A proper bollocking

How does a sporting club collectively lose its confidence?

How do players who are doing the job at the highest level look at themselves and doubt their abilities?

How does a veteran player who has fought to a Champions League final with Monaco, won consecutive league titles with Lyon, and the Copa del Rey in Spain, suddenly appear to be less adept at defending than a teen-aged trialist?

I can’t fathom what is going on at Arsenal now. I have followed this club for a long time and what I’m seeing now is utter nonsense. And I’m going to make a statement about it that I’m sure will rise the ire of anyone who reads it.

This club lacks leadership among the players. Full stop.

Not one player appears to have the ability to grab his fellows and marshal them and demand that they, as a unit, meet a challenge. When Robin chastised Diaby recently, it seemed to shock the world-accountability among the Arsenal players? Heavens. Suddenly, the happy talk and arm around the shoulder culture was torn asunder, and nobody quite knew what to make of it.

Whilst I’ve known a few professional athletes well enough to converse with them, and I’ve known one professional coach well enough to call him friend, I’ve never seen the inner workings of a sporting club. I play cricket on Sundays but it’s nothing that could give me any insight into a “collective psyche” of a group of players. So I don’t feel qualified to comment on what may or may not be happening in the changing room at Arsenal. What I do know is that there is simply no excuse for the meltdown we’ve all witnessed since the Carling Cup final.

This group of players was good enough to go unbeaten in the league for months and to defeat Chelsea, Barcelona, and ManU. Good enough? If they were good enough to do that, why in the world have they become such an abject collective since Birmingham City and that cock-up?

It probably isn’t fashionable to point the finger at the players right now, and I don’t want to give the impression that I’m putting 100% of the blame on them for this season’s collapse, but the players are the ones on the pitch and the players have to make the plays and the players have to hold themselves accountable for their failures.

I don’t even want to go so far as to say that some of them (the planet’s only Brazilian who is crap at football comes to mind) are simply not good enough to play at Arsenal, because it appears to me that what’s lacking is not physical prowess or technical skill, but simply focus and determination. I’ve been moaning about three things that I think have been this edition of Arsenal’s downfall (and they go back several seasons): Silly fouls that give the opponent free kicks in dangerous areas or, worse, penalties; the cheap loss of possession which gives the opponent an easy counter attack or shot on goal; and appearing to simply lose concentration when defending.

The misery of these three flaws? They strike at any time, any place, on any player. They’ve struck Clichy, they’ve struck Kos, they’ve struck our blessed Captain (ah, that brilliant piece of “defending” against Spurs leaps to mind), and all we ever see is regret and never improvement. That’s ridiculous. These are professional footballers making obscene amounts in wages and to repeatedly fail at simple tasks ought to earn them a P45.

I detest Alex Ferguson’s bullying tactics but I know that he would never, ever tolerate the repeated lapses shown by the Arsenal players-I’m confident that he would gladly tear into Cesc if he dared to try that stupid backheel in a ManU strip. Remember, SAF once kicked a boot that lacerated Beckham’s face!

Yet how many players want to be treated in that manner? If Arsène Wenger is willing to give a player consideration and treat him with respect and dignity, then it is 100% incumbent on that player to respond in kind-to take his job seriously, to give maximum effort, and to conduct himself as a professional.

It’s striking that over the past two seasons, Wenger brought in two players down the home stretch that elicited remarks from the younger squad members about their seriousness and professionalism-as though those characteristics were lacking from the side. I don’t know if that’s the case but it seems to me that professionalism means giving the same effort against Sunderland or Newcastle that you give versus Chelsea or Barcelona, so perhaps it’s true. Why is it so remarkable to see players like Sol Campbell or Jens Lehmann play with purpose and pride? Is it because players like Denilson or Diaby don’t?

Wenger’s Arsenal captains-the players’ voice of authority and extension of the manager and his leadership-have gone from being veterans with a serious reputation to being either just the most talented player on the pitch, or for some reason Billy Gallas. Holding his fellows accountable and perhaps being willing to put a boot up an arse or two ought to be his primary responsibility, and I have no idea if Henry, Gallas, and Cesc ever had that willingness. It’s a far cry from the days when Patrick Vieira dueled Royston Keane and led by a ferocious example.

I don’t know how Cesc performs his role as captain. I don’t see him as a shouter or one who’d grab an underperforming teammate by the shirt and tell him to get himself sorted out-but there must be players like that in any squad because the gaffer can only do so much. Taking responsibility for oneself is crucial for any successful organisation. If these players are unwilling to do so, or at least if some of them are unwilling, then they should be shown the door. I think we’ve all demonstrated more than enough patience with some of them. And as for the ones who have demonstrated the commitment and desire to drive the team forward, aren’t they sickened by the passengers?

I suppose that’s the part of the story that I find most incredible-that some players on this team who obviously give their all every time on the pitch haven’t gone handbags on those who don’t. Can Jack Wilshere, who’s run himself to death, stomach the sight of some of his teammates? Can Sagna? Can Robin? It’s beyond all reason that at some point the players don’t look at one another and say, “Here, you-can you possibly stop being a total ponce and put in a decent shift for a change?”

If a player like Wilshere doesn’t feel ready to assert himself in the changing room, then perhaps it’s on the gaffer to invest that sort of player with the authority he needs to do so. Age be damned-if it’s all about the intangible qualities of “desire” and “spirit” and “belief,” then take the player(s) that demonstrate those qualities the most and give them the credibility needed to shout at the ones who need a bollocking. It’s obvious that the supporters shouting at them hasn’t done any good.