People won't like this but hey, f**k it.
I'd go about this on three levels:
- Complete re-structuring at boardroom level. This includes getting rid of Sanllehi if the need be. This summer would reveal how well he functions without Mislintat, so yeah, the jury is still out on him. Existing board members and football people at Arsenal are either too busy to worry about meagre things like football, or are simply obsolete. I'm guessing it's a mixture of both. We need our own Txiki Begiristain. We need someone who understands modern football. We need balance of power. We need strategic thinkers because we won't be spending a whole lot.
- Invest more on the scouting network. More than what other clubs do. We have to invest more on profiles ranging from 17-23 in age. Unless a worldie or absolutely necessary, I wouldn't be in favor of buying any player above 26. No resale value. Rather, I'd be in favor of getting experienced PL players in and around 30 for free or for cheap, who can be mentors to young players, but won't be complaining if left on the bench. Those are players like Cech, Milner, etc.
- Hire a tactical manager who has a proven record of winning the League title, or pay over the odds for someone like Nagelsmann, Jardim, or ten Hag. The likes of Conte, Simeone, and Klopp have built sides from the ashes of destruction—and have taken them to the top. Those are the types of managers you'd want. If we can't get them, we need the likes of Nagelsmann or Jardim. The former is considered the best prospect in football management. The latter has done a similar job with Monaco.
Now, in addition to these three, we need some micromanagement:
- Know when to strike. We could have won the title in 13/14 if we'd gotten Higuain in addition to Ozil. We could have won the title in 15/16 if we'd bought Lacazette earlier, or Aubameyang. Those were Wenger's failings. That's where we needed a strong football person to decide. Liverpool have done that excellently with Alisson and van Dijk. SAF was a master at hoarding wingers and center-forwards. This brings me to...
- Invest on wingers. That was the SAF mantra. SAF usually was spoilt for riches on the flanks. He had 4-5 of 'em. We might not afford that and it's okay. But Wenger has been particularly guilty of not having direct wingers during his time here. In the Emirates era, our pure wingers:
- Alexis
- Gervinho
- Walcott
- Chamberlain
That's poverty. The ones who were deployed there—Arshavin, Rosicky, Hleb, Bendtner, Cazorla, Ramsey, Nasri, Podolski, etc. weren't natural wingers.
You need pacy, direct wingers in the Premier League to excel. It's more important here than in any other league. Sane, Sterling, and Mahrez are examples. Hazard, Pedro, Willian for Chelsea. Mane, Salah for Liverpool. The SAF way was clear. Strong defense. Wingers bombing forward and crossing. Foxes in the box.
Pretty much.
I could say a world-class CB or a world-class CM but I won't because those are big money solutions. With our resources, we can still do so much more. We're awful at selling players. That's another aspect we need to work on. We also need to be smart. Should we keep Mkhi next season? What about Mustafi? Elneny? Since we're not using him, why not give his spot to a youth player? Ozil? I love Ozil to pieces but there is a Dybala situation at Juve. Could we exploit that? Could we give Ozil's wages to Dybala in addition to £70-80m in transfer fee because the Dybala situation is special and after the season he's had, his stock is low—and for Juve, Ron and Dybala aren't compatible. Doesn't mean it will come through.
But hey, worth a punt, eh?
Btw, this isn't about next season, in particular. It's a plan that would need 2-4 years before showing some signs of progress.