I'm amazed how people do not get it. Our players have very high skill levels most have played very successfully in their former teams, which is why we bought them in the first place, and now they are part of a failing team. Given that and you blame the players? No! what is wrong are the team selections, the positions players are put into, and the 'system' they are expected to adhere to. The manager is wrong and is messing up the potential of some very good players.
I think most of us blame the players attitude and application. O.k. If they have little or no faith in what they're being asked to do out there, then that inevitably will feed through to their performance. Also, we tend to judge players by their cost, or transfer fee. Most moan that Lamela doesn't play like a £30mil player. Whilst we praise Chadli because he performs well for an £8mil player. If Pochettino is trying to impose a system on players not suited to that style of play, then yes, there are going to be problems, as we've seen. At the moment however, the system seems to change from week to week.
The system changes every week because he has about as much idea of how to set up a team as I do. The difference is I am not being paid millions to do it.
Wenger has often been criticised for not spending, but he has always said he wants the right player - and he also says that the right player is the one with the right mentality to fit into the Arsenal ethos. Whatever we might think of Wenger, it looks to me as if the mental side is not something we've been paying enough attention to in our transfer dealings (though I understand we passed up on Suarez for these kinds of reasons). These might be talented players, but are they prima donnas? Are they mentally fragile? Will they adapt to a new League/system? Are they leaders?
I get the distinct impression that Wenger always meets the players to see how they tick and suss them out based on intellect, desire, strength of character and overall mentality once he's satisfied they can do the business on the football pitch. I'm sure the likes of Ferguson at United, Moyes at Everton... crikey even Allardyce and Pulis do this too to see if they are the right fit for their methodology. I wonder how much input or rubber stamping past and present Spurs mangers have had in these situations. I get the distinct impression the DOF and Levy have the final say otherwise why do we tend to end up with the second choice player rather than the initially hotly tipped target? If the best isn't available, don't waste the money. Hence the past 2 years spending.
It was widely reported that Poch did this at Southampton and it was often a big reason why players chose to join them.
That's my impression NSIS but I am quite ready to be proved wrong on this, I hope I am. It just appears to me that guys like AVB and Pochettino have these wonderful plans and systems and then they come up against the main problem to their plans.....Human Beings! in this case footballing ones. I believe atm that both were LUCKY to find a happy blend of players in Sothampton & Portugal that were able to adopt their strategy's. Once however outside their comfort zones they are left floundering for a Plan B. Once again Emperors New Clothes rule the day and take the money and the fans hopes.
I would love us to have a manager like Mourinho. He studies the opposition and sets up his side to nulify the way they like to play, whilst imposing his own plans on them too. O.k. He has the seemingly more adaptable, better quality players and a much fatter wallet to play with, but it must be possible to emulate his tactics to an extent.
Mourinho relies on having total control of his transfer ins and outs, and bottomless funding to get who he wants. He'd get neither the control, or the funds at Spurs IMO. Adaptability is important though, although you can't be a purely reactive manager. Mourinho does seem to get the balance between reaction and imposition right more often than not. My guess would be that Pochettino is abandoning his philosophy for now in favour of getting immediate results. That hardly seems to be working though, which isn't great.
Mourinho also relies on having a high level of intelligence. He illustrates perfectly the point I was making yesterday, that is, he didn't get where he is today because he was brilliant at kicking a ball. He got there by applying his high level of intelligence and his understanding of human nature, both of which you either have or don't have, it can't be taught at the FA's coaching schools. EDIT: Plus he is almost obsessive about details. OCD is a requirement if you wish to be a genius.
Arsenal seem to end up with rather a large number of players that struggle in big games though, if this is true. They seem pretty complacent at times, too. Wenger himself has bemoaned the lack of fighters available since the defence that he inherited retired, when talking about Sanchez and his upbringing. You can't imagine a Mourinho side blowing a 4-0 lead, for example, or being 3-0 up in a Champions League group game at home and not seeing it out. Our lack of leaders is clear, but there seems to be something pretty broken in the mindset of the senior players. I'm hoping that our youth system will address this over time, as it doesn't seem to be a problem with players coming through, but it's been an issue for a long time. No idea how this has persisted though, as we've changed the whole squad, the coaches, the manager, the scouts and pretty much everything else. Perhaps it's a default position and someone needs to set a different tone and stick to it?
I can't see how the chairman would have any influence over it, though. You also missed out the supporters and the coach driver (possibly)...
I think the chairman has a major influence on how a club performs and it's overall mentality. Blaming the supporters is a cop-out.
wasn't there something going around a few years back that we were cursed due to the cockerel on the stand facing towards Arsenal? Did we ever turn that bad boy around?
