Tag Archives: She Wore

The 4 criteria Arsene Wenger’s replacement must fulfil

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Over the last week, a lot of names have been tossed about as to who should be the next Arsenal manager. De Boer, Klopp, Martinez, Simeone & Heynckes are 5 such names. It has been done to death. Everyone has their own opinion. Often they differ. After numerous attempts to come up with a short list, I decided to go down a different route, by not asking ‘who should replace Wenger?’ but ‘what attributes must Wenger’s replacement have’. I came to the conclusion that the next Arsenal manager, whether he be in place this summer or 3 years down the line, must fulfil 4 criteria.

Be a Proven Winner

The single largest argument as to why Wenger must leave is due to it being 8 years without a trophy. To many, this is deemed as not good enough. The question has always been asked ‘If Wenger managed Chelsea, Barcelona or Real Madrid, would they have stood for 1 year without a trophy, let along 8?’ The answer is no.

Therefore, it is important that the next Arsenal manager is a proven winner. What is the point of replacing Wenger for not winning anything with a manager who has also not won anything? This was my single biggest argument against David Moyes. Why bring the Scot in to replace Wenger, when he himself has not won anything in 10 years of managing Everton?

The other important factor is in modern day football, where ego’s rule, the new manager has to be able to ‘put his medals on the table’. One reason Villas Boas failed at Chelsea as he did not command immediate respect. How could he instruct a player such as Petr Cech (who at the time had 3 PL, 3 FAC, 2 LC in his cupboard), when all he had was a couple of Portuguese medals and a Europa League – before you shout out about Mourinho, he had a Champions League in his pocket.

If the current manager is not a proven winner, he is not worth pursuing. Is Martinez or Laudrup with their single English domestic cup honour a proven enough winner? Probably not. I look at Pep Guardolia. He could walk into the Bayern Munich dressing room and, despite them having just won the treble, could hold his own as a winner.

Arsene Wenger’s replacement must have both the winning mentality, and the trophies to back himself up.

Long Term Plans

I am not talking about Glenn Hoddle’s 5 year plan that he announced when he took over Tottenham (he last just after 2), I am talking about a manager who wants to come in and win multiple honours over the next decade. Someone who targets the 2014/15 Premier League, but also someone who wants to win the 2019/20 titles & the 2024/25 title.

Mourinho is a short term manager. He is brilliant if you want short term success. He will come in, manage for a couple of years, then move on to his next club. Rather then continue to rebuild teams within the current club, he moves on. What this results in is a lot of money spent – as he always looks at the next season, rather than the next 5 -, a high turnover of players, and often the next manager coming in and having to manage with one arm behind their back, as they have to manage out the expensively assembled players his predecessor signed, whilst spending millions getting in new players to get his own short term success.

We need someone who wants elongated success. Or at least is willing to leave the club in better shape then he joined. It is very easy to come in, spend £100m, and leave after 2 years, leaving nothing for the next man. A sign of a top manager is always someone who leaves the club in a better state than when he joined. Yes, I would love the next manager to come in and manage for 1,000 games, but this is unrealistic. So as a compromise, we need someone who wants the short term success, but is also able to work to a long term plan, such as that of the Liverpool boot room. Keep your eye on the long game, whilst not taking it off the short term.

All Round Ability

There are 3 types of managers.

The first is the manager. Ferguson became this towards the end of the reign. They are rarely on the training ground, leaving it to their coaches. They pick the team, they give the team talks, all they care about is match day. Harry Redknapp is another example of this. They are not great coach’s, but have attributes elsewhere, such as signing players.

Secondly, you have the coach’s. They are technically brilliant. The first on the training ground, the last off. They know everything, and are always up skilling themselves. Andres Villas Boas certainly falls into this category. They are often given the title of head coach, and have to work with a director of football above them.

You then have a special group or men. The all rounders. Arsene Wenger is was one. Ferguson was in his early reign. Mourinho is one. They do everything. They run the club from top down. They manage the team. They sign the players. They take the coaching sessions. They instruct the scout’s where to go. It could perhaps be argued that they eventually become power hungry dictators. That they become self-obsessed. That they are egocentric. They are control freaks.

