamount to treason. However to be struggling to finish FOURTH for the second season running is not the pinnacle Arsenal should be aiming for and supporters that care like myself want to see this addressed. Don't forget if Platini has his way, only third will guarantee you a CL place soon.
The infrastructure is now in place to be the greatest team in England once more - let's not let it slip away.

JMH

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 01:16 PM - Reply

A good piece. Thoughtful and thought-provoking. I agree particularly with the singling out of DB. We miss his blend of skill and intelligence. I think perhaps it glosses over some weaknesses too - you can't play one touch, fast football with people like Baptista who has a dreadful first touch. I'm not sure that the end isn't too bullish too (but I hope not!)

Gooner JayJay

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 01:15 PM - Reply

Thank you, informative, honest and yet positive....

Great writing...

Aussie Gooner

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 12:15 PM - Reply

It may be controversial, but I think one of the biggest differences between the Arsenal of old which won the league and FA cups under Wenger and the current squad, is the structure of the midfield.

Wenger currently has three play makers in Fabregas, Hleb and Rosicky in midfield, backed by Gilberto. The successful Arsenal sides were based on two wingers and TWO defensive midfielders, allowing an attacking approach, whilst keeping it safe at the back.

Because Fabregas has become such an important part of our side, we can't return to that formation, but I'm a big fan of getting in some wingers to provide a few good crosses and get Arsenal back to scoring some important goals through counter attacking football.

Whilst Ribery may not be a major benefit in terms of scoring goals, he may be beneficial in providing assists. I'd prefer to see Ribery and Reyes on the wings, Van Persie and Henry up front and Gilberto and Fabregas in the center. What to do with Rosisky and Hleb is interesting, you could rotate them with Fabregas, Ribery and Reyes. I'd sell Ljungberg, and convert Denilson into a more defensive midfielder.

In regards to striking ability, I'm not a huge fan of Adebeyor, sure, he's scored some good goals, but I don't think he scores enough goals with his head for a skriker of his size. Bendtner has scored a few with his head, and he may be a good replacement.

I think we've got a good central defence with Toure and Gallas, although there are some question marks over the wing backs, particularly the defensive ability of Eboue. I don't think we need to replace them, because a) they're still learning and b) we don't have the cash to purchase wing backs, who are debatably the least important players in the side.

Finally, in the goal keeping department, if Lehmann doesn't stay, I'd like to see us go after Akinfeev, he's still very young, 21 has proven his ability (he's been the Russian no. 1 for a couple of years now), and will provide either a good first choice keeper or good competition for Aluminia.

What do others think?

Eddy

Posted on 11 Apr, 2007 at 12:12 PM - Reply

Good article although I don't agree with your view that Valencia are a attacking team.

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