Power n Glory wrote:Angelito wrote:Weren't Chelsea a point ahead of us when Lampard was sacked? They're now in the UCL final, in the FA Cup final, and are 4th in the league.
The issue with the Kroenkes is that they're almost afraid of hiring top quality managers. They don't want strong personalities. That's why they opted for yes-men over Conte, Tuchel, Allegri, or Pochettino. Even now, they're pumping PR-driven articles in favor of Arteta and the current status quo at Arsenal.
They were the engineers behind our downfall from UCL football because they decided to back Gazidis in his cold war with Wenger. They essentially sacrificed two of Wenger's final season just to kick him out of the club.
If they were as strategic and as ruthless, they'd have fired Wenger after 15/16 or wouldn't have offered Wenger that final contract at the end of 16/17.
You can't have it both ways. You can't expect devoted subservience from top professionals. You also can't expect to succeed by simply hiring mediocre yes-men.
The same set of fans that wanted Wenger out because top-4 was boring and unambitious, are now backing Arteta and defending Arsenal's mid-table glory.
Arsenal hierarchy is a master of manufacturing consent. Compare the media scrutiny when Wenger was around to what it is now. There's absolutely no pressure on Arteta to deliver. He's enjoying the most lucrative internship in the history of internships.
Gary Neville has started talking about Arsenal like we're Spurs. He'd never have dared when Wenger was around. Liverpool, ManU, and Arsenal are three stalwarts of the English game. Yet, the conversation has swiftly moved to Liverpool and ManU, like they're the Barca and Real.
Even amongst the fanbase, fans who question Arteta are labelled as "reactive, short-sighted," fans. How the Arsenal PR mechanism has managed to convince Arsenal fans that 10th isn't an utter disaster—should be included in the curriculum of public relations at colleges.
Masterful, I have to admit.
It's a shame that we've fallen so far. It's a bigger shame that Arsenal honchos are resorting to PR campaigns instead of actually doing anything about it.
Abramovich is brutal and wouldn't even spare Lampard. I thought Chelsea were going for a token appointment and Abramovich had plans of cutting back on spending with Lampard being the perfect candidate to keep the fans quiet. I was wrong.
I'm really hoping the Kroenke's are having a Goldilocks moment. A little too conservative and safe with the Emery appointment and now too much of a risk with Arteta. Hopefully they get it right with the next appointment. If it's another disastrous appointment we may find ourselves stuck as a midtable team for a few more years.
Or worse. We will only be able to attract really mediocre players if we languish in mid-table.