The gulf in tactical acumen widens with the re-admission of Mourinho and Guardiola’s debut
Premier League opening day weekend is upon us and for Arsenal fans, its taking a turn for the familiar or worse. Lots of teeth gnashing and bewilderment over the lack of signings and the spate of injuries which should intuitively trigger a transfer or two. This is Arsene Wenger we are dealing with and if there is anything to be learned it is this; he is no ordinary mortal. For those unfortunate souls, anxiety and job related stress is the norm and usually acted upon. Wenger confronted by the injury to Per Mertesacker, now deemed to be out for five to six months, followed in short order by Gabriel declared out of commission for two months, and the late return of Laurent Koscielny, has decided to do the following. Nothing. That sort of nirvana happens when you can fornicate with a goat on the London Colney grounds and book it a business class return to Morocco on BA. There is a built in clause in Wenger’s contract for this sort of contingency. The sort of bullet proof job security only a few can dream about.
There is talk of Shkodran Mustafi coming in but even if he does, it will be too late for the Liverpool opener. So the options are Koscielny being rushed in, which is unlikely. Or the new signing of Rob Holding, about the most greenhorn of defenders, pairing with Calum Chambers, whose zip code is uncertain. A right back in the guise of a half back in the guise of a holding midfielder which probably adds very little clarity. So many guises and falls. And lets not get started about an additional striker, the sort who scores regularly, without sticking out his tongue and going through 35,997 minutes between goals. We have now burned through half a dozen rumours remotely resembling reality (take that alliteration).
This is all gloss. A distraction. We all know where the real deficiencies lie. An honest appraisal would also take into account Wenger’s on match day preparation and tactical acumen. By those standards, this season, is where the cliff meets the road. Wenger is average. With the re-admission of Jose Mourinho, unbeaten in 13 league outings against him and the debut of Pep Guardiola, a familiar Arsenal nemesis through their Champions League failures against Barcelona and Bayern, you add two more in the league who have proven superiority over Wenger. Then lets get into the litany. Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool in his very first season battled Wenger to a standstill, Mauricio Pochettino did the same for Spurs. Those were the bigger names.
How about Slaven Bilic? In his first season, administering Arsenal the humiliation of a 2-0 loss in the season opener. The real story lies in the return fixture. Andy Carroll, fresh back from injury, allowed all the time in the world in the heart of the Arsenal defence to cause mayhem as Aaron Creswell ran Nacho Monreal ragged and lofted cross after cross. Carroll was made to look like a demi-god with his hat trick. Any manager worth half a brain would have anticipated Defcon 1 and taken pre-emptive measures to ensure there was little daylight between the full backs and the pony-tailed giraffe turned assassin. What happened was criminal. West Ham losing by a brace went up a goal before Koscielny’s rescue act. Southampton was another thorn. The Saints were no saints when it came to the Gunners. Ronald Koeman is now at Everton and if Soton’s ascendancy against Arsenal is any indication, then the Dutchman should be reasonably confident replicating that success with the Toffees.
That leaves Antonio Conte, Chelsea’s latest shake up, a manager who Wenger has never locked horns with. The Italian’s track record at Juventus boasts an immaculate 3 Serie titles in three consecutive seasons with his highly influential and unorthodox 3-5-2 formation which allows for wingbacks with exceptional mobility and strikers hunting in pairs. Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci,and Andrea Barzaglia were the marquee names in that formation providing the most skinflint of defences. And Conte has a fearsome reputation of chewing out players for not delivering their best. Usually, they do after he’s hit them with the kitchen sink. Contrast that with Wenger’s many tactical blindspots, his rote 4-5-1 which leaves Giroud isolated many a times upfront and reliant on service, an overcommitment to attack, and an inability to close out matches. In addition, kick in Wenger’s reflexive 70th minute substitution, his protection of underperforming players, and its not hard to imagine Conte outmaneuvering Wenger in their very first encounter.
What does that make? Mourinho, Guardiola, Conte, Pochettino, Koeman, Klopp, and Bilic with managing chops over Wenger. How about Claudio Ranieri? Now in his second season at Leicester, the league champions, and having to demonstrate no let off in a side’s fortunes through its winning mentality. He lost the battle against Arsenal, but unlike Wenger, he managed to stop the Foxes from giving up goals while they kept up their scoring output through a very critical stretch. In the end, it was no contest as Spurs faded badly and second placed Arsenal were 10 points behind.
Arsenal fans may well bemoan the lack of signings when all the indicators are that Wenger has done his due diligence in all those areas they wanted strengthened. A striker – check. Takamu Asano, who probably will not see first XI action for a while. Central defender – check. Rob Holding’s debut has been expedited through injuries. Holding midfielder- Granit Xhaka walks into the squad with his burgeoning reputation and a decidedly feisty edge. What Arsenal really should be worried about are the more than a half dozen managers more tactically astute and cutthroat in the league. Fifth place might be the new fourth.