ARSENALISM©

Its coming up to the end of the year at the Arsenal and, to paraphrase Jimmy Greaves; it’s been a funny old year. That’s putting it mildly, but let’s focus on events at The Emirates. 2020 saw the Arsenal win the FA Cup, again. A record-breaking 14th win in an empty stadium. A game in which we were viewed as underdogs, yet had overcome a very good Manchester City in the Semi Final. The significance of the FA cup seems to depend on who wins it, when we do it’s a case of “its only the FA Cup” but logic dictates that there are only a small number of trophies up for grabs each season. Liverpool, rightly won the League, the billionaires of Manchester City had to settle for the league Cup and we were the only other English club to win anything (giving us qualification to the Europa) not bad for a rookie manager. We also took home the Charity Shield. Again, not a massive deal but two things; you have to win something to compete in it and Liverpool were far and away the best team in the country...

  Have the chickens come home to roost at the Arsenal? Have we let the foxes in the Henhouse too often? Are we simply the headless chickens of the football world? How we came to be in our current predicament is a complex issue and much like the chicken and the egg conundrum, it is hard to explain. Management Under Wenger things began to deteriorate some years ago. A combination of stagnation in the management and coaching positions along with a culture where accountability was seldom at the forefront of thinking. An atmosphere where underachievement was not only tolerated but often celebrated. Unfathomable signings and offloading decent players either too early or on the cheap also punctuated the dark days of Wenger’s decline. Unai Emery was given something of a pig’s ear of a squad and was clearly employed based on his Europa League record. It was clear that once the fans turned against him his days were numbered. This wasn’t helped by his poor communications and erratic selection...