FOWLER Rodgers is the man if Arsenal are Gunner be title challengers again
instructions, to following plans and tactics, that if it goes wrong, they’re lost.
How many times have you seen players looking to the dugout when it’s gone wrong? I genuinely don’t want to play that ‘in my day’ card, but honestly, I don’t remember us being so lacking in backbone.
When things went wrong, we’d be able to identify it, and put it right ourselves at times.
Maybe that’s where the board must take the blame too.
For far too long at Arsenal, they put all their eggs in the basket of a new stadium, and didn’t invest in the right kind of player, who could match the past and take them forward.
It was short-sighted. Yes they needed a new stadium, but you can’t ignore the playing side. They did, and look where they are – the stadium isn’t new any more and the team is miles away from being a top-four side. It’s a team without identity.
So was it worth it? It’s always the manager who takes the blame. But can he really be responsible for a squad that doesn’t have leaders? A squad that needs to ask themselves some really tough questions. They won’t of course, but Arsenal as a club need to ask themselves some serious questions too.
What do they think they are? Do they really still believe they are a top-four club by right? Because if they do, I’ve got some really bad news… you really are not. I believe they need to take a step back and understand where they are.
There are a few clubs in that position. Everton, even Spurs.
West Ham. They all have different delusions of grandeur, when their reality is very different. For Arsenal, they are a club rebuilding, a club starting from a low base. And it will take years to sort out.
With that reality, I’m not entirely sure Emery should have been sacked. He has to take serious blame himself of course. What the hell was having FIVE captains all about? And the mess with Granit Xhaka was inexcusable.
And no matter how lacking in character his squad is, you still have to get the best out of them, and Emery hasn’t. But he had one of the best reputations in Europe as a manager, and he had a record of developing players, even if he seemed to fail at PSG.
And that’s what Arsenal still need. A manager who can build a squad over a number of years, and take them to a stronger position. Like Jurgen Klopp has done at Liverpool. Like Rodgers did there for a time, and he’s doing at Leicester. Which is why I think he’s a natural to be linked with Arsenal now.
They could go for a quick fix, the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, a top-class manager and brilliant tactician who could sort out this team. But he’s not longterm, he’d be there a couple of years max. And I think he’s a continental manager, not a Premier League one, with the personality required.
Rodgers has that personality, the enthusiasm, and ability to build in the longer term.
And that’s why he’d be the best choice for them.