What really happened at WHL, and why changing managers is such a laugh

Although they often don’t acknowledge it, journalists can write tripe sometimes.  Like, “Arsenal’s shortest away trip of the season felt, going into the game, like their biggest test so far,” from the New York Times.   A better headline would have been, “Failing teams that have just changed managers, don’t know what they are doing.”

The journos, of course, headlined the game as Arsenal’s big test because they had to write something.   It wasn’t their biggest test, but they were ordered to not to write, “Tottenham are a club in chaos, and every move they make is another mistake.”

This wasn’t a test, like Liverpool away in the third match of the season was a test – a test which Arsenal used to help modify their new way of playing.   But the journos called the game against the Tots “a test” because they wanted it to be test, even though they knew it wasn’t.

Even the aftermath reports said, “Arsenal were under serious pressure and faced a side hoping to benefit from football’s fabled ‘new manager bounce‘.”  But Arsenal had one defeat in the last 13 games.   Tottenham had no wins in the last nine league games and two wins in the last 18 league games.   

But tales of pressure are what journalists love because pressure is immeasurable and sows tales of pressure sow seeds of doubt.  And that has been the game for weeks – make Arsenal and us fans doubt.  And the media hasn’t yet learned that we’ve stopped playing their childish games.

Some clubs change managers as often as others change the towels in the changing room.  Tottenham do the manager changing lark and so are four points above WHAM.

In fact, the whole approach of the Totts seems to be to play this game as they played the last game.  Meanwhile, the manager had his own ideas.    So all Arsenal had to do was look at how Igor Tudor had Juventus playing, realise there was no real chance of this Tottenham team being able to adopt that style, and let the Totts screw it up.   After all, Igor was sacked by Juve for using these very tactics.

As a result, so well prepared for the new Totty approach, that sometimes they looked as if they were in position to defend against the Totts before the Tottenham players had got there.

So Arsenal knew the Tots would play 5-3-2 with man marking because that is what this manager does, even when he doesn’t have the right players available.  I suspect, however, Arteta told Arsenal that he didn’t think the Totts could be quite that stupid.  Which is why Tottenham scored.   Arteta said, ok that is how they are playing -lets adjust.

For if a team man-marks, then that is it, they are fixed.  It is the opposition players who can dictate the game by having their players go off somewhere unexpected.   The opposition then wonders if they should follow orders and follow the opposition or use their intelligence.   But new managers want players to follow orders, to show the directors that the manager is the boss.  In the resultant chaos, Timber found himself on his own, passes to Saka, Tottenham players look at each other, and Eze runs into the spaces left, and off we go.

Indeed, we should always encourage our opponents to change managers ever more often.   It always helps.

The Totts plan didn’t include the fact that Saka makes runs in order to draw players out of position, and when the opposition doesn’t quite know what their game plan is, this works brilliantly.  And they didn’t include that fact because the Totts keep changing managers, and the new managers haven’t quite got the gist of how Arsenal play.

We find good managers and keep them no matter what journos and some fans say. You will find this hard to believe but in the same period, Tottenham have had 25 managers in recent years.   There is a list here.    

Arteta told Arsenal, just play your game – Tottenham will allow players to be free of defenders regularly, because their new manager hasn’t really got the hang of things yet.   So Totty players rush in to help each other, meaning the midfielders are all playing left back.  The only problem Arsenal have is that their players can’t believe the space they have.  

The Totty manager realises it is all going wrong, so he waves his arms about a bit.  Tot players move out of midfield thinking that’s the new instruction, but it wasn’t.    There is nothing but Gyokeres in the centre of the pitch.

Then the Totts, like so many manager-shifting teams before them, realise this is all wrong, and half the team go back to how they used to play, and half don’t.  Chaos ensues.  No one knows what to do.  So they put four players on Saka.   Saka stays with his four markiers, Arsenal keep it simple – they are playing without anyone marking them.

Of course, Tottenham are a basket case caused by multiple managers coming and going, and we don’t play teams like that each week.   But when we do, it is sure good for a laugh.