Kevin Whitcher
Well, what a nice change to be able to write about a decent Arsenal performance. It’s been quite a while. We’ll gloss over the first 40 minutes. That was fairly typical of the insipid Gunners we have seen plenty of recently.
There were a lot of empty seats at the start of the game. Some were the Wenger Out protest sympathisers making a stand by not taking their seats for the first 13 minutes, some were latecomers. But most damning of all were the large number of people who decided to boycott the entire game by not turning up at all. I’d guess there were at least 10,000 seats not used at any point yesterday evening, a reflection of how many have simply lost interest after so many poor displays in the last two months. Semi-Final tickets did not sell out to season ticket holders due to the number that are not motivated enough to travel to Wembley, even though tickets there are cheaper than last weekend's Arsenal home game v the same opposition.
However, when you need a result, the West Ham of 2016/17 are the perfect opposition. Despatched 5-1 at their own stadium in December, the scoreline could have been even worse for them last night, but Arsenal failed to capitalize on all the chances that came their way, as well as being denied a stonewall penalty towards the end of the game. Three good goals gave them the three points, even if there was a belief there was something fishy about the first one from Ozil due to there only being one replay on the stadium big screen from an angle which told you nothing about the validity of West Ham’s protests. Turned out that although it wasn’t offside, Walcott blocked the ball with his forearm in the build up. To use one of the manager’s stock words, overall referee Martin Atkinson had a poor game.
Good goals from Walcott and sub Giroud made things safe, and credit due to keeper Emiliano Martinez, who had a good game and pulled off some decent saves. Throughout the team, performances were generally much better. I don’t think anyone is going to get carried away by last night. The team did what they were expected to do against a side that had lost their previous four matches. And certainly, their next two fixtures, on paper, are winnable. Arsenal generally take maximum points at Selhurst Park whilst Middlesbrough look doomed. Three wins in a row will take Wenger’s side into a very interesting run of games, with the potential for the wheels to come off again and questions about the manager to re-surface.
There are some fascinating discussion points about the potential negotiations going on with Wenger about whether or not he is to continue (and it seems the decision has not yet been made), but I will save those for another day. It was just an all too rare pleasure to watch Match of the Day last night and not be alarmed by Arsenal’s defensive paucity for a change. They kept a clean sheet for the first time in the Premier League since beating Hull in early February.
As for West Ham, they look to be in freefall. We’ll have a better idea after they play Swansea at home next weekend, but there is a huge danger they could be hosting Championship games next season. I am sure they would welcome Arsenal’s problems, and it was amusing to hear the away section chant “There’s only one Arsene Wenger” during the game last night.
Of more interest to Gooners will be who plays at Palace on Monday evening. Martinez looks worth persisting with, although if Petr Cech is fit again, one imagines he will return. Central midfield is also an area where decisions need to be made. Both Elneny and Xhaka had good games last night, but until we see them face stiffer tests, we will not know how good a pairing they really are. The manager has options with Ramsey, the Ox and Coquelin also available. It seems that Xhaka will generally get the nod these days, so it’s a matter of who partners him.
I’d say after the last two matches, the front four takes care of itself. Iwobi and Giroud are out of favour for the time being and Lucas Perez, even when fit, rarely gets a chance. I haven't checked the latest on Koscielny, but I imagine he will be out for at least the next two matches, so the defence will stay the same. That presumably means Theo will continue as our captain and leader. Hmmm…
Anyway, I don't expect an announcement that Wenger has signed a new deal off the back of a home win against a poor West Ham side. And I don't think we’ll get any announcement until the season is over right now. And if it is agreed the manager is to continue, then it definitely won’t be made public until after the season ticket renewal deadline has passed (unless top four is secured and the FA Cup delivered). On the subject of renewals, I’ll end with a fantastic piece of correspondence from a club level season ticket holder to the club, who a) put the price of club level season tickets up by 3% for next season (even though the club may be playing in the Europa League) and b) brought forward the deadline for renewals this year (presumably to give them more time to shift the seats that were given up).
In view of the absence of a reply to my e mail on Sunday to the reminder from the Club and with the "deadline " hours away I need to reiterate and expand on my reasons to you.
To paraphrase Arsene Wenger's words, whether I have a contract for 2 months or 2 years I am committed to the Club and you will hear soon whether I will sign a new contract.
I admire his loyalty of over 20 years but mine has been for over 60 (I still recall witnessing live the last Busby Babes league match at Highbury) so I think I deserve some loyalty from the Club.
The Board set a deadline for me to commit but the Manager does not have one. Bizarre is one word for it.
So I am being asked to pay the Club thousands of pounds and more than last year when there is more than usual uncertainty as to whether the Manager or star player(s) will be there or whether I will have the same quality of big matches.
In previous years I have had extensions so I would expect to receive the same in this extraordinary current climate. Alternatively as I said I can make an offer to reflect the risk and gamble I am taking .
I await your prompt reply.
So it’s one rule for the manager and another one for the club level regulars. Who are being asked to pay more for next season before it is even certain they will be seeing a similar level of competition in Europe. To think, our football club once embodied class…
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