Coombs wrote:
Right, it's because (in part) we've been paying millions over the years to players who didn't actually play for us. You can't possibly weigh that evenly with players at other clubs who are core parts of their squad.
There's two distinct problems at Arsenal. One is the coaching has gone horribly wrong (again, 3 managers in a row now) and the other is the club is run very badly on the directorial level. That we continue to slide says something about the latter while simultaneously going a long way to explaining the former. Acting like Arteta has been operating on a even playing field (or as some are arguing, even higher) is just a way of blaming him for decades of poor management.
His failures are his own, but surely this string of managerial failure over the last decade is connected to a much larger issue. We've backed him in this window, and he's ballsed it up before even giving himself a real chance to work with the players he brought in. He's (mostly) got the right ideas for me, despite his critical failings, so at least there may be a slim chance that the club can turn it around off the back of this summer's business, even if Arteta himself can't (or simply isn't a part of it).
We have to determine what is the meaning of "managerial failure". If that means being outside of top 4 well yes, this is happening since the last days of Wenger. Nonetheless it is really unfair to compare the current situation to the one that was with Wenger or even with Emery. This level of ineptitude is not related to the hierarchy of the club.
West Ham finished 6th last season. So we are going to blame the Kroenkes for ending 8th? That makes no sense. The reality is that our current manager is completely trash, we have a guy that could easily fit as coach of a Sunday League team.
There are larger issues, yes; but our current level of shitness is exclusively up to the current coach. It makes sense, if you hire a shit coach, then the result is obvious.
Right ideas without any aptitude whatsoever to implement them are useless. Even I could have the right ideas and I still would be a disaster as a coach, just like a guy whose only previous experience is just holding the cones for pep.
