Following Saturday’s home defeat to Aston Villa, injury worries and a tough Champions League play-off match in Turkey on Wednesday, alarm bells are starting to ring at Arsenal, although the team recovered from a poor start last season.
Following Saturday’s home defeat to Aston Villa, injury worries and a tough Champions League play-off match in Turkey on Wednesday, alarm bells are starting to ring at Arsenal, although the team recovered from a poor start last season.
Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) have issued a statement saying that the club should not offer Arsene Wenger a new contract until a better assessment can be made of the team’s fortunes this season. His contract expires at the end of the season, but chief executive Ivan Gazidis was hopeful that Wenger would commit soon, raising the prospect that he could be in charge for two decades.
‘Ambitious football clubs invest the money they receive from their fans, and sometimes their owners, to make themselves stronger,’ said the AST. ‘Arsenal supporters pay some of the highest ticket prices in world football, providing the club with considerable financial resources, but the ambition and ability to use them appear to be missing. ‘
‘The fact that there is money available for squad-strengthening is not disputed. The AST’s independent analysis suggests that the amount is somewhere between £70m-£100m.’
It also wants American owner Stan Kroenke to take decisive action. ‘Stan Kroenke does not attend many Arsenal matches nor seem to have the time to devote to the affairs of Arsenal,’ the statement continued. ‘But it is clear to all that the football personnel he is ultimately responsible for are failing. The AST calls on him to appoint an independent expert to conduct a review of all football functions at Arsenal.’
Arsene Wenger argued that it was false logic to pin the cause of Saturday’s defeat on the club’s transfer policy. The players he already had at his disposal were perfectly capable of victory. ‘Even if you go on the Eiffel Tower and you throw the money away, you play with the players you have.’
Sometimes it seems one is not far from sardines and trawlers territory. One reporter has commented that attending Wenger’s post-match press conference was like attending a lecture on the philosophy of scientific method.
You can call it parsimonious realism or obstinate ponderousness. But for all the cerebral reflection, it may be that too much energy has been expended on a problematic chase for Luis Suarez rather than casting the net wider.