Tag Archives: Ivan Gazidis

Ivan Gazidis sticks two fingers up to crying journalists

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The “fall-out” from the appointment of Unai Emery has been hilarious.

Journalists and ITK’s across the country (and beyond) trying to slate the club, and Ivan Gazidis over the appointment.

They have attempted to highlight a messy process, one which Ian Wright called “like being in a Sushi restaurant”. I have seen people moaning about Arsenal talking to 10 possible candidates.

The reality is, Arsenal did not leak what was happening, and no one on the outside knew what was happening.

This resulted in journalists and Twitter attention seekers literally making stories up for clicks, for attention. And it was this that made it appear the recruitment process was messy.

Whether it be Max Allegri house hunting, or Mikel Arteta “all but signed”, these outlets literally created the appearance that Arsenal did not know what they were dong, with fabricated stories, than have the cheek to then write that Arsenal did not know what they were doing, based on how many of these fabricated stories were out there.

https://twitter.com/KeenosAFC/status/999017823098802177

Ivan Gazidis, in discussing the appointment of Unai Emery, put a sword into the heart of every journalist and Twitter ITK that pretends to have inside knowledge.

Gazidis on appointing Unai Emery:

“I know that [Emery] came as a bit of a surprise & perhaps there was one or two rewrites necessary [in the press]. Those who know won’t speak & those who speak won’t know

Gazidis on the process:

“We formed a three-person committee lead by me with Sven Mislintat & Raul Sanllehi. We wanted progressive, entertaining football, a personality that fits Arsenal’s values & a record of developing young players – pushing players & demanding more from them.”

“We analysed & looked through, on the basis that every coach in the world would be interested, & made a long list of eight coaches, all of whom were interested & who took place in extensive, in-depth interviews with the three of us. None of them withdrew their interest.”

“We interviewed Unai on the 10th of May, as part of that process, making a unanimous recommendation to the board on the 18th of May, with a 100-page dossier that supported his candidacy.”

“We met with London-based members of the board this week & then flew to Atlanta to meet Stan & Josh Kroenke. All of the board members were energised by the recommendation & enthusiastically supported it.”

“Unai has a competitive passion, detail & a love for football that made us feel this fit was exactly right for Arsenal.”

So there you have it.

Nothing was linked. It was a tight circle of people who know. And those that knew did not speak. The appointment might have “come from nowhere” but Emery was actually interview 2 weeks ago, and recommended to the board last Friday.

All the talk of Arteta being offered the job, or Vieira being called Monday for a “token” interview is clearly made up rubbish.

Gazidis, Mislintat & Sanllehi did everything right.

They spoke to plenty of people. Made a decision. Kept it quiet. They have done a good job.

And journalists and ITKs are a little upset that the club did not leak anything to them, and are taking out their upset on the club.

PS: Fair play Emery for conducted his press conference in English. Another 2 fingers up to the press who clearly do not have a clue.

Keenos

Ivan Gazidis opts for plastic surgery for return to red light district

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If you haven’t seen The Deuce, I highly recommend it. The American drama, set in 1970s New York, focuses on prostitution and the eventual legalisation of porn in the city – and although James Franco is in it, thankfully he doesn’t play one of his familiar frat boy roles. I liken our beloved Arsenal to its rather exotic heroine, Candy.

Candy’s looks – once bodacious; now ill-favoured – have seen her confined to working the Premier League’s darker alleys, yearning for a sniff of the continental luxury she once took for granted. Slowly fading into the city’s orifices, she’s come to a juncture in her life.

Does she undergo a light makeover and ply the backstreets in the same old manner, or does she transform herself, via copious plastic surgery, into something new, vibrant, and, dare I say it, sexy. It’s worth a ponder as she pricks at a sweaty-palmed Ivan Gazidis voodoo doll in a grubby New York motel room.

At first, it seemed we were littered with lower-risk light makeover options and so we pursued these familiar souteneurs with a proven ability to rule. Was it the familiar curls of Ancelotti and Allegri, or lack thereof in the case of Monaco’s Jardim, we craved? It seemed when Arsene’s departure was announced, we shook our money-maker at the roadside but were distressed to find we weren’t quite so irresistible as we once were. Enrique, Simeone, Jardim, they all hesitated. Allegri’s flirtation – our first choice – proved to be more extortion than seduction.

