Just read this interview with our former Pole in Goal Szczesny, there's some good stuff in there:
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/wojciech-szczesny-exclusive-interview-arsenal-smoking-juventus-gianluigi-buffon-retirement-a8002836.html
Obviously though being the vulture that I am I'm gonna focus on the insight he gives us into the difference between Wenger and other coaches:
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“I think in general, the coaches in Italy are much more tactical, that’s just how the league works," says Szczęsny. “Whether it was [Luciano] Spalletti at Roma or Max Allegri here, the preparation for the game is different to what I was used to in England. You work on the shape of the team for a particular match all week. At Arsenal you’d just prepare physically for it but here you watch film analysing a specific opponent before the game and afterwards we’ll watch again to see what worked and what didn’t.
“I enjoyed working with some great coaches at Arsenal, Roma and here, but the goalkeeping school in Italy is very different, it’s very technical and pays more attention to the details. It’s really made a difference for me because I started playing at a very young age with Arsenal and as you play you gain experience and that’s how you grow. But, honestly, I couldn’t say from a technical standpoint that I improved in any way from when I became first-choice at Arsenal until the day I left for Roma.
“However, in the two-and-a-half years since I came to Italy, I’ve improved massively which is thanks to the coaches and the way they work. It’s not about improving when you play, it’s every day in training you have to work on every aspect of your game and that’s something I’ve really enjoyed."
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This echoes exactly what 99% of ex-players have ever said about Arsene's methods. Surely this is the clearest proof yet that Wenger is simply out of touch with the demands of the modern game. In a league dominated by big name (and historically successful) systems-driven managers, where lower teams are increasingly hiring meticulous micro-managers like Marco Silva and Mauricio Pochettino, Wenger's ancient 'go out and do your own thing' approach sticks out like a sore thumb.
Interesting Szczesny article
posted on 16/10/17
Szczesny still can't understand the idea that Arsenal have values, traditions and ambitions bigger than Roma. Stand in the goal and don't concede goals, it's not rocket science, our time is more important than teaching football to some guy that'll soon leave the club at some point.
posted on 16/10/17
comment by Choice City (U6187)
posted 8 hours, 20 minutes ago
Szczesny still can't understand the idea that Arsenal have values, traditions and ambitions bigger than Roma. Stand in the goal and don't concede goals, it's not rocket science, our time is more important than teaching football to some guy that'll soon leave the club at some point.
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Well this is a bit of a silly comment.
posted on 17/10/17
comment by renoog (U4449)
posted 21 hours, 21 minutes ago
Szczesny's comments actually prompted me to look up Arsenal's backroom staff on the website:
https://www.arsenal.com/first-team/staff
Are these 5/6 coaches not all the same folk who've been with Wenger from day 1? Lehmann has been added very recently, and the physio/medical staff have been modernised, but the actual guys who take training sessions are the same people as we had 20 years ago. Is it any wonder we've been left behind by others then.
It's actually shocking how no one at the club has sought to address this. How can a multinational organisation worth half a billion allow ONE man to have sole input in all technical decision-making and not update his methods for 20 years?
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And who could have addressed it? The last director of football we had was David Dein who left in 2007. As director and shareholder he would have definitely seen the issues and done something about them.
Gazidis is at best an administrator. He doesn't have sufficient football knowledge nor is he a business professional with expertise on how to structure a multi-million pound corporate entity.
posted on 17/10/17
Joke club
posted on 18/10/17
And who could have addressed it? The last director of football we had was David Dein who left in 2007. As director and shareholder he would have definitely seen the issues and done something about them.
Gazidis is at best an administrator. He doesn't have sufficient football knowledge nor is he a business professional with expertise on how to structure a multi-million pound corporate entity.
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I think Gazidis does a decent job on the commercial side of things. Really, a middle man is desperately needed but Kroenke and Gazidis don't know how desperately we need one because there's no middle man to communicate that to them ... a bit of a weird chicken and egg situation. Essentially Wenger is the only football man in a position of influence and he can use that influence to convince them that we don't need more football men.
I don't buy all the hate that gets directed Kroenke's way because he's clueless about football and defers to the people who know better .. who in turn abuse that privilege to keep themselves in power. At this stage Wenger is purely in it for selfish reasons. Money, comfort, routine ... not to win anything. He would've shaken things up otherwise after the 9th season in a row of failing exactly the same way.
posted on 18/10/17
Renoog
You’ve answered the reason why Kroenke gets so much shiiiit
He hasn’t a clue what he’s doing so just gives Wenger all the power and resources he wants to do what he wants and Wenger in return is non accountable for his actions and has no targets to hit
Any club owner with the slightest clue about football would have sent Wenger packing 4 years ago, never mind last Summer. But good old Silent Stan gave Arsene a 2 year contract, a pay rise, and scrapped all plans in place should Wenger have decided to leave himself. He, along with his family are by a mile the biggest problem at the club
posted on 18/10/17
Yeah but Bats, absent owners can be a good thing. Zero interference in footballing matters, no ego-driven delusions of turning their club into the Harlem Globetrotters etc. It's only really a problem at Arsenal because we're in the unique situation where ours came along at just the wrong time where we were transitioning stadiums, lost David Dein, had a long-serving revered manager at the helm, were in the custodianship of a bunch of overly-cautious old Etonian farts etc. He came in at a point in our history where we needed a change in approach to help us transition to a mega-club and instead oversaw it plodding along with the same Highbury/90s-era level of ambition.
posted on 18/10/17
What Shezza said is what I have suspected for many years now.
Wenger is totally one-dimensional in his tactical approach ie one style of football fits every opposition. He is incapable of seeing the weaknesses in the team and addressing them or trying different approaches during a match or according to who we are playing.
Wenger only wants to surround himself with "water carriers" as coaching staff. He does want to listen to anyone else's ideas but his own.
I wish that we had made Shezza our No1 this season and shipped out Ospina . Now we are left with a rapidly ageing and diminishing keeper and a back up who is barely adequate.
posted on 18/10/17
comment by renoog (U4449)
posted 3 hours, 4 minutes ago
Yeah but Bats, absent owners can be a good thing. Zero interference in footballing matters, no ego-driven delusions of turning their club into the Harlem Globetrotters etc. It's only really a problem at Arsenal because we're in the unique situation where ours came along at just the wrong time where we were transitioning stadiums, lost David Dein, had a long-serving revered manager at the helm, were in the custodianship of a bunch of overly-cautious old Etonian farts etc. He came in at a point in our history where we needed a change in approach to help us transition to a mega-club and instead oversaw it plodding along with the same Highbury/90s-era level of ambition.
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These are the guys that won’t allow one of their biggest shareholders a seat on the board, or will not recruit any football man with connections to the club or sport in general to advise them on how to run the club. They are happy to put all the power in Wenger’s hands as long as their pockets are being filled and share values continue to rise. This is the main problem at the club, not Wenger. Usmanov would have binned Arsene a long time ago if he performed at his current level for as long as he has. On the flip side, with expectations, pressure and hierarchy to answer to, you wonder if Wenger would be the spineless clown he has become today.
posted on 19/10/17
Usmanov would have definitely binned Wenger years ago. But he would also brought in a level on instability that probably wouldn't have been much better.
I think the fanbase's biggest gripe with Kroenke is his inaction. I think that may change. I love watching the NFL where Kroenke was accused of similar lethargy. Last year he took that gamble and fired his head coach. Kroenke appointed someone much younger. A complete about turn and a very big gamble (that is at the moment paying off). This could happen to Arsenal as well. I think Champions League qualification is a minimum for Wenger to keep his job and getting beaten by Watford is not a good sign.