Watching last night’s game between Middle Eastlands and Liverpool, I had this conversation in my head about what was going on. Part of me was kind of pissed off that Liverpool rolled over and let the Mancunian Chavs tickle their bellies, pat them on the head before sending them back home with a reality check.

Another part of me was pissed off that Arsenal didn’t bury a 10 man Liverpool last weekend. Like many, I’m rationalizing that a point at Anfield is a precious point during any part of the season; or I’m rationalizing that it was the first game of the season, Li’l Jack Willy showed a bit of understandable and acceptable inexperience in the lead up to Liverpool’s goal, Arshavin was just about getting out of the dressing room, we didn’t have our first choice squad on the pitch – yada yada yada.

Maybe it’s just easier to get pissed off with Liverpool for rolling over last night and letting Moneybags City bitch slap them all over the park.

But it’s worth observing that even this early in the season, the new order in English football is realigning itself and its going to cement itself very quickly. They say the table doesn’t lie, and I’m making an early prediction that the current top 4 will finish in the Champions League places at the end of the season.

If you asked me, I’ll unashamedly proclaim that the final order in the top 4 will be alphabetical; but then again I’ll ask – what the hell did you expect me to say?

Clearly, a few people have been drinking that cool-ade stuff down the Tottenham Lodge in preparation for their tussle with the Young Boys of Bern. The 28 minutes of the first half of last Tuesday’s match between the Spuds and the Young Boys was the best 28 minutes of football that I’ve watched in a very long time.

Even then, ‘Appy ‘Arry and Big Bad Billy G seemed to have drank too much of that stuff to propel them to delusions of grandeur that leads them to suggest that the Spuds can win the title .

There’s a vicious rumour going around Seven Sisters road that revenge of the 1913 revolution of North London is nigh. Or maybe it was Henry Norris’s wheeling, dealing and politicking that relegated Spuds to the 2nd division in favour of Arsenal staying in the 1st division that pisses them more than a move from South East London. I forget why the Spuds have such an inferiority complex.

Manchester United on the other hand are going through a very interesting period. I suppose those with a more sunny disposition might call it a rebuilding time for them. If I was cynical, I’d suggest that they’re following the Arsenal development model to the tee – only they’re what, 5 or 6 years late?

To be honest, I don’t think the powers that be at United would have noticed the Berlin wall falling if it hit them on the way down. We get reminded that their predicament is justified because of their successful haul of trophies in the last 18 years. We get told that if it wasn’t for the Glazer family, they would be well run and debt free. Yeah – blame the Glazers alright, but the end result is that Manure is a financial basket case.

The bottom line is that Manure bought the title when they had the chance and it’s kind of ironic that their so called youth development policy is now being lauded as a virtue. I suppose that’s why they’re now paying main street prices for relatively unknown players just like an old sage of ours does.

Either way, United is not the club that they used to be and it will show this season. I get bemused when it’s suggested that Arsenal don’t have strength and depth in defence, yet Manure and even Chelsea are threadbare beyond their first choices. But I suppose they have youth.

If you haven’t been around for a while, you’ll notice that Chelsea are already being coronated as the 2010-2011 Premier league Champions. If you believe some media houses, they’re on track to scoring 228 goals this season while only conceding a few goals here and there for good measure.

Chelsea’s defence is suspect – they’ve only got away with it this far because they haven’t been properly tested by the teams they’ve played.

“But they can only beat the teams in front of them”, I hear the murmurs in the shadows.

Well, as long as selective amnesia is not applied as Arsenal is accused of being flat track bullies. The Gunners too, can only beat the teams that they play – it just doesn’t apply to the Chavs.

Nevertheless, Chelsea’s dominance as the Moneybag specialists is being overhauled by Middle Eastlands; in the same way as Manure’s dominance as the model club is being overhauled by Arsenal’s organic development. It’s the new order of the footballing establishment.

The question is whether the virtuous cycle of building wonderful things from the ground up like Arsenal is doing will overcome the vicious cycle of buying things like they’re running out of fashion the way Middle Eastlands are doing it.

It’s been a long time since the regular dosage at Stone Cold Arsenal Towers, and I trust all has been well. Like many, I still find myself in that strange place of being ecstatic about the fact that proper football is back, but being apprehensive about the sheer amount of media shit stirring being peddled about in the name of selling copy. When is that transfer window being bolted shut?

So the last couple of days while commuting to and from work I decided to do the unthinkable and find out what the usual suspects are up to in sports radio. Kills the down time in between and I thought that maybe they’d talk about you know – football.

Red nose seemed to have picked his moment by accusing old Mancini and his paymasters for Kamikaze spending. Part of me smiled sheepishly as I thought “you sad bastard, you’re just broke and can’t afford those wild player purchases you used to make”.

And it’s the truth. Manchester United are damn broke and it’s pointless suggesting that they’re still liquid and can service their debts. In the real world, any company that had debt ratios at the level of the Manure would be lined up along the wall and shot. Gone are the days when winning trophies guaranteed that you’ll actually make some money.

Anyway, laughing at Red nose wasn’t my point; my point was the sycophancy of the media pundits who don’t know when they need to stop kissing Fergusons ass.

Everyone knows that the transfer market this summer has been uneventful. Well, there’s Manchester City, but for the real world, they don’t seem to live on this planet. The fact that their owners have a mint attached to their office block in Abu Dhabi makes including them in a conversation about transfers an irrelevant discussion.

