I wrote this and posted it on the BBC 606 in July and got very little response. I think this site has a better class of reader and I hope you guys enjoy my scribble.
I have added a few lines to bring it up to date.
“Another great player leaves Arsenal and all around us are writing yet another obituary. The players that leave have a few comments to make but it’s only the media choice that is given visibility.
Wenger will be at Arsenal for many more years. He has created and built his dream with the training ground, the squad of young talent, the Emirates stadium. He has had one undefeated season his second is imminent. How so many seemingly intelligent pundits cannot see the quality of this composer of symphonies on a football pitch amazes me.
I am 57 and I have watched football in East Africa (and around the world) where I was born and know first hand the natural rhythm of the African footballer…his gift of physique, stamina and humility. Wenger sees in football what others occasionally hear in sound. He sees phrases of movement, cohesion of instruments, transitions of melody and character of his musicians. There are some things he misses but that is his humanity.
Wenger buys in saplings and sells trees that have shed their best fruit. Everyone that sees his forest thinks that their perspective is a better judge of its maturity. Wenger knows. His judgment of hardened or dead wood is that of a seasoned carpenter. He creates an ever-changing copse of colour and vision so that the Arsenal fans can enjoy a variety of fruit, always wondering what flavour Wenger’s next cherry.
The Arsenal is special to me and special to the Gooners who love the club and anything that tries to desecrate this football shrine of ours hurts us. We have our opinions and our favourites. We have our history and our records. We have our neighbours and we forgive them their trespasses. We have our pride and we have our future. We are the Arsenal and we are the best.
We play to win whilst we entertain.”
The Arsenal are now top of the League and are strutting their stuff. There are still a lot of media people critical of Wenger and Arsenal. This is used well by Wenger - he needs manure to nurture his orchard and nothing better than negative comment to feed his young saplings.
20 Responses to “We Play To Win Whilst We Entertain”
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September 24th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Arsenal just released their financial statement for the previous year and we couldn’t in a better position. The move to the Emirates is certainly paying dividends already and will do for many years to come. As a result, 70 million pound kitty for AW in January… i don’t think he will use a lot of that money in Jan, we all know how frugal he is and while he has bought some cup-tied players in the past, such as Adebayor, i think he will only strenghten the side by replacing the African players who leave for the ANC and any sort of injuries we’ll inevitably have to deal with. Perhaps he’ll bring in another centre back (djourou is coming back then), we’ll see fabianski tomorrow so maybe he’ll bring another keeper. we are a very strong side with a lot of depth in general. so don’t expect AW to go crazy in January, maybe he’ll wait until the end of the season when he’ll definitely have even more money, as long as he chooses to use it.
top of the league, strong financial position, we don’t need a billionare backer, i only hope that whoever gets control of the Arsenal keeps the same philosophy of building the team from within, being smart about money and giving the Boss the freedom he deserves to continue his incredible job. dare i say it, this could be the first year of the Arsenal domination that is upon us, let’s all be grateful for the team we have and watch closely, history in the making!
go gunners!
September 24th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Very good article.
The greatest asset of Wenger IMO is his “vision” - he sees things the regular fans or pundits fail to see.
They questioned why he sold Vieira? Now in Fabregas we know the answer.
They questioned why AW didn’t buy “stars”? In Henry’s case last season, we now know “stars” sometimes are not easy to manage with their ego.
They questioned why we broke up the “Invincible”? For had him not start doing that 3 years ago, we would not be seeing the young and exciting Arsenal today.
The list can go on and on. Critics are still asking questions today, and it’s very likely more questions will be asked (on every AW’s decision) in the future as well.
But just because the “answer” do not come up right away, it does not mean Wenger knows less than us, and he does not know what he’s doing.
History keeps telling us, giving TIME, eventually Wenger will be proved right. Not everyone of his decision, but most of them, and, importantly, most of the KEY decisions.
That’s when “faith” comes into equation. We just have to trust him, even sometimes when we don’t get to see the answers straight away.
September 24th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Thanks Denbo. I think the planting and farming metaphor is particularly apt. As any organic farmer will tell you, there are no short cuts with nature - you can’t cheat the soil. In the long-term, you can’t simply throw money at the problem. (As Sp*ds and Chelsea are finding out.)
Admittedly, some of Wenger’s saplings don’t exactly enter full bloom, but given time and - as you say - faith, the good ones become great.
And he certainly weeds out anything in danger of looking over-ripe.
September 24th, 2007 at 10:36 am
I’m just happy to know that “Les Boss” loves exciting football and anyone that loves to see good passing footy is alright with me.
The fact that he’s frugal, not easily swayed and looks forward in time only strengthens my conviction that he is indeed one of the worlds best coaches. It only helps that he works at one of the worlds best clubs. Say NO to Rubles!
