No poisoned chalice for new man
Gunners in better shape than Manchester United side David Moyes inherited, argues James Ducker
Manchester United won the Premier League title by 11 points in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final campaign, the fifth championship he delivered in his final seven seasons in charge at Old Trafford. It would have been six from seven but for a dramatic stoppage-time strike from Sergio Aguero clinching Manchester City the 2011-12 title. Arsenal appear resigned to finishing sixth in Arsene Wenger’s final season in what would be the worst league finish of his 22-year reign as manager. They are actually closer to bottom club West Bromwich Albion in point terms than Manchester City.
Viewed solely in the context of those statistics, the next Arsenal manager’s impending inheritance looks vastly poorer to the one with which David Moyes was bequeathed at United when he succeeded Ferguson in 2013.
Yet scratch the surface and it is not unreasonable to suggest Wenger’s successor may be starting from a slightly higher base than Moyes. That is not to suggest the transition at Arsenal will be any less problematic than it has proved in Manchester, but there are differences. There was almost an expectation of success among United fans. A generation of them had grown up accustomed to serial silverware. Once that first Premier League was secured in 1992-93, seasons without titles were short-lived, the longest drought running to three years between 2003 and 2006, during which time they still won the FA Cup and League Cup and acquired Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. The bar could not have been set much higher when Moyes arrived.
Of course, there is expectation at Arsenal, but 13 years without a title has provided a sharp reality check for their supporters, few of whom are likely to get giddy at the thought of a sudden title charge when a halt to the gradual slide of recent years would constitute progress. Nor do Arsenal have the departure of an experienced chief executive at the same time as their manager to contend with. For all Moyes’s shortcomings, the transition process at Old Trafford was complicated by David Gill leaving along with Ferguson and handing the reins to Ed Woodward, a novice. Ivan Gazidis remains at Arsenal and at least has a leadership team with football expertise, something United’s hierarchal structure was frequently accused of lacking post-Ferguson.
And then there are the respective squads. Whoever replaces Wenger will find a squad in need of surgery, but as much work as United’s squad required when Moyes pitched up? As curious as it may sound, probably not.
Ferguson’s final title success was arguably the greatest monument to his remarkable powers, but several stars also aligned for the Scot that season.
Robin van Persie miraculously stayed fit to lead the charge with 26 league goals. Similarly, Rio Ferdinand put the ravages of numerous injuries behind him to excel for one last time in central defence. Paul Scholes staged an impressive last stand and other older stagers, from Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic to Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick, were not the same again after that. At the same time, City were imploding under Roberto Mancini, while Chelsea had sacked Roberto Di Matteo in the November.
Moyes came in and found a glut of experienced winners well into their 30s whose best days were behind them. Rooney was also on the wane and, below that, there was a largely underwhelming, mixed bag of players. There was a world-class goalkeeper in the making in David de Gea but few others with the quality and age profile to get really excited about, and those weaknesses were exacerbated by a bungled first summer in the transfer market that Arsenal will hope and expect to avoid. There are plenty of players in Wenger’s current squad that Moyes would likely have found a place for. Crucially, and unlike United’s oldest heads in 2013 who Moyes must have wished were a few years younger, most of Arsenal’s experienced players still have plenty of life in them yet. Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are the right side of 30.
There is a pool of players between 23 and 27 with talent and something to prove (Hector Bellerin, Alexandre Lacazette, Sead Kolasinac, Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere among them) and one or two youngsters with promise, not least Ainsley MaitlandNiles. An outstanding squad it is not, but there is a clear nucleus to build on, something Moyes felt he lacked. Will it be enough to guarantee a smooth transition? No. But it is questionable to suggest that Arsenal are in significantly worse shape than United were when Ferguson left.