The way Arsenal are currently set up, an all-rounder is what is required. Someone who wants to manage every aspect of the club, from picking his CEO to whether the tea girl uses Earl Grey or Assam. Frank De Boer has a massive team around him at Ajax, playing to Johann Cruyff’s beat. Is he suitable? Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp is his own man, responsible for everything.

We need a man who is a top coach and a top manager.

International Reputation

Q. Why did Mesut Ozil chose Arsenal? A. Arsene Wenger.

Whilst money is king in the current game, the manager can also play an important part. Would Mesut Ozil have left Real Madrid to play for David Moyes, Brendan Rodgers or Tim Sherwood? He probably does not even know who they are.

Last year, Everton finished 6th in the Premier League. David Moyes then joined Manchester United. He then spent the summer trying, and struggling, to recruit players from Europe. The money was there, Manchester United, one of the biggest names in world football, were Champions, so why did he struggle? My theory is players, when told that David Moyes wanted them at Manchester United, answered ‘David Who?’ – He ended up signing just one player, who used to play for him, and who he did not really want.

Another question:

Who currently manages the 6th placed team in Spain, Germany, France & Italy? Hint: The clubs Real Sociedad, Borussia Monchengladbach, Marseille & Parma.

Not only do you not know, players will not know. Despite them being professional footballers, they are thick, they are isolated. They would not have a clue. Players want to be improved. They want to be coached by the best. Would Roberto Martinez become an important factor in the pursuit of Julian Draxler? Probably not. Meanwhile, the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Frank De Boer are world known names, for either managing or playing. They have that international reputation.

Oh, and the answer was Jagoba Arrasate, Lucien Favre, Jose Anigo and Roberto Donadoni.

 

People might argue that I am setting the bar high. That only perhaps a dozen men in world football right now fulfil all 4 criteria. But we are Arsenal, and we need to set that bar high. Like we are all demanding the best players, not someone with ‘potential’, we need to do the same with the manager. We do not need another Arsene Wenger, we need the best we can get.

Arsene Wenger is currently the 4th highest paid manager in world football. If we plan to pay the best, we need to ensure we get the best, Remember, the man they are replacing is a manger who was named coach of the decade in 2010. We should be looking for the next coach of the decade.

Feel free in the comments below to leave who you feel fulfils all 4 criteria.

Keenos

Barcelona ban proves cheats prosper

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Barcelona have just been handed a transfer ban by FIFA for breaking rules on the signing of international players aged under 18. Alongside the ban, they have also been fined £300,000. Whilst the size of the fine is negligible, the ban, if upheld, could be a disaster for the Catalan side, with Victor Valdes and Carlos Puyol both set to leave this summer.

Barcelona were not the only side to hit the headlines this morning for being a little bit naughty. The Dutch FA announced that they were to launch an investigation about the link between Chelsea and Vitesse Arnhem – with former officials of the Dutch club claiming that Chelsea coercing them to not qualify for the Champions League to ensure UEFA rules were not breached.

What does this mean for world football? Well it shows that whilst cheats may get caught, they also prosper.

The Champions League Semi-Final could well line up as:

Barcelona
Real Madrid
Chelsea
Bayern Munich

Barcelona

Real Madrid

  • May 01: Sold training ground to Madrid Regional Council for inflated rate of £170m, allowing them to wipe out all debt.
  • April 2013: European Commission launch investigation into Real Madrid after council paid Real Madrid €22.7m in ‘compensation’.

Chelsea

  • Sept 2005: Forced through a deal to sign John Obi Mikel, despite him already having signed a contract with Manchester United
  • Sept 2009: Banned for 2 transfer windows (later reduced to one) over Gael Kakuta deal.
  • April 2014: Investigated by Dutch over link with Vitesse Arnhem.

Bayern Munich

Despite what you think of Gazidas and Kroenke. At least they are not crooks and cheats. Saying that, with the current song being about ‘doing it The Arsenal Way’ maybe we should get involved in bribes, brown envelopes, et al as we have a good history of that!

Keenos

In Defence of Arsene Wenger

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As an avid supporter of Arsene Wenger and an empathetic Arsenal fan, understanding of current frustrations expressed by many a fellow Gooner I feel it is only right to contextualise our current predicament in support of one of football’s greatest managers.

Having reached 1000 games it’s easy to juxtapose the Wenger era by splitting it in two. The first half glittered with silverware, culminating in record breaking feats, broken in style and anti-climaxing with a bitter European cup final loss to Barcelona.