And so the pundits start waxing lyrical about the foresight of Ferguson in seeing the light when it comes to the challenges of the economic environment. Challenges that have led him to take a more realistic and prudent approach to developing a new team with a blend of geriatrics and youngsters.

The sycophantic punks can’t stop to pontificate how Sir Red nose is the best at building teams and that they’re heading the right way. They remind us of how he brought up the generation of Giggs, Beckham, the Neville brothers et al, and how he is already doing the same now.

Do these guys think we walked into this season straight from the cotton fields?

The fool is damn broke, and any financial rookie getting off the milk train at Manchester Piccadilly could have told you that Red nose is damn broke and can’t afford the spending lifestyle he’s been used to over the last decade.

The thing is this though. These punks have spent the best part of the last 6 or 7 years unashamedly bashing Wenger and Arsenal for being a pillar of strength and not succumbing to brazen ‘cheque book’ management. They have continued to bash Wenger for being a tight fisted egomaniac who had only one agenda of proving the world wrong.

They have continued over the years to ridicule Arsenal as being an unambitious club that doesn’t have the balls to spend money to compete with the so called big boys. They have continued to mock and ridicule the comprehensive and visionary youth development policy that will continue to stand the club in good stead for years to come.

And yet when clubs all around Arsenal start becoming basket cases; and when Chairmen and club owners around the leagues start tightening their belts because creditors don’t want to play anymore; when the so called big boys have collective debts that rival the GDP of some developing countries – the punks don’t even have the humility to acknowledge that all along, Arsenal and Wenger have been doing the right thing.

They don’t have the grace to accept that their stupidity in Arsenal bashing over the years and their lack of foresight in understanding and appreciating Arsenal’s vision and why the club chose to go that way – makes them look like fools.

Yeah, go ahead and kiss the arse of old Red nose; but don’t forget – the mighty Arsenal leads the way and others follow.

The ambitious youth development policy that these misguided and miseducated pundits have been trashing in the last few years is clearly been seen as the answer by the establishment up and down the land.

The emerging richness of players from within our youth ranks means that Arsenal don’t have to ‘buy’ the so called big name mercenaries in order to compete. Yes, the team will buy, but we will buy players on our own terms.

Part of the problem with football in this country is that people don’t want or people don’t know how to build things any more. They just want to buy them. If there’s a problem – “who are they buying?”. Come the summer and January transfer windows, “who are they buying?”.

Watch the Arsenal baffle the whole lot of them as they suffocate for air from within Red noses – you know where….
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Ever since the game between Ingerland and Slovenia mid-week when the 3 Lions scraped through to the knock out stages by the skin of their teeth, I’ve been a bit hesitant to follow the media coverage through the English media.

I suppose one reason is that I’ve reached saturation point with the sycophancy and vanity that impales the coverage of the fortunes of the England team by the media here in the UK.

By the very nature of the beast that is the World cup (emphasis being on the ’World’), I and many other football lovers around the world want to follow the fortunes of the many teams still in the competition, and would highly appreciate a balanced, objective and impartial media to tell us about the other great teams and the other great players also in the world cup.

But Hey!, I also want my council tax bill reduced but that ain’t gonna happen soon.

There was only one way out from the fever pitch madness and media coverage that led to, let’s face it, the mother of all bitch slaps and humiliations that England has ever faced on the international stage. The only way out for England to justify the hyperbole and narcissism that the media and establishment fuelled before yesterday’s game against the Germans was that England win and that they win comprehensively.

Not even the clutching of the Frank-Lampard’s-goal-was-disallowed-shame-on-FIFA-for-not-introducing-goal-line-technology straw can hide away from the fact that England has had a woeful World cup campaign and the players, management and the FA should hang their heads in shame.

A Dejected And Beaten England Team Leave The Field Following a German Master Class in International Football

I’ve covered most of my reasons why I suggest that England will never win the World cup until they come out of the Stone Age, so I’m not going to go over that ground and suggest that if you haven’t yet, you should read that article to get a sense of where I’m coming from.

It’s not about the disappointment and anti-climax of the so called Golden Generation. It’s not that Fabio Capello is a dictator who has added no value to the fortunes of the national team at a major competition. It’s not that the solution is to get an English manager like Roy Hodgson or Harry Redknapp who can understand the ‘English’ game in a way that a foreign manager cannot.

It’s not that (this one was a funny excuse by Graham Taylor) international competitions take place in the summer after a long hard season and it’s during a period when England players don’t normally play their games and in hot climates – shame on you Mr. Taylor for even uttering those words. It’s not that the team failed to show ’pluck and spirit’ and that good old fashioned English graft, grit and steel that is the cornerstone of the brand of English football that we’re told drives the best league in the world.

The issue here and something that I’ve preached on several times is that the underlying culture and philosophy of English football is rotten and stuck in the Neolithic age. When even Stand Collymore on his radio call in is asking Arsenal fans how England can learn from Arséne Wenger and the way he nurtures talent who are technically gifted and can cope with the way the rest of the world plays, then you know there’s a problem.

I submit to you that until England starts from the grassroots by changing the culture and moving away from the ’kick and rush’ brand of football that Franz Beckenbauer rightfully mentioned and was harangued by the English media for – Team ‘Ingerland’ have the mother of all mountains to climb.

It’s not enough to be a celebrity footballer, or believe the hyperbole about what ability you actually have. There’s a very big difference between being talented on paper as is suggested by all and sundry, and actually producing on grass.

