The Brute Squad

Perhaps the most telling thing about the state of the current Arsenal team for me is that I no longer bellow and curse when they concede cheap goals. They’ve done it so often for such a long period of time that I am resigned to it now and I feel no surprise. I’m also no longer surprised when a so-called inferior side show more fight and determination than Arsenal do. I can’t get angry and I can’t marvel at it—it has become the new normal.

And that, above all else, is what must change if Arsenal are ever again to win a trophy.

The analysis of how this has come to be is being done to death everywhere. I can see with my eyes the things that happen—the loss of possession, the cheap fouls, the seeming inability to stay with one’s man when marking on a set piece—but I can’t offer any more information as to why they happen. I can only wonder.

I wonder if there is real pride in the squad.
I wonder if there is real toughness—both physical and mental.
I wonder if the tactics are appropriate.

I wonder if there has ever been another club that will endure such agony over a top-three finish, a cup final, and a decent showing in the Champions League.

The agony, the anguish, that surrounds this club is taking away from what should be a fun diversion from the real world. Each of us has to wake each day and experience the reality of our lives. Football ought to give us something beyond ourselves to get us stirred up and passionate about something.

So it comes to the questions that have seemingly polarised Arsenal supporters: Would dismissing Arsene Wenger change the club for the better? Would dismissing Arsene Wenger push the club from third to first? Would dismissing Arsene Wenger be a long-term improvement?

My answer to these questions—for now—remains no. I can’t say that a managerial change for its own sake will improve Arsenal’s standing in the Premier League table, win the European Cup, or simply make the squad more combative. I also can’t endorse changing the manager without already having a proven leader with a track record of success lined up to succeed Arsenal’s most decorated manager of the modern era.

This is really the crux of the argument for or against changing the manager: Who is available, and who wants to come to Arsenal? If we really see Arsenal as one of the biggest clubs in the world, do we want to also see Arsenal have a merry-go-round managerial situation like those other clubs? Outside of Arsenal and Manchester United, no other so-called big club has had anything resembling managerial stability. We see Barca, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Inter, and Bayern as our equals, and none of them holds on to a manager for very long. I’m also not sure how many of them are attempting to operate as a self-sustaining financial entity, either. That’s a factor that always drags me back from the precipice of calling for Wenger’s head on the block.

I posed the question on twitter recently—who is available who would replace Arsene Wenger? It wasn’t done facetiously. I sincerely would like to know who we think would be our “next” manager if we part ways with the current one. I’m not saying that it would be a mistake for the club to dismiss him out of hand. When he was hired, I had no idea who he was, so it’s certainly possible that a potential successor of similar anonymity is out there right now. Thinking about how he became Arsenal manager—the behind the scenes discussions with David Dein and the influence of Houllier—makes one wonder how it might happen again.

Managing a club like Arsenal is no simple task, either. There’s no unlimited transfer or wage budget to work from, and there are also tactics and player development to consider.

We are burning white-hot with many negative emotions right now, and we have been since the Carling Cup final. Emotion always trumps truth. For me, the truth is:

Arsenal were “eliminated” from the title race after 36 matches.

Who is the manager out there who would come to Arsenal who will change that for the better? And clearly, “for the better” means winning the whole bloody thing, not lasting one more week before being eliminated from the race.

So here is my latest: A completely equivocal, uncommitted missive that asks the question “If you really want Arsene Wenger out, who do you want to replace him?”

When the pictures are hidden...

This weekend, the Arsenal Football Club will play at Stoke City.

I operate under the assumption that Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal midfielder, will be among the substitutes--only because I also assume that the club's captain, Cesc Fabregas, will be counted among the first XI.

I have terrible mixed emotions about this trip. Part of me wishes to see Aaron on the pitch, scoring a goal and then removing his kit and taking a massive, pent-up sh*t all over Ryan Shawc*nt. (For those of you who don't know, Shawc*nt is the original "He's not that kind of player," or as Arsenal supporters have come to know it, "HNTKOP." His repeated inability to tackle correctly has caused serious injury to 3 players so far in a just a few years of first team football. But remember, he's not that kind of player.)

Part of me, however, remains in a pained limbo over the whole thing. I didn't see last season's match live. I saw a delayed replay the same day, and knew it was coming--"it" being that flying stomp by the great ape Shawc*nt on Aaron's leg--and it still horrified and sickened me so much that I was reduced to tears. Aaron had become a focal point for the progress of Arsene's youth project, a player who symbolised the way a bright young talent could slowly work his way into the first team, and his contributions last season were growing in importance. In contrast to the energetic, possession-keeping, tackling and hustling Jack Wilshere, Aaron was an attacking midfielder who was always driving things forward and moving upfield.

I've never seen the stomp since then. I can't imagine seeing it. I can't even want to watch the end of the match when Arsenal gathered themselves and fought back, when Big Sol stood and roared and the Captain told an interviewer, "For me, it is no good."

So seeing Aaron back on that pitch against Tony Putrid's lab experiments gone wrong, it would almost be too much to stomach. I don't know if I need that kind of closure as a supporter. I think that happened last weekend with Aaron's goal against the Rags.

I don't want people to forget what happened--ever. The shame of what that idiot did to Aaron can't be forgotten, nor should anyone forget what kind of player he was becoming before his career was so crudely interrupted. It's a more simple prospect for me--I just can't stand the thought of seeing something so horrific again. I've seen it 3 times in recent years happen to Arsenal players and I don't care to witness such a thing ever again. I think I don't even want to see it happen to John Terry. That's how horrible I think it is.

Most instructive about the vomit-inducing nature of the "tackle" was that most of the highlights programmes refused to show it or its aftermath. I believe that MOTD said plainly that it was too disgusting to show and while I know many people claimed that this was merely an attempt to diminish the violence in English football, I can't see the conspiracy there. It was in my mind a simple case of "Here, do you really want to see something this bloody disgusting again?"

The best kind of closure that could happen this weekend? A sound thrashing of Stoke City and a straight red for Shawc*nt--before the match. Just for being a big, stupid, smelly twat.