For the bemoaning supporters of late it is easy to compare this period as an equal to the one that followed it and discredit the last few years of not being of equal merit. However, Wenger’s achievements since that night in Paris are of equal greatness, I believe.

Having identified and cultured the globe’s rawest footballing talents into international superstars it called on Wenger to conflict his two biggest loyalties in football, his players and his club. Wenger had to pawn these players to fuel and accelerate the development and enhancement of the club – he put our club first.

To have created a conveyor belt of such consistent quality to be able to do this is an achievement in itself, unrivalled in England since Fergie’s class of 92 and perhaps only bettered by Barcelona. Yet to have to rely on this talent to compete and maintain a level high enough to be awarded a place amongst Europe’s elite each year is unparalleled.

I’d also afford Wenger some bitterness that those he’d placed his faith and loyalty in, and had seen an arguable level of success in doing so, did not repay the same faith and loyalty in standing by him to see it through – despite that same collection of players having extremely successful nights together; playing a Barcelona (in their peak) off the park and beating them at their own game at home, for example. Yet success isn’t awarded on such nights alone.

In light of the first half of Wenger’s reign it can seem hard to credit the cultivation of these players as success. However, in this time foreign investment has skewered the competitive landscape of the English game which has allowed urgency, impatience and desperation to seep in to our support, when in fact; it only heightens Wenger’s achievement.

We are towards the end of a first full season where we can compete on equal measure with the other financial forces in our league, only justified by our late signing of Mesut Ozil. This is done by earned right, not foreign spoils, through Wenger’s execution of a vision to propel us on to becoming a global force. The season has seen us plagued with injuries to crucial, match winning players that have left us fading at the final call, yet in a semi final of the FA Cup to offer some comfort nonetheless.

Ozil, himself much criticised, did not get the luxury of a pre-season training camp with the rest of the squad to aid his settlement into the side. Yet the initial excitement and goading that we are back as a force soon turned to finger pointing and criticism of player and manager alike.

I believe we have arrived at a point where we have taken the first step in developing from a side capable of a certain level of consistency, in keeping with financial assurity, to a point where we can begin to compete with the other clubs for Premiership glory.

Whilst this is unlikely to be done this season owing to recent disastrous results, in context, and in the much grander scheme of things, this has been a massive step forward for Arsenal and a sign that Wenger’s constraint in delivering us to this point has been for the greater good of the club. We are stable, secure and have significant assets. This is something fans should be thankful of Wenger for.

Whether this tenure has taken his toll on him, with the criticism and disregard from our support potentially denting his desire and confidence, and how this compounds and resonates with him may leave us bidding farewell to a man that has improved our club in equal measures to Herbert Chapman.

Personally, I’d like to see Wenger be given another season. A fair crack with the opportunity to invest and add to a squad which in fairness has been close over the course, but far away when competing head to head. He’s been guilty of some tactical errors, some clinical guile and either an oversight or blind faith in having one recognised striker the whole season.

However, we’ve seen genuine attempts in the transfer market thwarted, deals seemingly lined up for the summer and a genuine appetite to compete by using newly awarded resources. We are close. Wenger has got us close. He deserves the opportunity to fill the final pieces.

One summer to assemble and prepare a squad capable of winning the title should be afforded to a living club legend. Someone that has sacrificed inevitable glory overseas with elite club’s already primed for success – in favour of creating a legacy, which he may not be at the helm to fulfil.

Wenger’s been criticised for being well paid, yet he could have easily doubled his wages and paid less tax by taking one of these moves. By what he’s achieved we’ve repaid our debt early by selling key players and having increased sponsorship yet not faded into obscurity. On this basis our club is extremely healthy and Wenger should be financially rewarded.

Frustrations are vented at the board over record breaking commercial deals, yet Wenger has maintained our relative competitiveness in order to secure such large sums of money. He’s not accountable for how these funds are reallocated.

He’s delivered us, early, to a point where we can remove the handbrake. Peeking over the neighbours’ fences shows that whilst we may not have kept up with the Jones’ – we’re not a million miles away. This is of significant credit given the millions of investment they had to flood their squads with to catch up.

I still trust in Arsene Wenger to do right by the club and Arsenal fans owe it to him to support him, and hope that next season we can take the next step.

Jack