And can we now draw a line under this nonsense of calling certain players world class. Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Terry and Ashley Cole are good and above average players, but let’s not push the envelope. I even agree with Robbie Savage’s (when was it I last agreed with Savage) that a player should only be considered as ’world class’ when they can sit on the same table as Pele, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, Johan Cruyff, George Best and players of that ilk. Leo Messi is the only player currently warranting that badge of world class.

I was having a discussion with some friends yesterday evening as we explored what it is that ails English football (well, aside from the vanity of the media about the perceived capability of the team).

One of the analogies used to describe England in comparison to say Spain, Brazil, Argentina or Germany was that these 4 teams were like a gourmet restaurant that serves the best food and wine you’ll ever get anywhere on this planet, while England were proving yet again that despite the hype, they were just a kebab shop down the high street.

So many times, Arséne Wenger has been vilified by the English media for not having a team that was ‘English’ enough. This naturally came with the accusation that the Arsenal manager is one of the protagonists responsible for harming English football – as if Wenger is responsible for the cultural and philosophical deficiency of an entire footballing establishment.

Wenger famously stated that he won’t pay over the odds for English players whose price tags are inflated for no justifiable reason, yet they can’t deliver. His alternative was to set on a path that would allow Arsenal to develop their own crop of English players who played the Arsenal way.

The problem for Wenger is that visionaries are rarely lauded, let alone acknowledged and appreciated for many people don’t see the virtues of the said vision until long after the seeds are planted and the rewards are being enjoyed.

Take a look at the results of Wenger and Arsenal’s vision within the youth and reserve team setup at London Colney. Arsenal has the best crop of young talented players who are mostly English coming through the ranks. The youth team that won the double of the youth FA cup and the youth league in 2008-2009 had 9 English players in that squad of 15.

They‘re not just young and English, they’ve been brought together in a way of life since the young age of 11 and they have grown up in a culture that promotes the virtues of total football.

These young players are technically gifted and they can work with the ball with both skill and gusto. It’s also plain obvious to see that the issue is not whether all these players eventually make it to the Arsenal’s first team.

Not all of them will, but Arsenal get’s to decide whether they keep the best of the crop. For the rest, they are sprinkled around the football leagues and they get an opportunity to make their careers elsewhere while still reaping the benefits of the Arsenal way.

Those who graduate to the ranks of the first team are already showing the signs that they will be staking their claim to the England shirt come the 2014 world Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Euros in France and beyond.

The Arsenal Young Guns Celebrate In Style

It’s players like Little Jack Willy who has lit up Bolton on his loan spell to the Trotters from Arsenal. It’s players like Jay Emmanuel Thomas who are so versatile and prolific while being technically gifted, you can see him becoming the England midfield general for the next 10 years.

It’s players like Craig Eastmond, a young prospect from Wandsworth in South West London who feels nothing at the prospect of being thrown into a high pressure game for Arsenal and holding his own as a defensive midfielder. It’s prospects like young Kieran Gibbs from Lambeth who is already on his way to becoming one of the world’s best left backs.

Have I mentioned Kyle Bartley and Sanchez Watt? Or Henry Lansbury, Mark Randall or Tom Cruise?

The talent at London Colney is ridiculous and only a fool can’t see that the future is bright in the sleepy village of Shenley that hosts the Arsenal Academy in the heart of the Hertfordshire countryside.

It’s been a hectic week trying to catch up with everything inside and outside work after a long break. Naturally, I wanted to organize myself so that I don’t miss any minute of the race for the Coupe du Monde as the world descended on South Africa.

My strategy of focussing on catch-up until last Friday was not helped by the sheer suffocation I endured from the media as a collective, as everywhere you turned, a story of the World Cup was being shoved down the proverbial throat.

The coverage ranged from the necessary and quality reporting that covered team profiles and objectively looked at the chances of the 32 nations; to the shockingly incompetent, ignorant and lazy-assed views of BBC commentators who kept insisting that the ’Calabash’ (the inspiration in the design of Soccer City) is an African cooking utensil.

In between the two extremes was the customary sycophancy of the English media about the fortunes of Team ’Ingerland’. I suppose a degree of reporting is necessary so that we get to know how the team are doing, but I tell you, these guys are just stopping short of installing cameras in the hotel toilets as they seek to follow and anticipate every move that the England camp make.

It’s this obsessive self indulgence, naval gazing and mutual back slapping in equal measure that makes it harder to deal with the fall out when expectations are not met. I guess it’s easier to get bemused by the post-mortem that unleashes it’s wrath on a single player like Robert Green (bless him) for the mother of all howlers.

However, there is less of an objective questioning of how lacklustre the rest of the England team was. It’s fine making Mr. Green the ’Anti-Christ’, but I’d suggest that the entire team needed to look themselves in the mirror and heave a collective ”shame on me”.

Dare I even say they needed a bit of Theo Walcott in there; but then again, when an out of his depth James Milner and an out of position Sean Wright-Phillips are chosen ahead of a competent and talented Joe Cole, you do wonder what’s happening in the Rustenburg funny farm. Even Aaron Lennon was committing crimes against association football that our Walcott is normally accused of.

I was also bemused by the ITV commentator (can’t remember who it was), who raised the temperature of his commentary every time Rooney touched the ball. If I was in the next room, it was possible to think that Rooney was about to hit the back of the net, and this is the sort of sycophancy and self indulgence that clouds an objective view that most fans around the world would like to hear.

The truth is England were dire, even without Robert Green’s howler. Lampard, Rooney, Lennon, Milner, Wright-Phillips, King, Carragher et al were all passengers. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that Emile Heskey and Glenn Johnson were England’s best players on the day, followed closely perhaps by Gerrard.

