DECOMPOSITION

 

The opening weekend of the Premier League Season has bought Arsenal's place in the scheme of things into sharp focus. The teams that finished above and around us last term, by and large, have had a great start; scoring goals and being generally expansive. The fun we were going to make out of, Harry Kane-less Spurs has been well and truly kiboshed by there overturning of the champions. The Arsenal have come out of this weekend as the fall guys.

The announcement of the extension of Granit Xhaka's contract and pay rise has arrived after a weekend of fan reflection and is hardly the sort of thing that will elevate spirits.

A risk averse performance against the Premier League new boys was as predictable as it was expected. Put simply, our bloated squad full of players we can't off load due to ridiculous contracts is such that there is a reliance on youth and if you rely on youth you need to give them the platform in which to express themselves. They do not get that with the way Arteta wants the team to play.

That rigidity is stifling and far too reactive. Brentford out worked and out performed the Arsenal team and only the most partisan would argue that they thoroughly deserved heir victory.

There was also the square peg in round hole philosophy seen in full effect. There are those that justify the loss on the absence of an out of sorts Aubameyang, a limited Lacazette, a promising Gabriel and Thomas Partey, who many are resting their hopes on, but the reality is that we should have a squad that can absorb these absences. 

Our terrible squad building, recruitment and selling has been an issue for ages and ages and ages so none should be surprised at where we find ourselves. I would normally go on, at this stage, to put forward some ideas on solutions and give you, dear reader, a glass half full paragraph or two, but in my view the glass is not only half empty it's virtually bone dry.

This is no knee jerk reaction to an opening day defeat it's just a realistic assessment of the perilous state our club is in. A state of affairs  that has been coming for some time.

I would like to think that the people in power at the club recognise  the need to rip it up and start again, but that's virtually an impossibility as they are in the pocket lining business. If my view is right then let's look at what can change. The manager: someone I've given the benefit of the doubt to is not the right man for the job. His inexperience is that chicken that has come home to roost.

The squad is the squad we are stuck with for the majority of the season and, that being the case, a manager who can get the most out of them (and understand the issues that come with managing a club of our stature) is a necessity if we are to arrest the decline.

Giving the clubs track record of being slow to act, I think we are in for a few more weeks of misery before any action is taken and even then I don't trust our senior staff to make any decision that benefits the club, only a decision that continues to improve their bank balance.

The stench of decomposition is engulfing our club and the vultures at the wheel continue to feast on the carcass.