- Young players, misleading media, best defences, and problems out east
- The clubs with the best academies: Arsenal second best in England
By Christophe Jost
I know nothing about how football clubs are run, but I do notice one thing: there is a team on the field/on the bench and there is a team actually ‘running ‘the club’. That team must actually ‘build’ a first team together with the manager, run an academy, and so on.
Sometimes these people running and managing the club must deal with one owner or several owners. Said owners may be more involved in day-to-day, or in some cases less, but they are there.
And beyond those two groups, then you have the fans, and the usual idiots from the press.
Mr Wenger was at the centre of Arsenal across two decades, during which time there was not one owner, but several owners, each with differing strategies. Yet he made the modern Arsenal what it is, and in return, was regularly pilloried by the media for his trouble.
Subsequently, Emery came in, and quite visibly, the ‘team’ around him was not working in harmony with him. Just think of the players who came in…
Yet, a playing team did exist and when Mr Arteta came in, that team clicked into gear. And the point was that there was only one owner by then, and that owner was INVESTING, not pursuing some personal dream or treating the club like a ballerina. This owner treats it like a business.
At Sp*rs, the situation was different. Consider the reputation of the guy who was at the very top of the club for almost two decades and who left this summer. Do you frankly think any manager under his stewardship had any real say in the players? Add the financial dire straits of the club into the equation and the non-availability of a manager of Mr Wenger’s calibre, and you have the answer. No manager can really operate efficiently there.
As for Postacoglu, I can’t imagine the guy had any serious hope at Forest: they had got rid of the manager who brought them success, and he had no say in building the team that did not fit his chosen style of play. I imagine the salary he was offered was good enough to take a chance, and so why should he not try?
Then again, there is Manchester United. Same story…. crap management, worse financial management, no real expertise and sense of team sports at that level, a new part-owner who, it seems to me, went in for the visibility and ego, and discovered afterwards he did not do a good enough audit prior to purchase, and ended up burying corpses day after day after day…..
And then there is Liverpool! That is an interesting one. Having seen a few Slot interviews, I am far from convinced and start to think that Liverpool did a Ferguson. They won last year via the energy of Klopp, and now the gas tank is empty. Slot is overrated. The whole Salah episode last summer was just the canary in the coal mine.
So now compare that with the professionalism of the Arsenal management team this year…. And during that time we have had the whole press was screaming about Gyökeres (who at least has scored goals) and about Arsenal set pieces…. while no one was wondering why the half a billion of Liverpool player purchases ended up with no goals scored and many goals conceded from set pieces…. In fact, a defence that has lost it. Then again, a politician across the pond has shown the example: accuse the others of your behaviour, and if you do it long enough, no one will see it is yours.
As for City115… Well, they had the same professionalism, coupled with a ruthless will to not abide by the rules and endless money. Yes, the results were there and Guardiola can say what he wants in his defence, the titles will always have an * next to them, as far as I am concerned. And at some point, once the finances are not all-powerful, the sand castle crumbles.
Chelsea… one owner, limitless means, and they got results, with some stability. But now… well, they seem to have a trading room instead of a dressing room and no stability whatsoever.
Newcastle? I guess the team was mostly counting on doing a City 115 and got stopped before they even started. That they kept the manager is smart. Yet they had to let players go.
IMHO, Arsenal are now back to the future…. when Mr Wenger started there, and for a few years, the ‘team outside of the field’ was clicking. And the results came. Let’s hope this Arsenal team have now only got better, like when Mr Berta joined them. On the field, this is the best team I’ve seen in my lifetime, or rather two teams readily available…. yes, the Invincibles were great, but the competition was not as multiple and powerful, IMHO.
So we should all relax and enjoy the ride. Arsenal are not only beating the opposition, but beating the referees as well. And their finances are improving game after game, goal after goal. This is an investment in the future, not silly money spent on a ballerina.
Having run a business for decades, having seen many businesses from the inside, I have learned that it is not enough if the salespeople win, or the production team wins, or the administration wins. All of these teams together need to win at the same time. It is a full team effort. And running a football club is now a business, like any other if you look at fundamentals: all teams/departments need to click, and all need to be on the same line as management
First team (men and women), back office, recruiting, academy, owners, marketing, licensing…..
And Arsenal are better prepared than all others. Again, just look at their revenue curve, their costs, and their capability to manage players without the whole drama and bad blood. Indeed, this last element to me is a real asset. Arsenal must have a sterling reputation, at least compared to any club in the PL.
Arsenal can now select who they want to take.
If I had a kid with the talent and opportunity to choose a club, I’d go for Arsenal: chances are better and chances to survive and have a future at whatever point in time later, are much better. No one talks about that one.
For all the criticism KSC got in the past, I am impressed. These guys know what they are doing and are in for the long term. They are builders. Experienced builders. Generational builders. We, as Arsenal supporters, are very lucky.
And if you have doubts… give me some arguments why any other club is better by all the metrics. Yes… trophies…