Considering that Heskey might have been dying of embarrassment from his fiancées performance on Channel 4’s ’Come Dine With Me’ wags special a few days earlier, the boy done good with an assist and shot on target to add to his name.

I think some of these stars should get some PR advice before unleashing their wives and girlfriends to the public. To tell you the truth, I felt like hiding behind the sofa when Heskey’s fiancé é said she didn’t know who Martin Luther King was, yet she had a portrait of him in her living room….but I digress.

My prediction is that the semi-finals will be contested between Brazil, Spain, Germany and Argentina. There’s nothing I’ve seen so far to suggest that I’m way off base on this one. While Brazil, Spain and Italy are still to play, the 8 games so far have been mostly a guarded affair with teams preferring not to lose as opposed to trying to win the first match.

I enjoyed the Argentina vs Nigeria game, and was interested to listen to the comments of one of the Nigerian defenders who avers that Lionel Messi is getting too much protection from the referee. His view was that you can’t even touch the boy and he’s either on his way down or the referee is heavily breathing down your neck while rustling for his yellow card in his pocket.

I suppose you can understand the clamour to ’protect’ the world’s best player, but you can also understand the fear defenders have, especially since one yellow card could spell the end of your world cup with any simple subsequent mistake – there’s very little room for error.

The Germans were very exciting last night against the Socceroos. I was very interested in the fact that the average age of the German team was 26, and it made me reflect on where Arsenal will be when our team that has been growing together for this long hit their heights in their mid 20s.

Nevertheless, the Germans gave Australia a footballing master class (and where the hell did they get that Brazilian…LOL), immigration is a funny thing I tell you.

Rumour has it that Mark Schwarzer is on his way to Arsenal, and I’ve got to tell you I was a bit worried by him picking the ball 4 times from the back of his net. It was heartening that he at least tried to stop 2 of the goals but the shots were too powerful and went past his attempts, but all the same, it’s not the sort of resume you want to take to a new employer.

Group D with Germany, the Aussies, Serbia and Ghana is a very interesting one since the winners or runners up will meet England. I personally think it will be Germany topping the group and Ghana second, but I’m worried that either of these teams will give England a nightmare.

England and the Yanks should make it through safely, though Slovenia will want to say something about that, and they should be taken seriously for the simple reason that they top the group and have the bragging rights. If England can’t get out of this group, then the players only have themselves to blame.

I think it will be helpful though, if Capello stopped that Gestapo approach of secrecy and named the team early enough so that each player can prepare mentally. It would certainly give the chosen goal keeper time to kill the nerves and minimize any Keystone Cops moments.

It feels like I’ve been away for ages and trying to get back into the groove at the Stone Cold Arsenal Towers is going to be a project in itself. Nevertheless, it was a good break and glad to be back.

I tried a time tested strategy of “staying away from the news” while tending to matters at the reservation; but I fell foul of those little USB things you plug into the side of your laptop and connect to the ether that is cyber space.

In between the hogwash that was Xavi Hernandez’s crusade to get his knees capped because of his bullshit about Cesc, Rapha Benitez getting a cool £6m while on holiday before taking the reins of power at Internazionale, and the English football establishment getting paranoid about England playing some South African Platinum team in a friendly; I did manage to get into the groove of the 2010 World cup.

To tell you the truth, I’m really excited and will be stuck to the telly, radio, web and anything that will give me up to date material on all aspects of the World cup. However, one aspect does sadden me, and that is the role played by the media in the systematic and negative portrayal of Africa as a cess pit.

I read an interesting report last week from Tom Cargill, the head of the Africa Programme at Chattam House, UK’s premier think-tank on International Affairs. IN this report, Cargill points out that the ‘West’ must change its approach to Africa and stop seeing it as a basket case that needs aid and development.

He urges the west to emulate the model taken by the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) who are engaging with Africa as trade partners and stimulating growth and the local economy. Africa has vast resources which the BRIC countries want to tap into, and many more like South Korea are also joining the party.

My belief is that the ‘Aid And Development’ industry (for that’s what it is) is a self serving, patronizing, neo-colonial sector that is run by the self interests of folks who have mortgages to pay, kids to take to school, debts to service – and you know, a livelihood to maintain. Suggesting that they’re in it to ‘alleviate poverty’ is like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas. Without poverty, the industry dies – it’s a self fulfilling prophecy.

The notion that a sector structured on a top down Neolithic approach to interacting with hundreds of millions of people from the continent that they say is “troubled” is a disturbing one.

I don’t know what is more dangerous; the misguided self righteousness of those in the sector who operate with the view that it’s their destiny to “save Africans from themselves”, or that there are people who think that the hopes and dreams of an entire continent lay firmly at the hands of two ageing rock stars in Bono and Bob Geldof.

I digress…but the point I’m trying to make is that I so agree with Tom Cargill in the view that we should move away from patronizing neo-colonialism and treat people like human beings. I mentioned his report because of the parallel I can draw between western governments and aid agencies, and the western media’s portrayal of Africa in general, and more recently, the build up to the first World cup being hosted in Africa.

It can’t be a conspiracy because a conspiracy suggests that there are people with a sinister view who have an agenda that they want to see through and they want to hide it from the rest of us.

The way the media has operated is far from conspiratorial, it’s criminal in itself. Fuelled by a substantive dose of ignorance of the highest order, an engrained culture of always looking for the ‘negative’ in anything to do with Africa, and an almost relentless determination to promote scare mongering and sensationalism.