Then emerged a ghoulish banshee with eyeshadow like the rock band Kiss. A figure of unparalleled disinterest and infinitely less seduction. Brendan Rodgers. Fans are rightly calling to unite behind the next manager regardless of the selection but even a toadstool oozing hallucinogenic spores couldn’t awaken the faintest of stirs in 42nd street’s most deplorable with that name. Luckily, the menacing threat of Brendan 2.0 drifts day by day –  7/1, 12/1, now 16 – and a breath of optimism can be taken once more.

Cue the influx of the more mysterious procurers as the Club became more open in its search – Željko Buvač and Rui Faria, the long-term servants of Klopp and Mourinho, both leaving their posts. They were too fresh. Tuchel, the king of the younger bunch, went to Paris despite admitting being attracted by our mating call – another one missed.

But emerge from the ashes, our former-captain and Spanish stallion Mikel Arteta. Mikel Arteta who’s never managed a football team but has learnt and received compliments from the very best. In truth, it’s not a choice many wholeheartedly called for when ‘Arsene’s decision’ was announced. However, as developments unfold, the more obvious a selection he becomes.

Is there a danger Arteta could become another hussy of Gazidis’ desire – a manager who will fit into his profitable system rather than take the reigns hostage and revitalise in the manner that Mourinho, Guardiola, Klopp, and Conte all have at individual moments? The past week’s rumours reassure that Arteta may be rather more bolshie than first thought.

It’s clear the Club are pursuing plastic surgery rather than an airbrushing, and rightfully so. That’s been evidenced by the widespread clear out of senior staff who are now plodding their way to the next deuce – Las Vegas for the lucky or Atlanta and Detroit for the rather less so.

We need a young and fiery manager to reanimate not just the team, but the atmosphere that surrounds the Club. The likes of an Henry or Vieira was always fanciful and impractical. Arteta on the other hand, despite being younger than both, seems groomed and suited for the trade. Is it conceivable that he can still meet our uncompromising expectations despite it being his first role in charge? Something tells that Arteta won’t be stripped of his innocence quite so readily in the way that Gary Neville was.

With cautious optimism, we shall unite and see. Whatever happens, at least it won’t be the street’s plainest urchin, Brendan Rodgers.

Tom Kershaw

Just how broken and divided is Arsenal?

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The divisions with Arsenal are deep, very deep.

We saw a glimpse of it when many of Arsenal’s outfield players failed to celebrate Alexis Sanchez’s opener against Crystal Palace, prompting Thierry Henry to claim of a rift in the dressing room.

Leaks from the dressing room were that Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey did not see eye to eye, and that this was creating divisions within the squad.

Hector Bellerin hinted at further issues with Sanchez when he suggested that Sanchez often “demanded too much” from other players, even when they were already giving 100%.

With Sanchez gone, it seemed like the divisions on the pitch might disappear. But further leaks from the dressing room indicate more divisions within the squad.

Firstly on the leaks. Things are never good when a player (or member of coaching staff) is leaking arguments and disagreements to the media. It creates an atmosphere of mistrust, that the dressing room is not sacred, and can actually lead to further divisions as finger pointing begins.

The Arsenal dressing room seems to be split. There have been divisions before.

In Arsene Wenger’s early days, there was a French clique, due to the amount of French players at in the squad. There was even rumours that French was the official language within the dressing room. These were dismissed, and ultimately Arsenal being successful ensured any disagreements did not grow further.

As Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole showed at Manchester United, players hating each other does not really matter when the team are winning trophies.

The biggest clique at Arsenal seems to be the Bundesliga / German clique. It contains the likes of Mesut Ozil, Granit Xhaka, Shkdoran Mustafi and Sead Kolašinac.

New signings Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang have also reportedly joined this clique.

The issue seems to be is that this group of players contains the highest paid players in the club, those that cost the club the most. It also has some of the clubs biggest underperformers.

Granit Xhaka and Shkdoran Mustafi cost over £70m between them. They are arguably the two worst players in our starting XI. It is a struggle to name worse Arsenal signings, taking into account cost and that they were expected to come in and solve a lot of Arsenal’s problems.

Sead Kolašinac came to the club on a free transfer in the summer, immediately taking the place of the popular Nacho Monreal.

Due to it being a free transfer, he was amongst the highest earners at the club, reportedly on £120,000 a week. At the time, only Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette were on more.

