Tim Cooper
Have Mikel Arteta's Arsenal run out of steam or have they run out of desire
Here's the renowned Tim Cooper asks the eternal football question: Are bad results the fault of the players or the manager
I've just read Charlie Ashmore's response to the dismal draw at Molyneux here - and, like all but the most madly optimistic of Gooners, I wholeheartedly agree with his conclusion: 'The time for excuses has gone.'
I'd argue that it went in August, when Eberechi Eze signed: the missing piece (we all fervently believed) in the jigsaw that made up the Premier League's strongest squad.
With two quality players (at least) in every position, the title was ours for the taking. Nothing could stop us but ourselves, as Charlie rightly pointed out. It's also inescapably true that the players did not give the traditional "110 per cent" against Wolves or Brentford.
With the exception of Declan Rice, so often a lone figure trying to urge his exhausted team mates to follow his example, most of them didn't even give 90 per cent.
Whether this was due to fatigue or lack of motivation is up for discussion - but what more motivation could these footballers need than to end a three-year run as runners-up, and end a two-decade-long wait for a title?
So why did it happen? Have they run out of steam? Or have they run out of desire?
Results paint a clear picture: it's unarguable that they've run out of steam. The only question is whether they have also run out of desire.
The eternal football question is whether bad results are the fault of the players or the manager. And we all agree that the players are good enough to win the title. They've proved it over the past six months.
So the compass of blame is turning towards a lack of desire. Of motivation. And that, of course, is the job of the manager - to instill that motivation and refresh it before every game.
No one could question Arteta's ability to motivate players, even without the use of props like a dog and an olive tree. We've all seen the footage.
And the turnaround immediately after half-time in so many matches where we had been underwhelming for 45 minutes suggests he's especially good at doing that in the dressing room (though it would be nice if the pre-game message resonated as strongly as the half-time bollocking).
So what has happened? Has Mikel lost his own belief?
Does he go to bed at night sweating after every dropped point and wake up with nightmares of the ball in the back of our net?Because it's his belief (or lack of it) that transmits to the players. It's his passion, his ceaseless quest for success, that powers this team.
You might say they are good enough, and experienced enough, and highly paid enough, not to need reminding of what's at stake. But they are human. They feel doubt if they think it's all slipping away, just as we the fans feel despondent and depressed when we don't get the results we want.
At the end of the day it's down to Mikel. That's why he's the manager. And it's up to Mikel to fire the players up, to instill the same passion he feels - the same passion we feel.
And, more importantly than that, to banish all thoughts of finishing second again (olé, olé) because failure is not an option.
We are going to win the league. And hopefully more silverware than that.
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