I was listening to Jacob Zuma yesterday during his press conference, and I tried to recall a previous world cup where a sitting president has taken the pro-active view of “spinning” the country. It was masked as a lot more, but the bottom line is that President Zuma had to “spin” South Africa.

You don’t need to ask yourself why, just pick up any paper or tune into any report about the build up to the games and the usual suspects crop up – security concerns, terrorism threats, ‘African’s are too poor to afford tickets so the world cup is already a failure’, threats to the ‘western’ teams and their fans. You name it, you’ll find it in the most sickening and twisted reporting that should have some authors quartered for the crime of prejudice and ignorance.

I should know better really, but it still get’s to me. It’s not like South East London during the day is any safer than down town Johannesburg. We even have folks in sleepy towns now going ’postal’ because of whatever reason.

Imagine the reporting we’d be subject to if someone in South Africa went ’postal’ a week before the tournament.

The truth is that South Africa is more than capable of hosting a global event – as they’ve shown with their hosting of the Rugby Union and Cricket world cups in previous years. It’s just unfair to suggest that England fans are on their way to a cess pit (for that is the impression they give).

South Africa like many others in Africa is a beautiful country with breath-taking views, a rich culture, and a vibrant and growing economy. Perhaps more focus on the celebration of the football game and the continent will be more productive.

Mainstream media is bad enough in its negative reporting of Africa, and I shudder to think of sports journalists indulging in something they know little of.

I would hope that the reporting and journalism is focussed on what happens on the pitch. I can’t wait for Friday when Carlos Vela and his boys kick off against Bafana Bafana.

In recent observations, I’ve suggested that the best signing Arsenal has made in the last 2 years was that of Ivan Gazidis as Chief Executive. It’s usually hard to notice progressive moves made by any new head honcho within the first year as different organizations adjust differently with change of leadership.

Gazidis however, has made tiny strides in securing some quick gains that have earned him some serious political capital both in and outside the club. Whether it’s the ’Arsenalisation’ program currently taking place, or the introduction of a high powered commercial team to focus on maximizing brand Arsenal around the world; Gazidis’s impact is slowly but surely setting in.

Arsenal Chief Executive, Ivan Gazidis

Without diminishing any gains Gazidis may have made in different quarters around the club, my sense is that the Arsenal CEO has had two significant roles this far, and during this critical time in Arsenal’s development, I believe that he has the most crucial role to play as a facilitator and enabler.

Firstly, I believe he has acted well as a counter balance and check to the inevitable power that Arséne Wenger wields at Arsenal. It’s not a secret that very few, if any people find themselves courageous enough to challenge the influence Wenger holds over the technical side of the club’s affairs.

Wenger in a lot of respects has earned the authority and right to his leadership and his record and achievements speak for themselves. However, since the departure of David Dein, it’s been clear that Wenger has seriously missed a reliable aide and confidant to share the load with and to assist him in the very critical task of seeing the wood from the trees.

A question has been raised as to whether there’s anyone at Arsenal who can pull Wenger aside and provide an alternative opinion. Take Pat Rice for example, is he capable of saying to Wenger, ”Actually, I think you should revert Song to central defence, and let Denilson hold the fort with Diaby and Cesc in midfield because the opponent are ball players and we’ll have a better chance this way”.

Part of the problem for the Arsenal board is that the balancing act of keeping the club as strong as it is with a move to a new stadium, as well as keeping the squad competitive year in year out is a very precarious and even career threatening job (if the manager fails).

In Arséne Wenger, the board have possibly one of the few managers in the world who is able and willing to take on such an audacious job with a hand tied behind his back. They recognize this and they will bend over backwards and kiss Wenger’s ass to ensure that he is happy.

None of them wants to contemplate the alternative scenario of having another manager who is not capable of operating at this elite level without screaming for big money in order to survive, let alone challenge. The point is that even now, but more so in the last 5 years, very few managers of a world class calibre would have agreed to do Wenger’s job under the same conditions.

The key challenge is therefore one of continuing the arduous task of keeping Wenger happy, supporting and encouraging him, while walking around with a big stick just in case. The man with that unenviable job has been Ivan Gazidis, and let’s face it, it’s not an easy job by any means.

So far, Gazidis has shown that he’s a class act, but now more than ever, he needs to earn his corn by helping steer Arsenal through this last mile that is proving elusive and challenging for this squad.

He needs to throw his full weight (well – the weight of his office and the furniture in it) behind the manager, while being comfortable to pull Wenger aside and apply the right amount of pressure at the right time; all without rocking or sinking the boat and losing the significant gains made this far.

He needs to be able to bitch slap Wenger at the same time as holding an arm around the manager’s shoulder and smiling with him in encouragement at the realisation of Arsenal’s audacious vision. When difficult decisions have to be made or supported, Gazidis needs to be able to tell Wenger to go to hell in such a way that the Arsenal manager looks forward to the trip.

More importantly, Wenger needs to feel and believe that he has a friend who not only supports him through this challenging patch, but can be a trusted sounding board and critical voice that will help move the club to the next stage.

That is why in my view, Ivan Gazidis has the most important role at Arsenal during this precarious period that demands that Arsenal turns its massive potential and stability into championship results.

This responsibility is somewhat related to the second key task that I think the Arsenal CEO has. This is the task of acting as a referee to the various protagonists on the board and the power play that is going on.

More often than not, it’s hard to know which side of the bread the different Arsenal board members are buttering. Not that we can control the eventual ownership of the club if the shareholders involved choose to swap around their stakes.

The thing is that this sort of high stakes poker has an impact on the rest of the club and the fan base in general. Gazidis has a key role to play here in keeping all the parties talking and keeping them focussed on what the operational issues are and how they will be impacted by their shenanigans.

