vToo many chefs spoil the long said broth and you wonder if this is likely to be the case at Arsenal with their new set of appointments. Out with the old, with the new. Darren Burgess , an Australian, is in charge of fitness and having previously had three years working at Liverpool; said to be Wenger’s own choice.
HUSS FAHMY ARRIVED FROM TEAM SKY TO DEAL WITH PLAYER CONTRACTS
As we know the problem here arises in the Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil issue maxbet indonesia Both can run, until the end of the season, when they can emerge from contract. That the club has let things slip so far seems disconcerting. Sanchez seems determined to leave, Ozil reportedly asking for £300,000 a week. So, if both players are transferred in the currently accessed transfer list, they cannot go together in vain. Sheer common sense would have been able to initiate pro-active policies long ago.
Steve Rowley, through the years the chief scout, has been sent on his way, to be replaced by Borussia Dortmund’s Sven Mislantat on the back of a good record of discoveries and signings, among them Robert Lewandowski. Bayern Munich apparently wanted him to join them. That appears quite reasonable.
Raul Sanllehi has registered from Barcelona where he spent 14 years, becoming the club’s director of football. At Arsenal, he could be the head of the football association. Whatever that means.
Behind this appointment one looks to the figure of Ivan Gazidis, the club’s chief executive who at the end of a disappointing Gunners season , when they missed out after years of reaching the Champions Cup, showed that they had a most successful season. Success for him must have been because he reportedly received a million pound bonus.
This new appointment can one hope have put a halt to a troubling situation with Sanchez and Ozil, which can certainly be resolved with a little common sense.
Meanwhile, then Jack Wilshere’s pending contract, in its recent form having been stretched throughout the season, had to be finalised. He was previously limited to a role in the second-choice team competing in lower European competition. Now that he is late again to the top team, he is at least offered a new contract. Not as cheap as the latter, depending on the level of performance, which actually makes sense as he is often prone to injury. But his outstanding form suggests he should have been picked for the first team last week. One player remembers who has been with the Gunners since the age of nine. He was outstanding especially at West Bromwich recently, where his team’s performance was mediocre to the title.
HOW DIFFERENT IT WAS WITH THE ISOLATED DAYS AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
One thinks of Joe Smith, the overly successful Blackpool team manager who was never known to give team talks. One Saturday afternoon in the exchange area before an away game, he surprised his players by telling them he wanted to tackle them. “That’s right,” he said. “At the end of the game, don’t change your football shirt, Put on the coat, get on the team bus, cause we can catch 5.45.”
Yet moreover Matt Busby, the father and idea of Manchester United , has a strangely casual approach to tactics. When at half-time in the 1948 Cup Final his United team headed to Blackpool, all of him told them, “Keep playing football.” Which they carry out and run out of winners.
Another Joe Smith story. In the away game with Blackpool he stood in the hotel toilet, overriding one of the club directors. Suddenly the chain was pulled and a visiting director appeared who was ashamed of himself. “And what else,” he said. “He’s a bloody eavesdropper.”