How bad are we

My latest published post. It is a particularly interesting question to me because I love analyzing how organizations function (or not), how they grow and what the strategy is. In real life though, very few people discuss what the process is, unless you're a significant stakeholder. Most people only focus on the short term. I would hazard a guess that the failure to address fundamental issues in the face of public pressure to deliver results now, is the most common outcome. What do people get so abusive over such things when their only investment is emotional? Or have I answered my own question?

I guess I'm an atypical Gooner. I don't demand success. Nor do I demand a certain style of play. Sure I loved Wengerball. But I also love a gritty performance. I just want to see that I've invested my energy and emotions in something that reinforces my faith in why I chose Arsenal in the first place. It's dumb, as Fran Lebowitz puts it, to support a sports team and get so worked up (like Spike Lee who interviews her about sports in an episode of Pretend It's A City). As she puts it, we don't win anything, we just watched somebody else win while on a sofa drinking beer. But we can't help it once we're sucked in. There's no turning back. 

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Arsenal were bad but not that bad
In the wake of the Reds’ loss to Madrid, Carey (frustrated Gooner) Yiembe asks if Liverpool were really that good against Arsenal or was Arsenal really rotten to the core.

The presumption here of course is that teams perform consistently. Clearly they do not, and cannot, particularly if they play twice in four days. For Arsenal fans who excoriated the team for that performance, and now double down because of this Champions League result, may I suggest an alternative perspective on that 0-3 defeat.

I watched the game after knowing the result and my initial reaction was that we weren’t that bad. Liverpool pressed us relentlessly all over the pitch (and I think paid the price somewhat last night) and we never got going. Still we were never really carved open and the goals were preventable. With some luck we might have escaped with a draw. So short answer is Liverpool were good but not that good and Arsenal were bad but not that bad.

I guess this isn’t going to be a popular view (in life most things are a bit ‘meh’) since there are so many strong opinions out there. I like to think though that most of us are a bit more balanced.

Is Arteta the worst manager ever or the right man for the job? “No”, and “I don’t know but I’m willing to stick with him for now”. There have been encouraging signs and a sense of identity we never saw with Emery (who was never that bad either).

Is Arsenal still a big club? Rather more complicated question that I think depends on what you want the answer to be. You will find good arguments either way. My answer to this question is connected to another.

Are the owners good for the club? Perhaps they mismanaged it for a while and we’re going to be paying the price for some time to come, but they have sanctioned two of the largest transfers in recent times. That is a sign that there’s ambition and they’ve backed it up. Though you can spend your way into the Championship.

When will we get back our top-4 trophy? I reckon it will take at least two more seasons. Much will depend on Arteta’s learning curve (if he’s still around), the summer clearout, and Project Youth Part Deux (inevitable really given the state of football finances).
Tired (of hyperbole) Gooner