He has already done this in many ways like insisting that he will continue to talk to all parties and try and keep the harmony; but again, playing referee in such a scenario is an unenviable task.

As we go into a summer with much promise of investment in the squad, Gazidis must exert his influence to ensure that the club has the best chance of starting the season with a strong squad capable of challenging. He must steer the board to achieving the right balance between debt repayment and squad investment.

He must support Wenger in whatever the manager feels needs addressing, while applying pressure on him to make the difficult decisions. Most importantly, he must take responsibility for steering the club in a direction that serves our interests long term, and not bow down to the pressure of popular culture and emotion of the day.
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• Arséne Wenger, You Stand Accused – The Sequel
• Why Speculating About Cesc Fabregas Is Not Good For Your Heart

So a few weeks ago, we’re waxing lyrical about the prospects of scraping through and snatching the title from them lot up north. Since losing to Barcelona a month ago, we’ve only clocked 1 out of 12 possible points and that’s just not good enough to win anything, and there’s no way around that.

If we’re to be honest with ourselves, the team has really struggled to recover from the mauling the Catalans unleashed on us – or should I just say the mauling that Lionel Messi unleashed on our unsuspecting makeshift defence.

The impact caused by the injuries that have decimated the squad will only be an excuse for so long before it becomes the rod that literally snaps our back. We’ve had to depend on understudies in crucial positions in the squad, but the least you can expect is that those called upon to provide cover will apply themselves professionally and effectively to do the job they’re called on to do.

I get the sense though, that Arsenal have developed a propensity, habit even, of being comfortable with doing things the hard way. I don’t know about you, but many a game this season have left me crouching in a foetal position on the carpet in front of the TV chanting all manner of obscenities and ritualistic hogg wash in a clear attempt to ’suck’ the ball into the opponents net in the final minutes of the game.

On the days that I’ve attended matches at the Emirates, I’ve found my heart racing like a nonsense and wishing I had a stiff brandy to gulp down and calm the nerves. I don’t know if you’ve noticed that at the Emirates, the stadium announcer never says what the added on time is on the public address system. It happens at all other stadiums the minute the 4th official indicates how much extra time is being played, but never at the Emirates.

I’m sure it’s by design to stop our players from panicking and just playing on until they can’t do any more legally, but it really doesn’t help if the time stamp on the score board is screaming with how long you still have to endure the torturous excitement.

This season, we’ve really pushed the envelope when it comes to doing things the hard way. It’s not just the late, last gasp goals that leave you shaking your head in bewilderment. It’s also the way we’ve dropped or given away leads, the way we’ve sometimes laboured when there’s no need to, or even the way we’ve approached games.

Believe it or not, there’s only 4 games this season – Burnley, Hull and Blackburn (all away), and West Ham at home – that we’ve scored a goal in the first 15 minutes in any game. I may be wrong on that stat, so please feel free to correct me; but those are the 3 games that I remember us taking an early lead.

That alone is an indicator of how hard we prefer to work, and if it’s any consolation, if we were ever to be the beneficiaries of the first ’helicopter Sunday’ of the Premier league, then it would have been a long arduous and painful journey. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure which is more nauseating; Chelsea winning the double or United winning a 4th successive title.

I’m clear of the fact that what is most definitely nauseating is the fact that we could finish on the same points as that lot up Seven Sisters way. Even when we had clear daylight between us and the Spuds, we just had to go put ourselves in a situation where we needed a point in the last game.

I personally think my manager of the season – Roy Hodgson, will field a reserve team as he rests his players for the biggest game in the history of Fulham.

They have given an excellent account of themselves this season and I’m fully behind them and cheering them on as they face Atlético Madrid for the right to take the inaugural Europa league home.

Regardless of which Fulham team takes the field, it will be criminally negligent for Arsenal to let 3rd place slip away. I can understand if the fight was tight and we scraped through – but I have a problem that firstly, we could have wrapped this one up a long time ago, and more painfully, the fact that it’s Tottenham bum rushing us like a panty sniffing stalker.

Either way, it looks like I’ll be stuck with Arsenal TV for this one. At least Dan Roebuck and Nigel Winterburn are enthusiastic commentators with an Arsenal bias.

My highlight of the pedestrian 0-0 draw against Manchester City at the Emirates on the 24th of April was the banner in the stands that screamed: ’VOTE EBOUE ON MAY 6th’.

The irony is not lost on Gordon Brown when a section of Arsenal fans clearly think Emmanuel Eboue has a better chance of becoming Prime Minister. I can just picture Arsenal’s resident comedian sitting back left in that Jaguar riding into Buckingham Palace on May 7th to formerly ask Aunt Liz for the keys to Downing Street.

But yet behind the satire and comedy, is the story behind one of the favourite chants of the season – ”We only came to see Eboue”.

Arsenal's 'Goal Machine' - Emmanuel Eboue

This season, the Ivorian has had the most remarkable transformation from ’villain du jour’ to cult hero at the Emirates. His lowest point was last season’s home tie against Wigan Athletic when he came on as a substitute and swiftly suffered the humiliation of being substituted himself for a woeful performance that could only be described as criminal.

When your fans boo you off the park, more often than not, the only way out is a transfer to another club, in another country. Extreme credit has to be given to Eboue for knuckling down, dealing with his demons and getting on with the job the manager requires of him.

It’s not that Eboue is a flashy player who employs jiggery pokery to mesmerize the opponent – far from that. I submit to you that he is one of the most valuable players any manager could want in a squad.

