Critics have pointed to the weakness of our defence and Wenger’s failure to replace Campbell and Toure, but I don’t buy this at all. In Sagna, Koscielny and Vermaelen we have three of the best individual defenders in the league, so it must point to the team’s organisation and coaching. It is obvious from my Twitter feed that you all share these views on these individuals quality and Kozza is fast becoming a legend.
So where am I going with these musings today? I still believe the current squad are playing for Wenger, but I would like to see the coaching staff changed. If this were to happen then there is no shortage of candidates from Wenger’s own successful era. He has obviously inspired many of his great players to take their coaching badges. People have mentioned Bergkamp frequently and Dutch sources suggest he will be in our set up in the next few years. Tony Adams has not kept it a secret that he would love to be back in north London. Nigel Winterburn is taking the first steps with Gary Smith at Stevenage Borough. Many would love to see Martin Keown back in the fold and I would include myself in that number, but it could be a big first step for Martin. No, for me the answer right now lies within the current set up, and I would love to see Steve Bould step up to the frame as soon as possible. In an ideal world Keown could replace Bould to work with Liam Brady in the youth set up.
Bould is perfect for so many reasons. He has a superb record with the Under-18’s in recent seasons, which also means that many of the younger members of the squad will have recent memories of a good working relationship with him. He was one of the best centre-backs of his generation and part of the legendary back four that conceded only 13 goals in a whole season in 1991. So if Bould cannot organise our group of individually talented defenders into a unit I am not sure who can. First and foremost of course Bould is one of us and knows what it means to be a Gooner, and I am certain he is feeling the same pain we are feeling as fans not winning. I also see no reason to wait until the end of the season when Rice steps down and would like to see Bould integrated in the first-team coaching set up now. He has been coaching at Arsenal for 11 years now and has all his UEFA coaching licences. Just in case you are not convinced on my views or younger readers may not know Boulder as well as older fans, perhaps you might respect the views of Patrick Vieira. Patrick was asked who should succeed Wenger at Arsenal as recently as the 30th of December and his answer was concise and emphatic.
He told the Metro:
‘Steve Bould has been doing really well.
‘If I had to say a name then it would be him because he deserves it.’
Lastly as the title suggests, I would like to touch on new signings. Regular readers will know I have certain players that I would love for us to sign, such as Dries Mertens or Olivier Giroud, but today I am actually going to go with the Wenger line that players returning from long-term injuries are like new signings. I am smiling as I type this as I imagine Wenger saying this at a press conference, but I do not think I can overstate how important the return of Sagna will be for the home stretch. This being the case, we can hope to feel the same about Wilshere and Gibbs or Santos, but the player I actually see as a type of new player is not a long-term absentee. I would like to single out Tomas Rosicky for huge praise after Sunday’s match. I have been critical of him on occasion this year but on Sunday he turned the clock back to 2007 and I admire his deep self-belief. If Rosicky can continue to perform as he did then he can certainly soften the blow of the delayed return of Jack and allow Wenger to rotate the midfield three.
Until next time.
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