What is the biggest mistake the club made that has put us in our current situation?

[Rex Stone]

One thing I always admired about the Ferguson era was how much he delegated to his assistant managers.

That meant if he stayed for 20 odd years to keep it fresh he’d need to constantly refresh the coaching staff around him.

In many sports, great coaches from Larry Bird to Bella Guttmann have talked about the rule of three. Basically either a team or coaching needs to be refreshed every three years or the messages become stale and less impactful.

If Wenger was to stay as long as he did to constantly compete we’d need a much greater turnover of staff which never happened. He was loyal to those around him which while admirable may have been his Achilles heel.

 

[GDeep™]

Enjoyed watching these during the lockdown for a little time pass. Anyway, from 30 min onwards his echoing what I have been posting on here for years.

 

[Toby]

If Wenger was to stay as long as he did to constantly compete we’d need a much greater turnover of staff which never happened. He was loyal to those around him which while admirable may have been his Achilles heel.

I'm pretty sure that's ultimately the main reason for Wenger's "decline".

E.g. not sure Zeljko Buvac's and Klopp's divorce was as much about a private situation as it was reported back then. Buvac was instantly linked to teams as manager and now is the DoF at Dynamo Moscow. The separation kind of coincides with that slight change of Liverpool's style away from that all-out-Klopp/Buvac-gegenpressing to a slightly more controlled and possession oriented style which greatly benefitted Liverpool in the league.

 

[Dutch D]

There are many mistakes mentioned in this thread that are all true:
- Wenger staying on too long
- Poor recruitment (particularly the 15/16 and 16/17 seasons, 17/18 in hindsight aside from Auba)
- Inability to sell players for serious fees (while Liverpool and Chelsea would keep netting €10-20m for bums)
- Letting good players run down contracts
- Appointing Emery (in hindsight), although I was positive about the appointment at that moment
- We always seem to be behind our rivals when it comes to commercial deals. Everytime we announce a big bump to our previous contract, other times announce significantly larger deals and new streams of revenue we haven't even touched.

However, I think the biggest problem was/is that there wasn't a proper philosophy and structure in place on a higher level than the coach. Wenger 'was' Arsenal.

A proper structure could've tackled recruitment and contract issues, as well as covered the inevitable Wenger departure. We should've started putting together a good board structure well in advance of Wenger leaving.

I'm afraid Raul's 'agent strategy' won't help us recover. That's not a philosophy at all.

 

[dashsnow17]

There are many mistakes mentioned in this thread that are all true:
- Wenger staying on too long
- Poor recruitment (particularly the 15/16 and 16/17 seasons, 17/18 in hindsight aside from Auba)
- Inability to sell players for serious fees (while Liverpool and Chelsea would keep netting €10-20m for bums)
- Letting good players run down contracts
- Appointing Emery (in hindsight), although I was positive about the appointment at that moment
- We always seem to be behind our rivals when it comes to commercial deals. Everytime we announce a big bump to our previous contract, other times announce significantly larger deals and new streams of revenue we haven't even touched.

However, I think the biggest problem was/is that there wasn't a proper philosophy and structure in place on a higher level than the coach. Wenger 'was' Arsenal.

A proper structure could've tackled recruitment and contract issues, as well as covered the inevitable Wenger departure. We should've started putting together a good board structure well in advance of Wenger leaving.

I'm afraid Raul's 'agent strategy' won't help us recover. That's not a philosophy at all.

All those mistakes broadly fall into one overarching mistake, which isn't really a mistake, but a fatal flaw - which is a real lack of direction and ambition from the top down. Everything basically stems from that in one way or another.

 

[Oxeki]

A very interesting thread on Ivan's tenure here

 

[GDeep™]

The biggest mistake was selling the club to Kroenke. A non footballing man, a non competitive man in terms of Arsenal etc.

The fans and the club are now working to bolster his portfolio.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

A very interesting thread on Ivan's tenure here

We did not do well on the commercial side under Ivan of things just for a starter. We were always multiple steps behind the clubs we compared us with.

And Raul and Hushy the best in business. We have regressed massively under them.

I can't agree with these points.

The other pints are good. Most negative which is what Ivans tenure here was all about. I still think there should be an investigation if he was working for City to take us down or something like that.

 

[Oxeki]

We did not do well on the commercial side under Ivan of things just for a starter. We were always multiple steps behind the clubs we compared us with.

And Raul and Hushy the best in business. We have regressed massively under them.

I can't agree with these points.

The other pints are good. Most negative which is what Ivans tenure here was all about. I still think there should be an investigation if he was working for City to take us down or something like that.

Why will Ivan be working for City?

