The two most disappointed managers in England meet beneath Winter Hill this afternoon. Owen Coyle will doubtless still be hurting from the unforeseen and largely inexplicable events at Wembley last Sunday, though at least he may be permitted to regard the 5-0 drubbing as an aberration in an otherwise smooth-running season. Unlike Arsène Wenger, for whom life has become one slap in the face after another. Originally a witty and genial presence who brought a welcome erudition to English football, the Arsenal manager now cuts a pained and undeniably peevish figure, a creature beginning to shun the light because authority has been undercut by loss of credibility.
The exchange at the end of Wednesday's north London derby was typical. Harry Redknapp was left mugging into the television camera with his hand outstretched, as Wenger strode haughtily down the tunnel. While the impression given that the Arsenal manager had snubbed his Spurs counterpart was not strictly correct – Wenger did give Redknapp's sleeve a cursory tug before turning his back – the grinning home manager's depiction of his rival as a sour loser and crotchety self-obsessive was perfectly accurate. Redknapp had also seen two important points dropped but these days there is only one winner at playing to the gallery. Wenger has saddled himself with the role of permanent victim. Bang on cue, Sir Alex Ferguson has just confirmed he always thought Chelsea would be the greater threat this season. "Maybe Arsenal are better footballers, but Chelsea are the stronger team," the Manchester United manager said.
It should not have been this way. Not this season, at any rate. Perhaps Arsenal were due some sort of fallow period after the heady success of Wenger's early years, and any club trying to live within its means would find it difficult to compete with the cash injected into Chelsea and Manchester City, but this season Arsenal should have won the league. The opportunity was there. United were rarely convincing, especially away from home, City still a work in progress, Chelsea in sudden decline and Tottenham too dizzy with their climb into the top four and subsequent Champions League distractions to mount a serious bid for the title.
United will probably end up champions now, because they have not squandered quite so many points as their rivals, but the scoreless draw at Newcastle on Tuesday was entirely in keeping with their season. Just as Arsenal racing to a 3-1 lead at Spurs the following night, before being inexorably pegged back to 3-3 and ending up grateful to Wojciech Szczesny for keeping out Luka Modric's potential winner, neatly encapsulated the Gunners' campaign.
There is no suggestion that United do not deserve the title; the table never lies and, as Ferguson keeps saying, the most consistent team will finish on top. Yet Arsenal have frequently been excellent this season in a way that United have seldom managed. Should Ferguson's side hold their advantage to secure a historic 19th title one almost feels record books ought to append an asterisk to the achievement, together with a footnote explaining that Arsenal should have won the league that season, but forgot to sign a reliable goalkeeper/buy enough centre‑halves/hold on to important leads/spend more money/insert criticism of choice, using extra sheets of paper if required.
While every runner-up has a hard luck story, Wenger appears to be approaching the stage when he cannot listen to many more. Initially and unfairly dismissed as "a guru" by Ferguson when he came to England, Wenger quickly won respect and silverware because his methods so obviously worked. Premier League managers had not previously over‑burdened themselves with dietary innovation, knowledge of continental football and a high-tempo short-passing game, but Wenger showed the future. Now he is in the past, or at least moving towards it. His input no longer brings dramatic results, unless they are dramatic for the wrong reasons. Taken as a whole, even in a Carling Cup final against lesser opponents, the Gunners misfire.
This season should have been Wenger's swansong, the one where he answered his critics with a knowing smile and a fourth title, an impressive 13 years after the first. Instead it will almost certainly be remembered for Arsenal collapsing when 4-0 up at Newcastle, for throwing away not one but two interval leads against Spurs, for sending for Jens Lehmann, and for trying to pretend that Cesc Fábregas had not raised an uncomfortable truth when discussing his side's philosophy, whether or not his actual words had been faithfully rendered.
Not many clubs can honestly claim a philosophy. Most exist on the simpler expedient of sacking the manager or spending more money until results begin to improve. Arsenal are different, though not as different as all that. Once your own players start to question the success rate the game is probably up. Of course Arsenal still have a great chance next season, but they had an even greater opportunity this time. Chelsea and United can both be expected to strengthen over summer, City and Spurs will push on, and Liverpool could be back in the mix.
While it could be argued that Arsenal's season has been a case of so near yet so far, with Wenger deserving credit for perseverance and occasional highlights such as beating Barcelona, a sterner view would be that something needs to change if a team can finish in the top four every year for six years and not achieve anything else. To paraphrase Bob Dylan, Wenger's Arsenal have been shooting in the dark too long, and when something's not right it's wrong. But both parties will be lonesome should he go.
Source: Paul Wilson, The Guardian on 24 Apr 11
No comments:
Post a Comment