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Old 07-04-14, 21:45
boundngag boundngag is offline
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I think it's very unlikely there will be any improvement. The decline has been on-going for nice years. He no longer seems to have man management skills; otherwise the players confidence would not be so brittle and they would not capitulate so easily. He was never tactically that good, but not when the game doesn't go well, he just seems to sit there and accept it. He seems unable to adapt his tactics to the situation in the game now. In the transfer market, yes he signed Ozil this summer, but it was last minute, not giving him enough time to adapt before the season started. Before he was able to sign lower value players with a lot of potential. He seems unable to spot these players now.

What I am saying is that to just cross your fingers and hope for improvement in the future after 9 seasons of decline is not going to achieve anything. He did not take over a poor team, he inherited one of the best sides in the country. For example, the defence was built by George Graham and it was Bruce Rioch that signed Dennis Bergkamp. Yes, there is a chance that a new manager would prompt a decline, but Arsenal are declining anyway. The difference would not be that severe in my opinion. The defeat to Everton seems symbolic to me. The old manager who plays attacking football, qualifying for the champions league, being replaced by the new.

I thin Kroenke and Gazidis need to act at the end of the season. If the season continues as it is going and Wenger still signs a new contract, I predict a strong adverse reaction among Arsenal fans. Given the stupidly high ticket prices, fans may stop going, which would damage Arsenal's business model. The problem is that neither Gazidis or Kroenke seem to want to hold Wenger accountable for the teams failings. Gazidis often seems intimidated by Wenger, which, given that Wenger is supposedly accountable to him, is a bad way to run the club. It also means that he and Kroenke are unlikely to sack Wenger, which is a problem as Wenger seems to be desperately clinging on to power (imho a lot like Ecclestone in F1!). This makes the most likely scenario that Wenger will sign a new contract, whatever Arsenal fans may think and the decline will continue. This season therefore could mark the end of Arsenal's participation in the Champions League for the foreseeable future.
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