The Failure Of The Arsenal Project

A recent piece for Football Friends attempted to explain why this summer has seen young British players are commanding fairly astronomical fees. The argument goes that Brits are far more likely to stay within their home nation rather than be tempted by Spain or Italy therefore clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United are hoping to secure a decade of service from the likes of Jordan Henderson and Phil Jones rather than being forced into selling to Barcelona or Real Madrid down the line. If there is one club that has most suffered from this problem in recent years it is Arsenal. At this very moment the cliché police are arriving to take away my “journalist” licence but Arsenal are in desperate need of British players. But recognising the problem and addressing it are two very different things. Whether youngsters will continue to have faith in Arsene Wenger’s project remains to be seen.

If the argument above is correct and there is a greater element of security or loyalty about the purchase of British players who are more inclined to stay at home than transfer abroad this would seem perfect for Arsenal given how many players Wenger has already lost to the European elite. In recent years alone Alexander Hleb and Thierry Henry have been sold to Barcelona while AC Milan poached Mathieu Flamini, not to mention the likes of Marc Overmars or Nicolas Anelka who’ve left to play for the Spanish duopoly before. Even now (and as ever FTW is first with the breaking news) Catalonia is paying a fair amount of homage to Cesc Fabregas in the safe knowledge that the wayward youth will return to the Nou Camp and resume his rightful place as a Barcelona man.

It should be made clear that the traditional “Arsenal need English players cos Johnny Foreigner ain’t got no backbone” argument is tired and offensive. The question is not one of determination or courage but of itchy feet. There is very little history of major transfers between domestic rivals in the English game. Aside from the gargantuan fee that sent Fernando Torres from Liverpool to Chelsea the level of movement between the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool is virtually nonexistent. If Arsene Wenger had managed to persuade Phil Jones to pick the Emirates over Old Trafford the likelihood is that the Gunners would have secured the services of one of the brightest prospects in English football for over a decade.

Sadly the disturbing truth is that the current pattern at Arsenal is for brilliant young foreign prospects come to the club and develop into footballers of the highest calibre before jumping ship to another club on the continent. The twin factors of how poorly English footballers tend to travel and the fact that they are more likely to see playing for Arsenal as a pinnacle of a career rather than a stepping stone to a Spanish or Italian club means that investing in British youngsters would allow Wenger to construct a team around a solid core instead of constantly fending off interest from other clubs as is the case with Fabregas.

The problem for Wenger is recognising and addressing a problem are two different things. We know that the Professor has been strongly linked with the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Phil Jones which shows a desire to bring in English talent to accompany Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere but Jones opted for Manchester United while Liverpool are also very much in the hunt for Oxlade-Chamberlain’s signature. The Arsenal project under Wenger has been to develop a young team into champions, an admirable idea but not easy at the best of times. If young starlets are looking at Arsenal as unattractive proposition to begin with and stars like Samir Nasri and Fabregas are openly talking about leaving then any pretence that the project can still succeed is dying.

This summer window is demonstrating two things for Arsenal. Firstly when competing with clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea they may be able to offer more in terms of game time and wages but not the chance of trophies which players crave. However unfair this accusation is, the media narrative has run stories on Arsenal’s trophy drought for so long that it becomes a subconscious fact in players minds that Arsenal are dramatically weak compared to their rivals in terms of winning trophies. Secondly that established players are willing to openly flirt with domestic rivals e.g. Nasri with Manchester United which further demonstrates that weakness. The idea of selling a key player to a domestic rival would be a humiliating admission of Arsenal’s comparative stature in the Premier League. Persuading the likes of Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jones to join the Arsenal project may cost rather a lot up front but over the course of a decade it’s cheaper to buy one player for £15m than four for £6m each. Somehow Wenger needs to start convincing players that they belong in London long term and the place to start might just be with British talent.

