As usual at this time of year the games come thick and fast – Monday-Wednesday-Saturday for us this week.
Like citizens of the Gooner Republic I’m still basking in the warm glow of Monday’s victory over Chelsea. Chelsea I think are a salutary lesion in the dangers of being a rich man’s train set. Yes, they’ve had success but at what cost? Roman Abramovich appears fed up with pouring money into his toy which is no longer new and shiny. There’s also the looming UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations which will start to bite soon and come into full effect in 2015.
Any club who relies on a sugar daddy is asking for trouble. Just look at the fiasco being played out at Blackburn Rovers at the moment. They were catapulted to the Premier League title with Jack Walker’s money in 1994/95, powered by Walker’s estimated £600 million fortune. Like many rich men Walker didn’t like paying tax, something most rich folks regard as only for mere mortals, not the Titans of corporate greed.
After Walker’s death the club was owned by the Jack Walker Trust, who recently sold the club to Indian poultry giant Venkey’s. You couldn’t make up what’s going on at Ewood Park at the moment. Love or loath Big Fat Sam Allardyce (and it’s the latter for many, many Gooners) he’s got a proven track record at Notts County, Bolton Wanderers and at Ewood Park. He walked right into the middle of another ownership fiasco at Newcastle United, another of our great traditional football clubs owned by a rich egomaniac.
Chelsea has stuttered since José Mourinho had an ego clash with Roman Abramovich at Stamford Bridge, with Mourinho subsequently leaving the club. Let’s not overstate it – Chelsea won the Double last season, but they’ve failed (just) to win the glittering prize that the Russian oligarch really wants – the Champions League. This season we’ve seen the incomprehensible dismissal of assistant manager Ray Wilkins. Wilkins may not have been the greatest coach in the world but he provided an invaluable bridge between the players and the club. You can just see the lack of coherence and commitment in the play of all too many of Chelsea’s pampered millionaire stars at the moment.
Our inability to ascend from the plateau just short of the game’s commanding heights upon which we have been stuck since winning the FA Cup in 2005 and reaching the Champions League Final in 2006 has been and continues to be frustrating. Arsčne Wenger can appear to be single-minded to the point of bloody-mindedness at times, both in terms of his player recruitment policy and team tactics. There’s a cogent argument that the board lacks drive and a coherent strategic vision for our club.
We do have the great advantages of being very well set up to comply with the new financial fair play regulations and not being reliant on anything but the money we generate at the gate, from sponsorship and broadcasting however. We’re in control of our own destiny.
What that destiny will be this season we shall discover over the coming six months or so. As much as I enjoyed our victory over Chelsea we still aren’t the finished article. Łukasz Fabiański in goal continues to look capable of making mistakes at key stages. If it hadn’t been for an assistant referee’s offside flag on Monday he would have been debited with another embarrassing own goal. We also conceded yet another soft goal from a ball in the air. We also have to bear in mind that we were playing a Chelsea side bereft of confidence and seemingly unable to get through a game without pressing the self-destruct button.
On the positive side though Theo Walcott; Johan Djourou and Cesc Fàbregas were all excellent, although the latter still isn’t back to his very best yet. Jack Wilshere also had a decent game. If we can tighten up our play and concentration levels when we’re not in possession we can look forward to good things this season I believe. We need to continue the momentum of Monday’s win with three points against Wigan Athletic tonight.
Keep the faith!
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