When you consider that he is on twice as much as Monreal, who is popular and hard working, and has out performed Kolašinac, it is not hard to see why an eye of jealousy has been cast.

And the you have Mesut Ozil. £300,000 a week. And yet seems to have a soft underbelly and a tendency to go missing when the going gets tough.

When players are rolling up their socks and digging deep, and look across at Ozil swaning around the park, it must be frustrating knowing that he is on 3 times your salary.

Salary is probably part of the issue.

With Jack Wilshere currently in negations with the club who are trying to reduce his salary, and Aaron Ramsey also set for a new contract, they must wonder why their decade of service is being disregarded for these new signings. Who are performing worse than them.

The fact that the underperformers are players that came in for big money and on high salaries are part of the same clique exabarates the situation further.

There also seems to be jealousy throughout the club.

Reports a few weeks ago were that Aaron Ramsey had become jealous of Jack Wilshere.

He was frustrated that the injury prone Englishman got so much praise from the fans, whilst he was often criticised. Even though he outperforms Wilshere.

Now whilst this is just rumours, I can see the situation being true, not just with Ramsey and Wilshere, but with a lot of other players and Wilshere.

No other player at the minute gets their song sung other than Wilshere. And he seems to be immune to criticism.

Despite poor performances, Arsenal fans demand the club pay him what he wants ands go above and beyond when defending him. I imagine Ramsey is not the only one who gets frustrated with constant criticise of themselves, whilst Wilshere gets praised.

Wilshere can also be petulant and arrogant. I imagine in an argument, he uses the fact that he is a fans favourite.

You then have Hector Bellerin.

He wanted away in the summer, and up until the Brighton game had played every single minute in the Premier League. He was told 2 hours before kick off that he would not be playing.

Before then, he was untouchable. Performing poorly, whilst speaking out against fans. The fans that Wilshere loves.

It was interesting to see Jack Wilshire completely contradict Bellerin in an interview a few days after the fall-out of Hector’s Oxford Q&A. Further proof that the dressing room is divided.

You have to wonder what affect some players who have left had.

The likes of Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and the injured Santi Cazorla. Big, popular characters within the squad. None of whom are around anymore.

Losing these big characters diminished the French and English cliques, as they were allegedly the “leaders” and most popular in those cliques. The alpha males, perhaps.

By losing such big characters, it created a power vacuum which, alongside Ozil’s new contract, made the Bundesliga / German clique the most powerful in the club. And it seems to be those players who are getting the blame for our poor performances.

It is not just on the pitch there are divisions, however. It is off the pitch as well.

This time last year, it is documented that Ivan Gazidis wanted change.

Arsene Wenger’s contract was coming to an end, and he wanted to explore other options. He also wanted to look at bringing in a Director of Football to reduce Wenger’s power on the club.

A Director of Football was logical.

As CEO, Gazidis runs the business side of the club. Arsene Wenger ran the football side, he was king maker. Bringing in a Director of Football would leave Wenger managing the team, whilst the new man would oversee the development of the entire club, from youth systems to scouting to contracts.

Wenger put his foot down and fell out with Gazidis over his desire to hire a Director of Football.

Ultimately it fell to the board to make a decision on the future of the club. The old boys Keswick and Harris could not be awoken from their slumber to make a decision, leaving it to majority share holder Stan Kroenke.

Eventually he sided with Wenger, giving the Frenchman a new 2 year deal.

With Wenger and Kroenke on one side and Gazidis on the other, the club was pulling in different directions. Then up stepped Josh Kroenke.

It is rumoured that the younger Kroenke agreed with Ivan Gazidis’ view on how the club should be run. And with him taking more of an interest in many of his fathers sports investments, was able to back up Gazidis in his catalyst of change.

Despite getting a new contract, in came Sven Mislintat, Raul Sanllehi and Huss Fahmy. These are Gazidis’ men.

So there are now clear divisions. Stan Kroenke, Wenger and his yes men on the training ground, then Gazidis and his employees who were bought in above and alongside the manager to work with him.

With so many disagreements off the training ground and in the boardroom, it is no surprise that on the pitch players are unable to show a united front.

The obvious step is to remove Wenger and his coaching set up.

Let Sanllehi and Gazidis bring in the man they want, and unit behind him as manager (or head coach). And then let that manager, with an iron fist, break the cliques that Wenger has allowed to form.

With Wenger still at the helm, Arsenal will remain a broken unit on and off the pitch.

Keenos