Take a bow Tony Adams. Take a bow, son.
Everything you have said about Arsenal’s demise is true enough, and only a really deluded Gooner or a narcissistic old fool could not see that Adams is right in his observations. Although I am not sure that he is exactly Chairman of the Board material, Adams could certainly have some positive input at the Arsenal in some capacity. This could prove especially true with the signings of central defenders, where Wenger’s judgement has been particularly flawed to say the least !
Squillaci, Senderos, Cygan, Djourou, Santos – they all pay testament to the fact that Wenger has a blind spot when buying defenders. I don’t mean to be critical – we are all bad at something. I for one, can’t tie fishing flies. Arsenal’s defensive record in the past 3 seasons has been abysmal! Some of it is down to a zonal marking system that simply does not work – even now the quality of the Arsenal back 5 needs serious review despite some improvement. But mostly Arsenal have lacked leadership throughout the team, which really should start at the back.
Now surely any input from Adams in these departments would have been useful because of his defensive qualities, discipline and leadership, which have made him the legend he now is at the Arsenal. In fact in all fairness to Steve Bould, I have never understood why Adams was not approached for the role of Assistant Manager to Wenger. Puzzling, that. It would seem to be a more natural progression than Chairman of our current board at least.
It seems that any criticism of Wenger is deemed as a scathing attack , especially when it comes from ex-players , but it has to come from some where, and if Wenger, Gazedis or even Silent Stan can’t see any substance in Adams’ stance then we really are in trouble.
There is not a statue outside of the Emirates of Adams for the sake of it. In the dictionary next to the name “Arsenal” , there should just be a picture Of Tony Adams, because he embodies every aspect that makes for a legend. He is the epitome if what has been missing from our great club , and if anyone knows how to contribute to help get it back, than my money is on him.
Wenger without Dein seems devoid of ideas. Most of his current signings have been tragic mistakes (at least more often than not), and his once phenomenal judgement of his young players seems a big off and is at times no less than misjudgement. He let Gilberto, Edu, Flammini, Clichy, and Toure go without any real plan of replacement. And these players were the essence of where our greatness came from! Certainly they were not superstars, Berkamps and Henrys don’t grow on trees, but they were quality players who helped and protected the team, and served their roles.
Denilson, Traore, Cocqulain, Diaby, Santos, Eboue, Sendross, Djourou, Chamakh, Bendtner and the list goes on, have been an insult to the players they’ve been bought or produced to replace a once invincible team. Meanwhile Pat Rice and Steve Bould have seemed powerless to have any influence against Wenger’s narcissistic leadership.
The fans certainly don’t get a say, so who can challenge the current regime with a voice that might get heard apart from people like Adams? So today I applaud him for once again showing passion and leadership in voicing his opinion. Truth hurts sometimes.
Richie
El Presidente
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