“Hopefully now that those ‘cowboys’ have lost control of Liverpool, real matters can convene.” That was my original opening line before I heard news of a Gillett and Hicks backlash. The ‘biggest case’ in Liverpool’s history has been the dreariest ride for everybody else. They like a sad story up in the north east to test their hardcore support. Even when they are winning, LFC seems bogged down in tragedy. Liverpool is a city of high tension and it rubs off on the fans, as is often the case with Tony Evans on The Game podcast. He is a good journalist and this week he was in favour of Roy Hodgson being shown the door. At times like this we can count ourselves lucky for having Arsene Wenger.
Liverpool allocated Hodgson and the club had a man who could wind up Steven Gerrard into the unstoppable driving force behind a successful team. But Gerrard is more than just a Liverpool player, he is also a fan, and he might be more disillusioned with matters off the field than somebody like Maxi Rodriguez. Then there’s Hodgson’s signings. Watch them play and you’ll have the same expression on your face as if you were staring into the dirty confines of a neglected bowl of washing-up, one that reluctantly needs seeing to. At times like this we can count ourselves lucky for having Wenger.
Wenger has been always been frugal. And his arms have got shorter, and his pockets deeper, since the Emirates project made headway. Yet despite our criticisms of him, he has consistently invested in players of highest standard, even if sometimes their efforts for the club last just two or three seasons. Ironically, our frustration with him this year is not over who he has signed, but only who he hasn’t, in the goalkeeping area of course. Hodgson has a vast knowledge of European football and so we might think he has an eye for a signing. Paul Konchesky, Christian Poulson and Raul Meireles though, pretty much form the shitty cutlery and chipped china festering at the bottom of Liverpool’s stagnant kitchen sink.
At least Rafa Benitez had the power to entice quality players to Liverpool even if they did prove few and far between. Whatever the club’s status or position in life there was always a chance La Liga’s brightest talent could be persuaded to join Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres. Can Hodgson bring in anybody of the sort? Thinking about Wenger today, the worry is that there is nobody to replace him with the power to bring in the class of player he does. Yes, some would have been better off plying their trade dishing out food for prison inmates, but that small collection is excusable considering the steady quality that turn out to be Arsenal folklore. Just look at the decorative boards outside of the Emirates on matchdays!
Could you be as joyous today as fans were when Dennis Bergkamp scored against Bolton in 1996 to ensure Arsenal of Uefa Cup qualification? Since Arsene Wenger came to the club the fans have been treated to many incredible Champions League nights. After indulging on so much football cream it’s a daunting to think how Arsenal fans would react without it, having something so sweet whisked away from the table only to be replaced by something as sour as The Europa League. The nightmare is that Arsenal slide down the table and become stuck there. This is the danger and Liverpool’s latest tragic story shows how easily it is done. At times like this we can count ourselves lucky for having Wenger.
For Wenger has the supremacy somebody like Hodgson will never have. Wenger has worldwide prestige. Hodgson is a recognised face also. He comes across as a great researcher of the game, an intellectual, but as of yet I fail to see his pulling power in the market. Were Wenger to spend boundlessly Arsenal could have more players in the Cesc Fabregas bracket. Usually players of the highest calibre want to play for Arsenal, in the Emirates, under Wenger, then wages and signing on bonuses slam the door shut. The fans keep hoping that one day Wenger will be as brazen as the rest, once the Emirates venture has been fully paid off.
The point is that because of Wenger Arsenal are all powerful regardless of trophies. Gone are the days of coming 10th one season, 4th another, then 12th and back to 5th. I don’t have to worry so much when we draw Valencia in the Champions League and fear John Carew. Arsenal have been a permanent sight in the competition since Wenger came, bringing TV, advertising and merchandising money along with it. Arsenal can’t afford to be without it, or Wenger. One day he will leave. Leave prematurely though and my vision this week in the wake of Liverpool’s ongoing circus is that Arsenal could become a similar spoof. Really try and imagine just one season where Spurs finish higher than Arsenal.
So those Kop fans who turned out at the courts in London this week will be forking out for another return ticket. In the best interests of Arsenal, no matter how testing is it to keep trucking through each season without anything in return, I hope his ticket is a one way pass. I was watching Harry and Paul the other night. The last sketch was called The Van Drivers’ Lament.
The Van Drivers’ Lament
If you didn’t see, it was basically a white van man’s song and dance about a woman broken down “right in the middle of the fucking road”. It was true genius. I feel like LFC with all their problems are that very woman right now, in the bloody way, and I can’t wait for them to be dragged aside so more compelling football matters can commence. With or without silverware, at least Arsenal are on the road, always moving, passing Liverpool by on the hard-shoulder. At times like this we can count ourselves lucky for having … Le Boss.
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