Arsenal’s dark cloud of negativity and dysfunction
There is a dark cloud hanging over Arsenal FC with the dysfunction in the team and the negativity in the terraces.
For months now, Arsene Wenger has faced a barrage of questions regarding his future as Arsenal manager at every post-match press news conference, pre-match interview and public appearance. His responses, often delivered with a wry smile, have been coy — remarks equating to wait and see metaphors, nothing is definite in this world comments and that the notion the public will be made aware of his decision “soon”.
As time has passed, the questioning has become more insistent, an omnipresent fixture in the football headlines on news channels, the back pages and on internet sites, yet, we are still no closer to an answer or any fresh insight.
In this vacuum of solid information and facts, opinion and conjecture are aplenty. Arsenal Fan TV has made a name for themselves in previous seasons by managing to get rumbustious fans to declare radical opinions outside the stadium immediately after the conclusion of a match, but it has been during this season that they have truly come into their own. Starting out as a fringe YouTube channel, they are now a phenomenon.
The channel’s “personalities” are now highly sought by esteemed publications, broadcasters and journalists for their views. Now, rather than their opinions being viewed as radical, they are now considered representative of the fans’ true view, what’s really going on at ground level. Other club’s Fan TV have sprung up while clubs are working to create their own official, club approved personalities for next season.
However, it is not the concept of broadcasting fan opinion that Arsenal Fan TV has got going for it — that framework has existed for decades in the form of TV and radio phone-ins — it is what they are preaching. Reactionary, negative opinions that drive discourse and debate are the channel’s bread and butter output and with the Fan TV mic present, it gives many fans a mouthpiece to vent their frustrations and angst for the very first time. Derisory and negative opinion always trumps positivity, a fact which has been key to Arsenal Fan TV’s success. Of course, this is not fully representative of the entire footballing community which supports Arsenal, yet, it is the information that is being publicly broadcast.
In the absence of anything else, of any certainty from the club, the manager or players, this negative commentary coming from the die hard fans of the club are the only declarations said with any sort of conviction, the only new information in the public domain. The feelings expressed to these cameras, that Arsenal are terrible, that the club needs change have been combined with Arsenal’s now annual results foibles and have begun to affect the club and its players.
There’s a general sentiment surrounding the club at the Emirates and with the traveling support that they are not good enough. Fans are nearly expecting the club to lose, to slip-up time and again with many already beckoning the end of the season. It seems that this general perception of failure has spilled over to impact the players on the pitch.
There is something up at Arsenal. The team is dysfunctional — this could well be the fault of the manager but, to give them dues, the blame could as easily belong to the players. There are a lot of personalities of a certain type in that dressing room, a lot of hot heads who may react badly if upset. Players like Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott or Mesut Ozil — each one with a reputation of throwing tantrums when things have not gone their way in the past, not only make up Arsenal’s attacking force but are also that team’s senior players. The players responsible for setting the standards to which others follow. So, what happens when Alexis Sanchez throws a strop when the team is losing, visibly moaning and taking it upon himself to win a match on his own to the detriment of the collective or when Theo Walcott walking off in disgust when substituted before giving limp post-match remarks? If Olivier Giroud’s off-field antics don’t affect the team, his on-field apathy most certainly does. Meanwhile, the supreme talent of Mesut Ozil is too often overshadowed by his much maligned on-pitch tantrums and perceived lack of effort.
Imagine the influence all of this behavior is having on the younger, quieter or less experienced players in the squad, the players who look to these senior players to lead by example? It doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Look at Hector Bellerin, berated by his own fans in Monday’s defeat to Crystal Palace while attempting to recover a ball for a throw-in, has looked a distraught zombie in recent months. Think back to earlier in the season, the young Spaniard’s chance creation and defensive recovery stats were second to none in the Premier League, but now this slump has reeked huge damage on him too. Caught out of position on multiple occasions at Selhurst Park, his shoulders drooped with the weight of expectation and blame laid on him and not for the first time this year. None of the senior players were there to help him, to defend him.
Other, less junior members of the squad, who may not necessarily look to those named for leadership, seem to be completely disheartened by the situation. Individuals like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck have proven themselves to be good and experienced players in the past, though not exactly Churchillian leaders on the field, now cast a sorry set of shadows, unable to take a game by the scruff of its neck to break the current curse on their side’s form.
The entire team has had its collective confidence zapped and the players are now unable to hide away their sensitivity to criticism and their frustration at their inability to change things. They are lacking confidence and losing will — the number of errors are increasing, while players are taking longer to get up, to get back to defend or forward to attack. All of this points to a complete collapse in their motivation. They are in desperate need of support from somewhere, of certainty of the future, of hope that things can improve.
Whatever the cause of Arsenal’s descent into mediocrity, it is sad to see people in such a way. You can be angry like Jamie Carragher, Graeme Souness or the many thousands of other football fans who have spoken on Arsenal recently, but, in truth, it is just a sad situation to be in. The players, the manager, the fans, they are only human. You try losing motivation in what you do, in your life’s work, in your fandom and see how able you are to reach your potential. It’s very difficult and this will be a very difficult challenge for Arsenal to overcome.
