Redefining success

It has taken me a little while to take stock of our painfully embarrassing Champions League exit and our humiliating crushing at home to Chelsea, and now, you'll be delighted to know (or not some of you may utter in disgust), that I'm back to offer an objectively stark, yet, somewhat diluted assessment of our season.

Stark in terms of the fact that it is now four years and counting in our never-ending search for some silver, but diluted in that I am not here to bash the board, Wenger, and every player we have under the sun. For this has already been a topic exhausted by many throughout the season, not least by yours truly, this is not a backtracking stance. Indeed, I still believe that many of what was said here, on other websites and forums, and most tellingly, in the stands, and indeed, many of what Wenger's hecklers at the annual Q & A session said, was true, and no one can escape the fact that we are just not quite good enough to compete at the very top. Not just yet anyway, and the manager should of course shoulder a huge chunk of the responsibility.

However, speaking to my dad on the phone after Saturday's spirited 0-0 draw at Old Trafford, home of the eternal Champions (or so it seems), he offered me to consider our situation with a bit more perspective. Injuries to key players in different departments all season long, a poor start to the campaign, and United's huge outlay in terms of resources and experience all played their part in placing United where they are and Arsenal where they are.

After an underwhelmingly poor start to the season, and, despite a constant air of negativity and ire surrounding the club, almost an atmosphere of hate, an unheard of concept amongst Gooners, the team managed to put together a run of 20-odd league games to retain our status amongst the "Big Four", also reaching the last four of the FA Cup and Europe's top competition along the way. If Wenger and his players want kudos for that, then there they have it, congratulations to them on that front.

But it is a flat congratulations, as this is not what we believe we should be aiming for, and whilst Wenger had always stated, and indeed promised, his absolute belief that we can hit the top very soon, I fear that Wenger is just aiming for reaching Europe, with his dire experimentation with some talent (and a lot of mediocrity) a perfect smokescreen. Now, while this is all well and good, and of course, I agree that we have been desperately unlucky to never have a full squad to choose from; in fact, we have always been missing at least two or three key players at any one given moment, it was Wenger who had chosen to gamble by not beefing up the squad with the necessary depth. You might argue that he genuinely thought that our backup was good enough, or heck, he might never have even envisaged that we would be so short at key times of the season.

Whatever he thought, he has to accept that, ultimately, struggling to finish 4th in the table (and it was a struggle, considering how far the top three are from us) is not good enough and that some players have not improved as they should have despite being given a more than fair crack of the whip.

Which is why this summer is Wenger's biggest of his Arsenal reign. Losing Flamini and Gilberto Silva last summer stank of a lack of forethought and insight by the manager, and indeed the paymasters up at boardroom level, the wrenching odour of which has been painfully dominant all season. With every Tom, Dick and Harry acknowledging that our spine is just about as weak (if not weaker) as an old granny with brittle bones, the manager will surely, surely, have recognised the desperate need for quality in defence and central midfield.

This also comes on the back of the aforementioned Q & A session held on Thursday night, with an open floor greeting Le Boss with apparently muted applause, before, of course, Wenger was hit by missiles left, right and centre by clearly frustrated shareholders. Talk of shipping Adebayor, players lacking fight, the "unreliable geriatric" that is Silvestre, and questioning the manager's tactical nous and transfer policy were all on a spicy menu, issues which involved heated exchanges between manager and fans. Incidentally, the guy who said that about good (or not so good) old Mikaël deserves a medal, though Wenger was clearly upset by the comment, probably more a reflection of his own advancing years (without sounding too ageist), as I would struggle to think that Wenger still thinks much of Silvestre after having seen him "play" this season.

And, although Wenger is obviously an incredibly intelligent man, not just for what he has done for the Club in yesteryear, but in the way he has deflected all current criticism of his players onto himself, knowing full well that experience and quality reinforcements are needed, his true test of what HE sees as success lie ahead in the summer, addressing the weaknesses that everybody up and down the country has talked about. Now I do not personally know who his targets are, and indeed, I try to make a point of not mentioning any names, as they usually turn out to be fantasies, the kind of fantasies that any supporter embraces, but, if the figures quoted by the ever-so (un)reliable Daily Mail of a miserly £13 million war chest are true, I can only fear another summer of the arrival of unknown 17-year-old Afro-French "aces".

Not that there is anything wrong with that. Actually, there is everything wrong with that, as now is the time to redefine our targets, redefine our future, and redefine our success. The 0-0 draw at Manchester United will have only been an incredibly short-term pain relief, the sort of relief that Wenger had used to retreat to his comfort zone before. But the fans have all woken up now, and Wenger must surely act on that and stop messing about with weak youngsters and fancy formations.

