I wouldn’t have thought that Arsenal fans were particularly susceptible to brainwashing, but Arsene Wenger thinks that a section of them have been, presumably those who have been brandishing the slogan ‘spend some ****ing money’ at recent matches.
That doesn’t seem to be an entirely unreasonable request given that the club does have cash at its disposal and has a poor record of winning trophies in the recent past. Admittedly, it has been a seeming ever present in the Champions League, but you can’t parade your Uefa coefficient round the streets of Islington.
I wouldn’t have thought that Arsenal fans were particularly susceptible to brainwashing, but Arsene Wenger thinks that a section of them have been, presumably those who have been brandishing the slogan ‘spend some ****ing money’ at recent matches.
That doesn’t seem to be an entirely unreasonable request given that the club does have cash at its disposal and has a poor record of winning trophies in the recent past. Admittedly, it has been a seeming ever present in the Champions League, but you can’t parade your Uefa coefficient round the streets of Islington.
Wenger has often referred to the ‘excessive’ hyperbole of the media and the way in which the 24-news cycle has a created a climate of unfettered hysteria around the game. He has a point, indeed I am aware of the cycle myself, suddenly being summoned to the Sky studios or having the satellite truck arrive when it’s a slow news day.
Wenger thinks that the media agenda has led to supporters believing that their side are permanently teetering on the brink of crisis. He commented, ‘We live in a world which is very interesting, but very excessive. It is always excessive reaction, and the people in charge of that need to keep their distance from that more than ever.’
Now, I’ve nothing against a bit of cerebral distance and in a sense Wenger has built his distinctive style around that. I remember being at Highbury some years ago and Wenger’s pre-match interview had been shot in what looked like a library (although I think made up of false book fronts). However, Wenger is running a top football club, not a university economics department (difficult though that is in its own way).
Wenger argues, ‘Being responsible in life is doing things you think are right and not reacting to what people say.’ There is a certain French hauteur in that statement, one can almost imagine that Wenger had been to one of the Paris colleges that produce the country’s governing and business elite. (Wenger is a graduate of the entirely reputable University of Strasbourg which was his local university). But there’s a thin line between self-disciplined responsibility and complacency and arrogance.
I have great respect for Arsene Wenger as a manager. I think that he has helped to transform our conception of what a manager is and should be. But I do think that sometimes these days he has lost the plot. Indeed, he looks like a man under pressure.
There’s a case for getting out when you are ahead. It’s what I did in my own job and I have never regretted it. I am pleased with my second career, but Wenger could have a challenging and lucrative future. But perhaps nothing matches running a top club. And certainly I wouldn’t recommend that Wenger returns to his old discipline of economics.