Comment: Arsenal In Catch-22 Shenanigan

Arsene Wenger’s unit shall once again end up barren-ended after almost willingly throwing away the Premiership title and the UEFA Champions League dreams in the past few weeks. This will be the third successive season that the Gunners, who have arguably played the most ecstatic football in England in the last few years, will fail to land home any silverware. The past few weeks have been saddled with anatomies and dissections of the reason why Arsenal have once again failed to conjure up any trophies.  

And more worryingly for Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal men-in-suits there have been voices of dissent and cleavages, which is not something that you would anticipate in an Arsenal unit constructed on Wenger’s philosophy of coherence and harmony.  

True, last season Thierry Henry’s relationship with Wenger was impaired to the point of breaking down but as the Arsenal players have persistently insisted this season, Henry’s exit from the Emirates galvanized the squad and seamed them together.  

But now trouble is cropping up in the Arsenal camp. The Gunners supporters are of course lamenting but they are not exactly complaining or demanding anyone’s resignation. Yet some of the players have openly declared the disinclination to stay on at the Emirates. No one is more vocal than a certain Gilberto Silva.  

The Brazilian midfielder is a world class defensive midfielder but this season has been a truly frustrating as he has lost his place to the French youngster Matthieu Flamini (more of him soon). In fact, Gilberto does have a point when he expresses his astonishment at Wenger relegating him to the bench without giving him as much as a hint. Gilberto could leave Arsenal at the end of the season if Wenger fails to convince him to linger on at the Emirates.  

Flamini’s current contract at Arsenal expires at the end of the season and the Frenchman is one foot out of the Arsenal door. It is paradoxical in fact to realize that he has been a regular this season and has progressed into one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe. But Flamini wants his wage hiked to 50,000 pounds a week which Wenger doesn’t agree to and has penciled the end of April for Flamini to decide on his future, which could very well be in the black and white stripes of Juventus.  
Then there’s the goalkeeping cold war that has been lurking just under the surface the entire season and which only now is floating to visibility. Manuel Almunia has been the first choice for Arsene Wenger but last week in an interview to the British newspaper The Guardian, the Spanish custodian said with a considerable hint of paranoia that he believes his Arsenal team mate Jens Lehmann hates him, a claim the German international goalie laughed off the very next day.  

Then there’s the repression of the captaincy situation at the club by Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman refused to be drawn into a discussion on whether William Gallas shall retain the captain’s armband or not next season, thereby unleashing more transfer speculation. Striker Emmanuel Adebayor has already proclaimed that there would be massive changes conducted in the summer that some big name players could be drafted into the Arsenal unit.

Wenger has never imported a well established, world class player in his prime and mostly has relied on promising young guns to deliver the goods for him at Arsenal. Wenger needs to sign a few big names who can add experience and a winning mentality to an already talented team but there’s considerable doubt on whether the French professor can manage such high profile players without running into some friction.    

Sounds like a Catch-22 situation, doesn’t it? 

Subhankar Mondal