Much has been made of the painful lack of transfer activity at Arsenal this summer, with Arsene Wenger still apparently averse to delving into the market. With North London rivals Spurs leaving their usual prudent approach behind under Director of Football Franco Baldini, is it about time Arsenal followed suit too?
Arsenal functioned best in the Premier League under a joint-partnership where Wenger focused on the day-to-day footballing responsibilities whereas someone like David Dein would be more concerned with off field issues like player recruitment. The complexities of modern football make it increasingly difficult for managers to be involved as widely as they would like. Andre Villas-Boas actually welcomed their capture of Baldini, suggesting that continental managers are actually accustomed to such a system that allows the manager to focus more closely on the team primarily.
There has been speculation this summer that Gazidis may well look to fill this berth himself and stand up to Wenger on transfer related matters. The reality is Gazidis deals primarily with commercial aspects at the club and as such meddling in player recruitment may well cause more harm than good.
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Currently Arsenal possess a manager whose power transcends the whole of their footballing operation, which in my mind is quite a worrying prospect for fans. Notoriously stubborn, identifying a director to effectively place a limit on his power would be a difficult task but is ultimately necessary if they want to continue with Wenger at the helm.
Wenger has always had a strong philosophy about how to conduct business at a football club. Balancing the books whilst maintaining a youth focus, infamously French, has been his central beliefs. The capture of Yaya Sanogo on a free this summer was exactly the kind of signing that can be expected of Wenger, but when fans crave success in the short term it is perhaps not always the best strategy for the club. Wenger doesn’t have the capacity to change his beliefs, he has garnered great success from it previously and his self-belief is still unrelenting despite recent fan pressures.
This is hardly a revolutionary suggestion, a number of top clubs in this country have already made the switch towards the continental structure. Man City decided to place Txiki Begiristain in such a role, and we are gradually beginning to see the effects of that particularly shrewd move. The comparison between City’s early scatterbomb approach to signings and the more calculated moves for players this window is stark. Why will Arsenal not take heed from some of their divisional rivals?
A similar pattern is emerging at Spurs; instead of the usual comical deadline day panic buying we are seeing evidence of a better-conceived general strategy. My worry for Arsenal is that we may well see a scramble for last minute ill advised transfers in a desperate act to save what looks to be a torturous season for the ‘gunners’.
So what sort of options are available to Arsenal?
A sensible selection would be someone who already is highly respected by those at the club. Marc Overmars’ name has already been suggested, and his experience both at Arsenal and as Director of Football at Ajax could stand him in excellent stead. The point is Arsenal need someone that can exert some authority over Wenger and a someone who has a standing at the club will be able to do this much more effectively.
Of course the other option is to dispense with the services of Wenger altogether, and in the current climate this may be quite popular. Regardless of whether managerial change is on the horizon or not I think the uptake of the continental management structure would still be applicable. Arsenal fans will be wary of a like for like repeat, and the implementation of this system will ensure the necessary checks and balances are already in place.
The situation at Arsenal is totally absurd at the moment for club and fans alike. Some kind of action is desperately needed to break up the out-dated vice like grip Wenger has over the club.
It is extremely rare that Arsenal fans are envious of the other half of North London, but in this case I think they have a certain reason to be so. If change doesn’t happen soon in regard to this management structure than I am confident that they will continue to be left behind as a shadow of their former selves.
Should Arsenal be copying their North London rivals?
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