We know from reports earlier this week that Arsenal have cash in reserve, but it turns out that instead of spending it on new players to improve the team now, they’re spending it on statues.
Three were originally erected last season – Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams and Thierry Henry – this comes after work in recent seasons on the ‘Arsenalisation’ of our soulless corporate home the Emirates Stadium; the big banner of legendary players decorating the outside of the arena, and the return of the famous Highbury clock at the ‘Clock End’ stand.
Now, after another trophyless season was more or less confirmed last week, will join a statue of the great Dennis Bergkamp. An Arsenal legend of course, but are we starting to enter complicated territory? With Chapman we have the best manager in our history; with Adams our best captain; and with Henry our record goalscorer and perhaps best player. What does Bergkamp represent? And if there’s room for him should there also be room for Patrick Vieira, Liam Brady, Frank McLintock, Cliff Bastin, Ian Wright…the list goes on. We are a club with a great history and many players worth celebrating, but it has to stop somewhere, because while our past is great, we could really do with spending our money on the present, which is far from that.
Statues don’t score goals or keep clean sheets, and these are what win you football games. Arsenal’s problem at the moment is that they don’t win enough of these. We have been crying out for investment in the squad for years and we’re told contradicting things. From the manager we’re mostly told that this current team is really close to great things and that despite having scouts all around the world there isn’t really anyone he can find who’s better than Gervinho. Perhaps he has to say these embarrassing things to cover up for a board who are looking to keep most of their money in their pockets, and distract the fans with statues to remind us of better times.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for celebrating our history and making the new stadium feel more like home, but while this is all well and nice, what better way is there to do that than to bring the Emirates its first piece of silverware? Looking backwards all the time won’t help us move forwards.
There is something disturbingly Orwellian about all this. It reminds me of the Royal Wedding and Union Jacks flying about all over the place in this country at the moment – all used to create a feeling of national pride when the government are savagely making cuts to public services and hurting its most vulnerable. While football is nowhere near as important, the politicians at our club are certainly playing the whole “isn’t our history great” card to try and appease fans in these difficult times.
It’s ok to love Dennis Bergkamp and remember the many great times he gave us, but you don’t need a huge corporate organisaion to tell you when to do so. Approach with a touch of cynicism.
Follow me on Twitter @markbrus