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OT:
Watching yesterdays game between ManUre and Chel$ki left me laughing, seeing Shevy trying to play as Dogbra - he makes for a very bad long ball specialist as a lone striker. He’d of done better at the Arsenal as at least we play a more passing game.
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Long live the memory of Rinus Michels
Thank you Arsene!
September 24th, 2007 at 11:56 am
“Wenger buys in saplings and sells trees that have shed their best fruit. Everyone that sees his forest thinks that their perspective is a better judge of its maturity. Wenger knows. His judgment of hardened or dead wood is that of a seasoned carpenter. He creates an ever-changing copse of colour and vision so that the Arsenal fans can enjoy a variety of fruit, always wondering what flavour Wenger’s next cherry.”
Indeed.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
A lot of rose tinted poetry. lol. very nice though.
as for the finances. for all those still in support of “mr arsenal” dein….pls remember that he was STRONGLY against the stadium move that has made us sooo financially stable …and that will guarantee us top class finances for the next century…….he wanted us to use the wembley….the very late wembley would have RUINED arsenal………BUT now he claims to know what is good for arsenal financially. NOPE he doesnt he only knows what is good for Dein financially.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Wenger deserves to be the highest paid manager in the premiership. Any idiot can throw a group of stars on the pitch, and they will most likely succeed. The ego problem on those squads are overrated. Ask Leeds or QPR if they would rather go the Arsenal way or the ManU/Chelski way, and they’ll take the money and egos for a quick fix and maybe a quick title. The beauty of Wenger is his unapologetic methods of creating a team. He could have gotten Anelka, Obifemi Martins, Ribery, almost all were drooling for a call for Wenger. But he sticks to his philosophy of quickness, flexibility, and youth. People compare him to Sir Alex or Mourinho. In my opinion, there’s no contest. Wenger doesn’t spend hundreds of millions on throwawya players that are injured or chronically benched. And with the new finances (that apparently don’t count the new TV deal or the new Arsenal TV) we should be good for a while.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
i have a strong feeling that wenger will bring in two nice players in january. a LM and a CB. both young, wenger style players.
and i also have a feeling lehmann and bendtner will leave the club in january as well…..just a hunch really.
anyway, since i havent done that formation thing in weeks i guess i should do one now…lol.
Our current squad:
GK: Almunia, Lehmann, Fabianski
RB: Sagna, Eboue, Hoyte, Diarra
CB: Gallas, Toure, Senderos, Gilberto, Djorou, Song
LB: Clichy, Flamini, Traore, Gallas
RM: Hleb, Eboue, Walcott, Denilson
CM: Fabregas, Gilberto, Flamini, Diaby, Denilson, Diarra, Song
LM: Rosicky, Diaby, Hleb, Traore
ST: Van Persie, Adebayor, Eduardo, Bendtner, Walcott
If there is not a lot of injury, the squad is pretty decent.
Apart from Hoyte, Walcott and Senderos nobody is “calamitous”. Song is too low on the ladder to be worried about.
So all in all, if this squad develops well together and gets used to winning we would just need to add 2 players to totally complete a championship winning squad.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
@Fred
Actually, I doubt he even knows whats good for himself financially cause if he did, he would not have sold his shares. All he seems to care about is getting back in “power”.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
@ dubsta: well he earned 75 million in the process - while aiming to be chairman. Remember, shares at Arsenal dont pay divident. So the current board members are NOT earning money. They are being very selfless to NOT sell and make a profit. I dont know how much longer they would hold out though.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
“In the long-term, you can’t simply throw money at the problem.”
Macmac, that goes for anything not just farming.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
I am looking at it this way…he probably knew Arsenal’s financial position before he sold his shares. All things remaining equal, the guy could have sold after today and made more money.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Interesting conversation between Wenger and Fiszmann:
“We told Arsene: ‘If we give you £100m to spend on players what would you do?’,” said Hill-Wood. “Arsene replied: ‘I would give it back.’
Compare and contrast that to Benitez, who was DEMANDING big money after the CL final. So he blasted money that was not his and he DEFINITELY WONT win the league this year. On the other hand Wenger makes a transfer market profit.
I just dont understand the logic in wanting to spend money that you dont earn. That is morally undefensable. If we all did that in our normal lives we would be in jail. Imagine we earned 60 grand a year but we want to spend 100 grand because our neighbor, who is a whore is doing that. Its senseless.
Arsenal does not need to become a prostitute to a criminal man just to “compete” because that is the current popular perception.
The funniest thing is that we are already the second highest earners in the world after Real Madrid AND it is going to increase in the coming years YET we have not even started going to Asia or America. Incredible foresight by the current board to make the Emirates dream a reality.
We have the money, we have the history, we have the stadium. We can be number one all by ourselves.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Lastly……
Chelsea dont have a waiting list for their tickets.