I say this because I believe he is one of the best utility players in the league. Very few players if any, can competently do a job in different parts of the field and be able to keep the team ticking.

Though Eboue ordinarily plays as a right full back, he is often employed as a right winger. He can also play left full back and in recent games, has covered the role of left winger. My sense is that if Wenger asked Eboue to stand in goal, the Ivorian will look at Vic Acres with that ”where are the gloves kept?” look.

There is a lot that the entire team can learn from this young man this season, and it’s not necessarily about the football. Eboue does a great job like many unsung heroes in the squad, most notably Neves Denilson, who keep the team ticking without any razzmatazz. Their job is not to go all ’Hollywood’ during the game, but it’s to do the simple efficient things that many don’t notice but are necessary to keep the team moving.

The Ivoirian’s determination to prove to the Arsenal faithful that he is worthy of an Arsenal shirt is laudable and shows a strength of character that some members in the team can emulate if they’re going to make the next step. Lukasz Fabianski for one can’t do any worse than ’doing an Eboue’

In Friday’s post, Saloner and other readers suggested that Fabianski will benefit from game time as opposed to warming the Arsenal bench, and perhaps a lone spell like his compatriot Tech 9 is doing at Brentford, is the right way to go for him to ’do an Eboue’.

A respectable performance in goal in the next two games against Blackburn Rovers and Fulham won’t do his confidence any harm. Despite the disappointment in the way the season has petered out for Arsenal, we have an expectation that the next two games will provide some joy and entertainment. Hopefully, we’ll get to see fringe players like Craig Eastmond and Carlos Vela get some game time and show us what the future holds.

Meanwhile, don’t forget to vote for Eboue on Thursday May 6th.

Who would have thunk it?

Not more than a few short months ago, the veteran England defender and former Arsenal vice-captain was getting accustomed to the reality of plying his trade in the 4th tier of the English football hierarchy.

Playing in front of a measly crowd of 6400 fans (and that’s 1200 if you get anal about just the ones who can sit) at Christie Park when Morecambe hosted his retirement club Notts County, was a far cry from the glory days that Campbell enjoyed at the top echelons of English football.

Many eyebrows were raised when Campbell sought a retirement package with the Magpies following the deceptive lure of his former England manager Sven Goran Erikson. The footballing world was left even more baffled when Campbell walked out of Meadow Lane into the reservation after only a few games, bringing his League 2 adventure to a premature end.

What people least expected was that Campbell would be playing in the Champions League again, not least for Arsenal. The distance between Meadow Lane and the Nou Camp isn’t just a literal one, it’s a journey never been travelled before and never likely to be travelled ever again.

The decision Sol Campbell took of returning to familiar surroundings in a bid to keep fit while on gardening leave was the start of a chain of events of such a remarkable revival. I was pleased about Wenger’s decision to grant Campbell’s request to train with the Arsenal team at London Colney to keep his fitness in check.

I never thought in a million years that the Arsenal manager would turn to the veteran defender to play a crucial role in the second half of Arsenal’s season. Besides, Wenger doesn’t do re-signings; well, at least that was his M.O up to that point.

I don’t doubt though that from a physical and mental point of view, Arsenal would have never called upon the services of Campbell if the staff at London Colney as well as the other Arsenal first teamers didn’t feel he was up to the job.

The fact that he’s still playing, albeit as cover for injured players, is a testament to him as a consummate professional and role model to many young players, not least in the Arsenal squad and academy.

I‘ll go as far as saying that the more games that Campbell has played, the better and sharper he has become. What he lacks in pace, he compensates with intelligence, and you really can’t ask for any more. I think it’s fair to say that Campbell has been Arsenal’s best player in April.

So what is it about this 35 year old veteran who refuses to go away with a whimper.

Recent reports suggest that Campbell is angling for a contract extension at Arsenal. In January, I would have questioned the wisdom of even contemplating giving Campbell more than a 5 month run out, but now, I think extending his contract for one year will be one of the best moves Arsene Wenger can make.

There’s just something about Sol that is infectious and my sense is that this young Arsenal squad needs to develop and nurture this characteristic. It’s a mental strength and fighting spirit that is different from what most of the young team have experienced, and it’s a determination to earn the right to wear the Arsenal shirt.

I don’t expect that Campbell would play many games in the new season, and I fully expect that Arsenal will sign a defender (maybe 2 if Gallas and Silvestre leave), but I would suggest that keeping Campbell in the squad will be one of the best moves Wenger can make to improve the squad.

I would also suggest that there is a level of respect that Campbell has earned by his endeavours these past few months and this stands him in good stead with his colleagues and Arsenal training staff. From this point of view, I would be very supportive of Campbell’s role at Arsenal evolving into a player/coach function and that he continues to influence the squad even if he is not on the pitch.

Wenger clearly trusts the veteran and I hope he can use him to bridge the gap between Arsenal’s reality and aspiration. What Sol has achieved in his few months back at Arsenal has in no way harmed his chances of continuing a long relationship with the club and extending his legendary status.

Coaching to me seems a natural progression for the 35 year old defender and where better to start this than at Arsenal. We couldn’t do any worse than having him impart his leadership skills, quality and fighting spirit to the team. Thomas Vermaelen for example, has already expressed his appreciation and acknowledgement of what Campbell brings to the team, and the fact that he is learning a great deal from the former England defender.

Meanwhile, there’s a small matter of a world cup a few weeks away. I’m shopping for a good price already because the hottest ticket in the book making industry will be the one holding the odds for Sol Campbell to be recalled to the England squad for the world cup.

