ABSURDITY OF CHANGE MERCHANTS

THE COST OF BREAKING A GOOD THING

Sometimes I dive into the comments online, and I actually can’t believe what I’m reading. It’s like getting into an argument coming back on the vomit comet train from London to deepest Essex. Am I really listening to people telling me that the job of being a referee has no skill? Do people honestly believe it’s not worthy of being a profession? Are you TRULY of the belief that being a global hate figure is perhaps not worthy of a higher price tag? Do you actually believe that if you put the salary to a level where officials could retire when their bodies give up... you wouldn’t, you know, get a bigger pool to choose from? Are we totally sure that changing the reward structure to focus on rewards would NOT deliver better performance?

I had all those arguments yesterday, and I’ve got to say, I’ve never felt drunker whilst being totally sober. God bless the internet. We’ll argue anything to own the libs.

It’s like the unserious view that we need to change the manager you read after even the slightest shift in form. This is sport, people. Ups and downs are baked in. Titles are rarely won in November. Elite is not wetting the bed at the first time of trouble. Have we perhaps listened to too many *High Performance Podcasts* from Jake Humphrey that we’ve now convinced ourselves that anything short of perfection must be eradicated?

I have to consider—am I, in fact, an apologist? Am I what I hated when I was calling time on Arsène Wenger? Have I softened with age like my gut has?

Fuck no. People have gone hard right in the sportosphere in search of the dopamine hit that comes with change. We’re addicted to transfers, rage, and coaching movement. Your view of me might have remembered that I always wanted change, but that’s because I rallied for the change of one man over 10 years.

My core principles:

- I expect improvement on what we’re doing every year - and you don’t find that out until the new year (ask Guardiola).

- I want a manager in charge who can innovate with the times.

- I don’t expect trophies every year, but I expect us to challenge at the highest level.

If you are looking for change right now, in this environment, with what Arsenal have on offer, you are not serious and do not have a serious idea of how to improve things.

Look at the dead manager carcasses at the side of the road Arteta has mown down.

Unai Emery—comes in and out of fashion, but he’s just lost 4 on the bounce and he’s still getting ravaged through the middle in transition. For all Villa’s success last year, it’s worth remembering they conceded 61 goals last season. Double Arsenal.

Thomas Tuchel—people were so upset that we didn’t change up to Thomas. But he flopped at Chelsea after winning the FA Cup, and he lasted barely any time at Bayern Munich. He’s now an international coach. You wanted to build a long-term legacy under a German coach who can’t last more than 2 years in a job? Good luck.

Antonio Conte—he had so many fans in the Arsenal base - people rallying to fire Arteta to bring in the chosen one. People were absolutely addicted to his winning mentality, which actually turned out to be taking mayo out of the kitchen, spending loads of money on older players, playing the same formationt to death, then burning down the place when things inevitably went wrong for him.

Erik ten Hag—‘how is it that he has a playing identity after 2 months at United’ was the protest. Where are those people now?

There was a new list of managers revealed to me last night that would be more suitable to give Arsenal the extra two points they needed last season in their fight against the club with the richest wage bill and the deepest pockets on planet earth.

Xabi Alonso, Hansi Flick now he’s trendy again, Julian Nagelsmann, Simone Inzaghi...

Everyone sounds nice on paper. All very competent managers. But when you’re trying to be serious about change, you have to ask what you are changing for and what you hope to achieve out the other side.

Right now, there’s not a sporting director on the planet that would change out what we have at Arsenal. That isn’t being subjective, that is objective. There’s not a single elite-level professional that makes decisions on coaching who would say, ‘what’s going on at Arsenal is bad’, because what is going on at Arsenal is objectively electric. Arteta is at the top of his game, he’s young, he has a deep connection with the fans, he’s liked in the media, the players would all die for him, he works well with the technical staff, he’s beloved at the training ground... and his record of progress is extraordinary.

Fans don’t understand what he’s up against with City, but believe me, people, everyone else in the game does, at every single club. Their spending power is extraordinary, the lengths they’ll go to win are unmatched, and they have built out a football machine for the ages. The fight, from the start, was an unfair one, and we’re close to catching up.

You should also understand that changing a manager is such an ordeal. The machine at Arsenal is oiled around Arteta. The coaches are his people, the massage guy is his, the data folk all work to what he needs, the admin team know exactly what he wants. When you disrupt the manager—you disrupt the machine. When the machine gets disrupted, it affects the players and causes all sorts of unforeseen consequences because players, believe it or not, are creatures of deep, deep routine.

We are 11 games into the season. If you are listening to people tell you why we need change, you are listening to people with weak knees. If you are watching videos of people serving up reasons to move on the manager, you are watching someone who is earning poorly off a YouTube career that offered fine riches when we were shit, but now, those folk are having to pick up extra shifts cleaning glasses.

Change is not what it once was. If you’re changing, it’s because you got something wrong. It’s expensive, it’s risky, and the best clubs in the world don’t do it. Why? Because they get it right.

Arsenal have it right. This season will get back on track. Those who think closing a 9-point gap is impossible were not around for Arsène Wenger in 1997 when he shifted a 10-point lead. Those who can’t handle the shame of a second-place finish must have forgotten Arsène Wenger finishing 2nd two times in a row, twice, in seasons proceeding Premier League wins.

Modern football is about building a sustainable model that allows you to be competitive for long stretches - it’s not about putting all your chips on one season of glory (Spurs approach, post-Poch). Adding new pieces to a system you know is fit for purpose and climbing the table is the goal. Arsenal don’t have the money to fix all their problems in one hit. We’re adding bodies every window, the squad is getting stronger, the idea is evolving, and we’re chipping away at those at the top in Europe and in the Premier League. So when you read uncultured writers ask if Arsenal are now on the decline, know that they don’t know what they’re talking about, this team won’t peak for at least three seasons, and we’re already in the running for the league. Arsenal are building to dominate the future, not arrive and then fall away.

Keep the faith—and tell your pals with weak knees to take a walk and come back on a war footing.

Catch ya tomorrow. xx