City don't even see us as threat.

I'm surprised you haven't fingered Laca and Luiz as Sp**s agent

 

[Oxeki]

The biggest mistake was selling the club to Kroenke. A non footballing man, a non competitive man in terms of Arsenal etc.

The fans and the club are now working to bolster his portfolio.

How many Club owners are football men?

Kroenke is not Arsenal's problem. We had bad people in charge of decision that's what killed us

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Why will Ivan be working for City?

City don't even see us as threat.

I'm surprised you haven't fingered Laca and Luiz as Sp**s agent

Forgot you are fan of Ivan. Never mind.

 

[Oxeki]

Forgot you are fan of Ivan. Never mind.

Couldn't be farther from the truth.

I'm his number one enemy on here. Your mate @GDeep™ can attest to that

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

Kroenke forcing Dein out of the club, lost our direction and ambition then, as well as a load of links and experience at the top level.

 

[Oxeki]

Kroenke forcing Dein out of the club, lost our direction and ambition then, as well as a load of links and experience at the top level.

Didn't force Dein out. Dein sold out. Grabbed the cash and ran off. Dein sold his share to Usmanov.

What's Dein got to do with this?

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

Didn't force Dein out. Dein sold out. Grabbed the cash and ran off. Dein sold his share to Usmanov.

What's Dein got to do with this?

It was the biggest mistake the club made, if you didnt think he was forced out, then not keeping him? Read the hypocrisy here for yourself

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal... Dein, a director and,he had chosen to resign.

Edit for adding link

 

[Oxeki]

It was the biggest mistake the club made, if you didnt think he was forced out, then not keeping him? Read the hypocrisy here for yourself

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal... Dein, a director and,he had chosen to resign.

Edit for adding link

It was his idea to bring in Kroenke. The test of the board was against the move.

He was always an advocate that Arsenal should seek am external financier which the other board members disagreed with

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

It was his idea to bring in Kroenke. The test of the board was against the move.

He was always an advocate that Arsenal should seek am external financier which the other board members disagreed with

Yeah, it was a mistake to bring in Kroenke but i think with the money we have actually spent someone like Dein who knew how to get a deal over the line and understood football as well as the financial side wouldve made the difference. Things like bringing in Xabi Alonso over 1 -2 million stuff wouldnt have happened. Imagine Alonso with Fabregas and Song in midfield with Van Persie and nasri ahead of them.... Wenger was surrounded by people who were very very reluctant to spend.

Notice how all the other shareholders absolutely blasted Dein but then performed a turnabout and sold out themselves

 

[scytheavatar]

It was the biggest mistake the club made, if you didnt think he was forced out, then not keeping him? Read the hypocrisy here for yourself

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/apr/19/newsstory.sport5#:~:text=David Dein, a director and,he had chosen to resign.

Edit for adding link

He was forced out because he was trying to force Usmanov onto us. And looking at the state of Everton we should be grateful we never had Usmanov as our owner.

 

[squallman]

Kroenke forcing Dein out of the club, lost our direction and ambition then, as well as a load of links and experience at the top level.

Is this the same Dein whose son got half of our top players out of the club?

Biggest mistake? I hate to say it, but for things directly within our control?

Selling Cashley Cole. That has to be pound for pound the worst transfer ever made. Chelsea were never going to get a better a LB and Gallas was a trojan horse. Imagine Cole instead of Clichy in the 2007-08 team. We also would not have had half a dozen captains in ten years.

Other than that, if we leave out players, hiring Gazidis, that man's awful commercial deals set the club back years.

EDIT:
I want to know what the hell happened in the summer of 2015. If we had just won three league titles or Champions League back to back I could understand not strengthening. If we had finished within 4-5 points of the league winners the last year or the year before? Sure But the team we had? The amount of points we normally finished behind the leaders?

Barcelona and Real Madrid have the best players in the world, win trophies every year or every other year and they constantly bring in mega players. Yet a club that at that point had not won the league in 11 years? What the hell happened.

At least tell me that we tried to bring in players but our negotiating team **** the bed.

 

[A_G]

I want to know what the hell happened in the summer of 2015. If we had just won three league titles or Champions League back to back I could understand not strengthening. If we had finished within 4-5 points of the league winners the last year or the year before? Sure But the team we had? The amount of points we normally finished behind the leaders?

Barcelona and Real Madrid have the best players in the world, win trophies every year or every other year and they constantly bring in mega players. Yet a club that at that point had not won the league in 11 years? What the hell happened.

At least tell me that we tried to bring in players but our negotiating team **** the bed.

Wenger said he couldn't find any players better than the ones he already had.