Man U (the former biggest club in Britain) dont have a waiting list.
Liverpool have a very short waiting list.
Arsenal have the highest ticket prices but have a HUGE waiting list and fill up every home game.
September 24th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
The threat of takeover is being waged by an Arsenal supporter whose son married the daughter of a Spud director. He has been visible in the Spud boardroom and drinks with their directors. His greed has no bounds and he has very little morals. To sell his shares to a pompous git that threatens Arsenal with blocks of day to day business is bitter.
I hope the Arsenal board ring fences the football club and makes the share only worth while to Arsenal supporters.
September 24th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
@denbo: Thats an excellent and wonderfully crafted article and its probably pretty accurate as well. While the glass empty guys will be quick to say its a Wengerite who is writing this I think AW deserves this and no matter how many more tributes are written to him and no matter how many more people praise him it will all be nothing. Its an ir-repayable debt as far as I am concerned. Indeed this site is very knowledgable IMO.
@Fred#13: Arsenal following is growing a bit in Asia. In India though there are numerous bandwagoners I am sad to say who love ManU and Chelsea without knowing why.
Offtopic@Nipuna: If you’re reading this ,India beat Pak at cricket today and it was a very young side with little experience which did it. I couldnt but help smile as a comparison entered my mind. Did that thought cross your mind by any chance?
September 24th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
For the millionth time, I don’t think anybody wants, or thinks Arsenal needs a takeover. BUT, if shareholders sell shares there’s nothing you can do about it - it’s called business. Once a company has a majority of shares it can run the club. Under that scenario I would prefer Dein to be involved rather than not be involved - I don’t want some idiot Russian running the show that’s for sure.
Quite frankly, Denbo’s assertion that “the threat of takeover is being waged by an Arsenal supporter whose son married the daughter of a Spud director.” is pathetic. 57 years old? Grow up, I’ve never heard anything so childish in my life. Dein got some things wrong - like Wembley, but I’m sure his opinion did not come from a bad place. If it wasn’t for Dein Arsenal wouldn’t have George Graham or Arsene Wenger because he appointed them - and there would be no new stadium at all without that 20 years of almost continuous success.
I also think it’s a bit unfair to attack managers like Benitez for wanting to spend money. His situation is entirely different to Wenger. First he probably doesn’t have the scouting infrastructure that Wenger has and secondly his board would probably sack him if he said give me three or four years to build a new team with kids. So Benitez, like 95% of managers has no choice but to spend - and he has won the European Cup after all.
September 24th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
@live_dont_exist - I watched the T20 final too and I had exactly the same thought. Youth has an amorous family mentality. Age seems to accentuate the individuality and greed.
The captain makes such a difference. Dhoni has a beauty in mis-management style that creates victory.
@ Danny T - you are so right I do need to grow up. Dein does love Arsenal but he loves money more. ‘He appointed’ and I suppose the rest of the board were asleep or smoking cigars? There is a lot of creedence in the effect of pillow talk and the effect that might be having in the Dein household. Unfortunately I am just a stupid Indian who does not see the world as you do, but what I see is deep and beyond my understanding and I leave the intelligent to assess what I see.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Well, I wouldn’t say you are a stupid Indian, you just made a strange comment. None of us know what goes on behind the scenes - all I do know is that Dein worked for the club for 25 years and went beyond the call of duty compared to other directors. He is also very much responsible for where the club is now and a very close friend of Wenger, who as we know is a highly principled man. So for all these people to rip into him is not only extremely ungrateful but a little bit ignorant. If he loved money more than Arsenal then why isn’t he in a Swiss tax haven live Fiszman, or spending the last 20 years sunning it up on a yacht in the south of France instead of attending reserve games in the pouring rain?
I’m sure Dein is very bitter about being ousted by the board, we all would be in his position. I don’t agree with him selling out to Usmanov personally, maybe he is desperate to get back in. But at least we know that we could trust him to run the club if he is in a position of power, not Usmanov. It’s a case of better the devil you know.
Personally I would like Dein to come back minus foreign investment - although that seems most unlikely.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
DannyT - 19 - true better Dein than a million others.
Arsenal owe Dein much for his vision and dedication to the club these last 25 yrs, of that no one could make a cogent argument.
There are those who would argue that Dein was recently handsomely rewarded for those years through the sale of his shares. Maybe he needed the money?
Now Dein is involved in a takeover attempt by a ruthless man whose dripping in the traditions of old school business bullying and thuggery and has more money than many small countries. (How a country can be a Soviet based Socialism and then suddenly have a small group of rich oil and gas tycoons doesn’t require a great deal of imagination to me. Corruption!)
You can tell a tree by the fruit that it bears. Dein’s keeping strange bed fellows now. I wonder if he justifies it as being good for the club?
Maybe he needed the money but why sell your percentage of a club you love