Aesthetics And Barcelona's Sense Of Superiority

“No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly” – Oscar Wilde

If a quick perusal of Wikipedia is to be believed, aesthetics is a complex subject. The study of beauty is something that has evolved in different ways in all corners of the globe. Debates have raged over whether art can be intrinsically beautiful or merely subjectively so. Can it stand alone without making a wider point or must art stand for something? When it comes to Barcelona and their tiki-taka style what they claim to represent is obvious. Orchestra conductor Xavi Hernandez claims that “the result is an impostor in football...there’s something greater than the result, more lasting. A legacy.” Xavi’s claim to be creating a legacy is true, particularly of the 2009 Barcelona side. Jonathan Wilson has stated that one of the biggest indicators of how great any given side was is how many imitators they produce. It would not be surprising in the least if Guardiola’s Barcelona has the same sort of impact on the game as Michels Ajax side or Sacchi’s Milan. However there is a darker side to Barcelona’s play which has avoided scrutiny due to the sheer brilliance of Messi et al.

In her book “Thinking Past Terror” Susan Buck-Morss noted how the logic in the United States had shifted from an epistemological approach to human rights (because the U.S. doesn’t violate human rights it is a civilised nation) to an ontological one (because the U.S. is a civilised nation whatever it does to combat terrorism can’t be a human rights violation). Put another way, because the U.S. is a nation based on certain principles, whatever it does cannot violate those principles even if all evidence is to the contrary. The U.S. is inescapably bound up with its identity as a land of the free, leader of the free world. It’s acceptance of human rights violations should strike at the very core of its sense of self. Yet through the idea that anything is permissible as long as we’re the ones to do it because we’re the good guys, the logic of 2+2=5 was upheld.

Although the link between America and Barcelona initially seems tenuous, the ontological fallacy is being repeated again. While the U.S. deals with the rights of the individual against the state, Barcelona and their admirers have been dismissive of accusations that their pretty football and ethos is undermined by a darker side to their game. The Catalan club claim to be playing football “the right way” and building a legacy. They claim to be “Mes Que Un Club”. Such a stance is impossible to maintain when indulging in outrageous antics designed to get opponents sent off. Xavi said of Madrid’s performance in the first leg “I wouldn’t dream of playing that way and Barca cannot allow ourselves to play that way.” Except that Xavi’s puritanical streak doesn’t seem to stretch to Busquets or Pedro going down clutching their faces when they haven’t actually been touched there. The aggressive and negative tactics of Madrid are indefensible but for all their tiki-taka prowess this Barcelona team is in danger of being remembered for Busquets peek last season as Messi’s wonderful slaloming second goal. The inversion of the logic that occurred under the Bush administration seems to have happened at the Nou Camp. When Barcelona were a team based around metronomic passing and lethal attacking movement (which they still are in all fairness) they were hailed as the best team on the planet, playing football the right way. Since then the title has been so often repeated that Barcelona have begun to wallow in the title and regard any attempts to stop them almost as an affront. The cheating that they indulge in isn’t addressed because its them doing it and they’re the torch-bearers for all that is good in football therefore it isn’t wrong.

In each of the four Clasico’s we’ve had so far this season Real Madrid have had a player sent off. Sergio Ramos, Raul Albiol, Angel Di Maria and Pepe have all seen red against the Catalans so far. And while this could be attributed to poor discipline in the derby, it doesn’t explain why both Inter Milan (last season) and Arsenal (earlier this season) have also both been reduced by a man when against Guardiola’s side. It seems barely credible that six dismissals in six of the biggest games Barcelona have played in the past two years can all be put down to coincidence alone. The play-acting of Pedro and Sergio Busquets, the incessant tactical fouling of Andres Iniesta and the constant hounding of referees are all contributing factors in Barcelona enjoying a man advantage in important games.

Of course it isn’t all down to cynicism on the part of Barcelona. Their phenomenal ability to retain possession frustrates opponents and provokes reactions like Ramos in the 5-0 earlier this season or Pepe in the first leg of the semi-final. Red cards don’t happen in isolation, players earn them. When Mourinho complains about never being able to play Barcelona 11 vs. 11 he needs to take a good long look at some of his own players actions before commenting on Guardiola and his side. Ramos deserved his red card. Pepe arguably deserved his. But the never-ending hounding of referee Wolfgang Stark by Puyol and company certainly influenced his decision making over the course of the 90 minutes.

Of course many sides engage in underhand tactics and Barcelona are not the worst. Nor do their tactics result in broken limbs like the overly aggressive tactics of others. Nevertheless it is impossible to maintain a posture of being footballs saviours and use such cynical means to win. Before going after Real Madrid, Xavi might just want to have a look at his own camp before passing judgement.