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IDENTITY CRISIS


Yes it's been a while, and not a great deal has changed at the Arsenal: nothing that would draw one out of blog hibernation but I got to thinking (yes I know.a dangerous pastime), thinking about what this club is now.

 Yesterday (Watford v Arsenal)  was another 90 minutes where the frustration, anger and apathy gave way way to ennui. The feeling is not so much about what has been lost but what is there to gain. 

 Most clubs have targets in the top division be it staying up, breaking into a European spot, finishing comfortably mid table with perhaps the bonus of a decent cup run, and then there are those clubs aiming to win the league and taking steps to give them the best opportunity to do so. And where do we fit in? what's our club's aspiration? I don't think anyone knows. Are we expected to beat Watford away and on what grounds is that expectation built? Are we looking at a serious title challenge or achieving European glory in the Europa League?

 Again, I don't know. I don't know what the powers that be want aside from money. There seems no clear strategy on and off the pitch as to what kind of a football club we want to be. As a business, as cack handed as that side of things can be managed, we still generate income for the shareholders which seems to be the over riding priority.

 It's now really rather irrelevant that the manager can't manage gifted players, or motivate mediocre ones, that he can't make rational decisions on team election or that he doesn't know how to utilise his squad or spot a decent young player anymore. The fact is that even with Messi, Ronaldo and Troy Deeney the space that Arsenal currently occupy is one of bland mediocrity.

 I can't see that changing anytime soon. We will win more games than we lose, we will have moments of joy and moments of disappointment but what we won't have is anything to get enthused by. We are 'fair to middling' and frankly that is not acceptable on the resources at our disposal. It is not acceptable given the exorbitant price of tickets and it is not acceptable on the back of promises made.

 If there was a whiff of change and effort to improve then most would accept this and show a bit of patience but there is no revelatory moment ahead as it has not happened in over a decade it would be naive to expect it now.The Regime dictates stagnancy and that's what we have. Groundhog Day as an analogy has been used to death, maybe a better one is Dead Of Night: a reccuring dream with no positive outcome.
What we currently have is  a team without any personality and a club with no identity.

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so I said...

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