As the players trudged off the Theatre of Dreams pitch following the stalemate that ensured United's near-domination of this decade as well as the 1990s, I wonder what they were thinking. Well, since I cannot read their minds and indeed they looked happy enough embracing their United counterparts congratulating them for yet another title success, I can tell you what I thought - sickening. Green with envy as I watched the screen, listening to anybody who is anybody pouring lavish praise onto Ferguson and his troops.

It was meant to be us who would take the 2000s by storm remember, after our "invincible" season? So, is dad right in taking this season's "failures" with a pinch of salt and looking ahead to the next? Possibly. And is Wenger the man to lead us out in August, despite four years of firing blanks? Probably.

Whatever happened this season, I just hope that my assessment inspired from "me old man" was not just Wenger pulling wool over our eyes with his Mohammed Said Al-Sahhaf-like spin, and that he will answer his critics with some proper business over the summer.

So, is there room for some real success next term? That is a most definite yes. And with that, I leave with you the modern-day Gooner's favourite term, a term of foolhardy optimism - next year for sure!

User Comments

Uzo

Posted on 23 May, 2009 at 04:27 PM - Reply

I totally agree with your assessment of the team's dismal performance this season. However there's something that has disturbed me through-out season. I watch Arsenal play as well as the other top three teams in a viewing centre with the boys. Whenever a substitution is to be made by the managers of the top three teams there is an 80% chance that we would predict who would go out and who would come in (as substitute). However in the last season and this season, especially in big matches, Arsenal fans can rarely say they read the game, thought that a particular player was under-performing and expect to see that player substituted. Instead, a player performing better would be substituted while the under-performer left on. I would like to ask: does that question the philosophy of AW? One player that regularly under-performed but remained in the game for too long is Abou Diaby. I stand to be corrected.

Tashib

Posted on 19 May, 2009 at 09:39 PM - Reply

Very good and valid points made. This summer is gonna be immense!

goonies99

Posted on 18 May, 2009 at 10:42 PM - Reply

1Not your fan

Posted on 17 May, 2009 at 10:38 AM - Reply
I'm disgusted by many of your comments to be honest.

You sound like you really want Wenger...............................................

This isnt an attack, but pls re-read the article!

isaac

Posted on 18 May, 2009 at 06:40 PM - Reply

by now am sure wenger knows who to replace,and he knows mistakes he as done..we fans supposed to support him come next season..honestly he as tried his best, we reached semis in 2 main events and finished fourth in leagues standings, let us give him space and support.

Nyingmeh

Posted on 18 May, 2009 at 10:41 AM - Reply

Excellent write. Wenger needs to find the right balance, talent is good, but it is the blend of talent, experience and the depth of the squad that wins the championship. I don't really care about Champions League or other cups because it's most often than not based on luck. We could have easily won both CL and FA CUP and as easily been kicked out as we did but to win the league you need bone in your flesh and red marrow in the bone itself. Liverpool have been fine this season, loosing ONLY 2 games and yet no championship. We need more experience - a few super stars ( one huge huge name will do really ) and a lot of very experienced players who will understand that they are here to play and O'shea role. Content to be on the bench, but efficient when called upon. that's what we meed in my opinion. We have most of what it takes, yet we need all it takes and we are quite a distance from that point in time.

Your Dad

Posted on 17 May, 2009 at 11:47 PM - Reply

Good article. As I said to you befe and considering all the circumstanes, I believe that 4th place is a good outcome considering selling key players last summer & regularly loosing key players to injuries & the so called stars like Adebayor, regularly under-performing. Whilst we do not have the sied deth to compete at the top level, and United can fall back on players like Giggs, Scholes, Berbatov, O'Shea etc on the bench who can come on at difficult times & turn games around, or when other players aren't performing. Crucially, I think that Wenger's attitude by not inflating the market by over- spending on transfer fees & wages is generally good for the sport, however to be able to compete more at a higher level, and to go for trophies we have now seen that Wenger must ccompromise & spend on buying experienced players to reinforce all central areas of the pitch, particularly defence and midfield. With these difficult times and with Wenger acknowledging the importance of experience, no one should doubt that he is the best man to lead us, has done so brilliantly for over a decade!

delboy

Posted on 17 May, 2009 at 07:03 PM - Reply

Good man azzer, finish off with some optimism, you should listen to your dad more. Good article by the way!

Disillisioned Gooner

Posted on 17 May, 2009 at 02:56 PM - Reply

Nice one. If AW can ignore his ego and add strength where it is glaring that we are weak, then we will have a shot at the title next season

Not your fan

Posted on 17 May, 2009 at 10:38 AM - Reply

I'm disgusted by many of your comments to be honest.

You sound like you really want Wenger to leave and I ask you this, who would you replace him with if he does?

To me, there's not many better than Wenger in the business and considering our feeble resources, we haven't done too terrible.

Liverpool, supposedly the most successful team in England (until yesterday) has gone 3 seasons without winning, just 1 less than us, and they don't seem to get as much negativity.

It figures huh, with fans as unsupportive as some of you?

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