I watched Sky’s Premiership Preview of the upcoming season with Jamie Redknap, Graeme Sounes, a few others and a studio audience of various supporters. It was the usual stuff previews are made up of except for one thing that struck me like a bullet between the eyes; it was generally accepted by all present that Arsenal no longer figure as realistic title challengers or as a big club.
To be honest, Arsenal were hardly mentioned , and when we were it was with a dismissive disdain you would usually associate with one of my tweets!
Graham Souness summed it up quite simply in one sentence; “Arsenal are too soft – I would always like to play teams like them.” Wenger has never replaced Emmanuel Petit or Patrick Viera, the types of players we used to have all over the pitch. I would go even further and say that Wenger has replaced that entire mentality.
Dennis Bergkamp was sublime, but you couldn’t take liberties with him. Edu Gaspar, Gilberto Silva, even Thierry Henry had that streak in him which enabled him to look after himself. Then without warning, our men became boys. Younger, smaller, shrinking violets, and now we are has-beens.
This is why I have been screaming to anyone who will listen that we need Maraoune Fellaini more than Luis Suarez. Wayne Rooney would have also fit the bill, and Micah Richards and Ashley Williams are also proper leaders and have a physical presence Arsenal have been desperate for since Vieira was finally sold. And so it began.
As lovely as they are, Santi Carzola, Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta simply do not posses the physical power needed to combat the powerhouses chomping at the bit at most other clubs in premiership all waiting to set about us. Sure, Wilshere is feisty and has an edge, but intimidating?
When the going gets tough who amongst any of our players can stand up to the physicality of not only the Premiership but also the new breed of athletes strewn across La Liga, Bundesliga and of course our old friends of Serie A, all of whom are waiting in the Champions League for our little boys.
When the going gets tough and we need to muscle-up and shore-up the midfield, we can call on Aaron Ramsey or Tomas Rosicsky. Both decent players, but the likes of Man City, Chelsea, or even Mark Hughes’ Stoke are going to tear our boys a new arsehole .
Stick in a new spine of, say Rooney, Fellaini, Williams and Richards, and Walcott and his girlfriends can take off their nappies and play some football whilst being protected and driven forward by real men who relish the battle and have the tools to win a few .
Remember not so long ago Arsenal had Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Alex Song all in the same team, who have all gone on to win titles with other clubs by the way, yet Wenger managed to win nothing with all of them together! Simply because our midfield, defence and attack lacked power, height and physical strength – not to mention leadership, but that’s a tale for another day.
How many times has the analogy , “men against boys”, been used in regards to Arsenal, especially when we have played the top 4 teams? Yet Wenger still persists in sending our lambs to the slaughter. Don’t get me wrong, Wilshere, Arteta even Ramsey are no shrinking violets – Wilshere in particular will mix it with anyone – but how many times can you bounce off of the likes of, David Luiz, Ya Ya Toure, Nemanja Vidic, Mikel or Ryan Shawcross to name but a few graduates of the Premierships Gladiators School?
Bayern Munich gave Barcelona a master class in mixing raw skill with raw power. You look at the squads being amassed by Mourhino and Pellegrini and the French clubs, and I would say that the only person who still doesn’t get it is Arsene Wenger, honestly. Suarez is a wonderful player and would improve any team , but if you can’t get the ball to him because you’re fighting a constant rear guard and your midfield’s being overrun by a marauding, Ya Ya Toure, Vincent Kompany, David Luiz or Dembele, like RVP, Suarez will become redundant in the really big games because the rest of your team has gone missing, and you can’t get the ball to the guy who is paid to put it in the net.
Fellaini is more than a match on his day for anyone, and Micah Richards has the ability to drive forward and defend, which used to be an old Arsenal quality. Meanwhile, Williams could hold the fort, another old Arsenal quality.
We all have our dream teams, our dream players, our dream partnerships. My dream team has a spine of Rooney, Fellaini, Williams, and Stoke keeper Begovic, with Richards moving across the back 4 where needed.
In my opinion Suarez is another Wenger red herring, set-up to distract the fans from the possible reality of no stellar signings yet again. But if I’m wrong and Wenger really does intend to break the English transfer record to sign yet another dwarf/hobbit, than without the back up of some top class strength in depth than it will be a bigger waste of money than the 13 players currently being sold, loaned out or just hanging out with Bendtner.
It’s pointless at the moment to repeatedly rant on about Wenger’s greed, delusion and his obvious shortcomings as we Gooners are powerless to influence a man on a 7m crash course with his ego. We are Gooners at a very difficult time in our history, and all we can do is hope that eventually Wenger is made to see the light or even better go and manage the French National team – seriously.
In his survival speech given to the Japanese, he talked about getting into certain players’ heads. Well he can’t persuade our best players to stay, and he can’t persuade top class players to join us. He can’t persuade our deadwood to leave, and he can’t motivate them to play. What then is he actually doing? The only heads he is doing in is ours.
Wenger’s speech would have more appropriate if it was made about economics, of which he is a master and turning a top football club into the only bank in profit.
But whatever he does, he must get Fellaini!
Richie Rich
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