It’s not just his form and dependability, Fabio Capello hasn’t been blind to the revival of the veteran and who would argue that Campbell’s form is not better than some of the inexperienced names being touted for defence duty for the 3 Lions.

Campbell’s fitness for example, is more of a certainty than that of the England captain Rio Ferdinand.

Wouldn’t it be great to see him complete the revival from Meadow Lane in the throes of the 4th tier of English football, to taking part in England’s bid for the ’Coupe du Monde’? Dare I even say crown it with a freak opportunity to captain the 3 Lions.

If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.

This has perhaps been one of the most difficult weeks for Arsenal supporters in recent times. Many are still holed in the bunker waiting for a favourable display against Manchester City before they chance a glance and thrust their heads above the parapet.

Reason dictates that it’s time to lick our wounds and move on, yet there is a burning desire for the players to firstly redeem themselves and provide a respectable and gallant performance for the remaining games of the season.

It’s fair to say that what has hurt most supporters more in the past fortnight is the manner in which we lost the last 3 games; with the opposing teams rolling us over and tickling our bellies, before sending us back on our way to London Colney with a pat on the back.

Many supporters are still nursing bruised egos as relentless pressure from all quarters has made it more difficult to find solace or a place to ‘plant’ one’s head to shelter from the cloud of storm that circles Arsenal.

Everybody has had something to say about the failures, perceived or not, of Arsenal’s season. From the media hacks to the pundits, from supporters to former Arsenal players, from agents scheming for new contracts for their players to clubs shamelessly chasing the signature of allegedly disgruntled Arsenal players, from the groundsman at Stoke City to the tea lady at White Hart Lane; Arsenal’s performance has been dissected from every possible angle, contemptuously masticated over, and spat out to anyone who will listen.

Yet as we demand that our team goes back to the drawing board and arrest the situation and then show tangible improvement, as supporters, we also need to question and reflect on what we do next. Many inside and outside the club will point out that all the exquisite and attacking football counts for nothing if our defensive walls are cracked as often as they are.

It’s like we’re a team of two extremes, one of playing the most attacking and entertaining football, and one of capitulating when undue pressure is applied on us. Our game strategy works well on the proviso that we break teams down early enough or wear teams down with our ball carrying and technical ability.

It’s more like a strategy of ’We’ll score more than you’. Where a team is able to absorb our attack and hit us when we run out of ideas we struggle with the discipline to see the difficult patches through.

Despite the perceived or actual short-comings of the team, the reaction over the last 10 days in the Arsenal blogosphere makes me pose a question as to what supporters really expect and demand. Granted, the blogosphere is only but a representative sample of the millions who support Arsenal around the world, but it’s a valid cross section nonetheless, and a credible measure of the temperature out there.

My sense is that the bitterness from the collective disappointment, the raw emotion and exacerbation of our defeats by the teams laissez-faire approach in the last couple of games has contributed to the general lack of perspective that could help measure the true progress of this team.

The reaction features extremes from those who feel that the only solution is Wenger’s head on a silver platter, to those who are more circumspect or realistic about the rate of the teams progress. A balance has to be achieved to allow the gains made so far to continue as tweaks are made to resolve the issues that seem to revolve around the mental fortitude of the team.

For some, this is not enough as they quickly point out that it’s pretty much groundhog day when it comes to Arsenal falling short at the last hurdle for yet another season. The view from those who subscribe to this school of thought is that major surgery is needed as enough time has been given to this cohort to prove their worth but they’ve failed time and time again. They don’t want to go on with ’The Arsene Wenger Project’ because it doesn’t do what it says on the tin anymore.

I’m reminded of the story a couple of weeks ago when an American woman fedexed her adopted son back to Russia because he didn’t do what it said on the tin anymore. Apparently, the authorities in Russia who’d shopped her this lovely young and promising lad for adoption didn’t point out his deficiencies and the woman had tried all she could but felt she had got a raw deal and promptly shipped the kid back with a letter of disgruntlement to boot.

The feeling you get is that a section of supporters want to throw this team to the wolves; put them on that one way Emirates flight out of Arsenal with a packed lunch and a souvenir to thank them for their time at the club. Some would throw the manager on that flight too.

Supporting your team though, takes more than throwing in the towel when times are hard. It’s easier to seek alternatives with the ’grass is greener on the other side’ mentality, than to work hard to continue the challenging journey you started. Even during tough journeys, it’s inevitable that you will make changes along the way as some things work and others don’t, but this is markedly different from abandoning the journey and starting over.

Sober reflection will still overwhelmingly point out that Arsenal has progressed both on and off the pitch, but there is still work to be done. If your only measure of success is a trophy, then you will clearly be disappointed that this hasn’t happened soon enough.

Off the pitch, Arsenal has retained its position as the 3rd most valuable football club in the world (valid as of yesterday’s Forbes Magazine publication) behind Manchester United and Real Madrid. A listing on a Forbes index is certainly one valid measure of success.

On the footballing side, the development of all levels of the team through the academy to the first team continues steadily on the path it started. It still is an essential part in securing the long term stability of the team by developing our own crop of players and building the team spirit and togetherness that are the hallmarks of a solid foundation for the future.

We still need the reinforcements to supplement the gains in the first team and these will come. It’s a far cry though from the alternative being suggested following yet another season without a trophy.

While Wenger and his staff get on and refresh the squad for a new campaign, as supporters we can only but dust ourselves off and prepare for the next roller coaster ride.

If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.