da dobrowin： Arsenal’s tightly-wound PR machine appears to cover all bases, except of course for what the manager lets slip during his press conferences or post-match interviews.
da dobrowin： The problem is two-fold. One, Arsene Wenger, like every manager, is the first line of defence (or attack) against the media. We often like to take what he has to say as gospel because he’s the regular line from the club to the fans. The other point is it doesn’t seem as though anyone is telling Wenger what he should and shouldn’t say, as harmless as his words may be. He speaks in riddles and he can often force a rise out of supporters and the media, but then when Arsenal as a whole are quite clearly walking on thin ice, it is hardly the best idea to speak out that he believes the squad can challenge for the Premier League title without additions this summer.
I said it earlier in the summer that I am absolutely convinced Wenger would go into next season with the squad he has if he was allowed to. Amy Lawrence recently spoke with the BBC about the internal tug of war at the club over the matter of spending big, with her inclination being that Wenger is still very much reserved on that front.
The issue is that Arsenal have created problems for themselves when there really didn’t need to be any.
[cat_link cat=”arsenal” type=”list”]
I’m not for the idea that Ivan Gazidis shouldn’t have spoken about the club’s spending capabilities prior to the summer market opening. It would be easy to underestimate the rest of Europe in situations like that, assuming that the power a club has is only revealed via the media or supporter events. Even if Gazidis had kept quiet about the club’s plans this summer, other clubs in England and on the continent would have quickly caught wind of Arsenal’s new-found position of financial strength. It’s hardly a secret, and something like revealing your cards won’t always put you at a disadvantage.
But it’s that Arsenal are clearly not on the same wavelength with themselves. Half of the board want to spend, while other quarters want to adhere to the traditions set in previous summers. Gazidis had to say something to the supporters, such was the negative atmosphere around the club following another poor season and another captain sold last summer. It was brilliant PR, talking up the club’s ability to spent £250,000 per week on wages if a Wayne Rooney figure became available. But was Wenger consulted? Was the manager buying into this new way of thinking?
On the whole it makes the club look foolish, while the first and second lines of defence (Gazidis being the second) are clashing over what to do this summer. There’s the spin-factor that comes into it, but I don’t think the club are looking to play the supporters like incompetent, mindless disciples who only latch onto what comes out directly via the club. I do believe there was a desire to spend big and to big spend early, but the fact that the strategic plan wasn’t agreed upon prior to Gazidis’ speech only exacerbates the issue and potentially forces the club into purchases they otherwise wouldn’t have made.
It’s got nothing to do with telling the rest of Europe how much money you have; it has everything to do with giving the wrong impression to a group of supporters who are desperate for something different and ambitious.
If Wenger truly believes that his squad is good enough then – not that I’m condoning it – but get that aired out prior to the window opening. It’s a huge PR blunder, even if it is a throwaway interview, for the manager to talk up an unchanged squad who finished fourth and 26 points behind last season’s champions as title contenders, only months after the CEO promised surprises and ambition.
But that’s just another block to the inconsistent structure at the club. Off the pitch, Arsenal can do no wrong. A wave of new revenue streams are helping to elevate the club onto a similar footing as Bayern Munich, Manchester United and a few others around Europe. The on-pitch affairs and everything related to it continue to take a hammering. Supporters absolutely wanted more clarity on what the club meant when they sold Robin van Persie for “footballing reasons,” and the same is very much true for the issues and building direction for this summer.
Have Arsenal made PR mistakes with their approach to this summer’s market?
Join the debate below
[opinion-widget op width=”full”]