The mustache finally speaks
The virtual owner of Arsenal is at long last wheeled out and gets caught up on the summer and the past three years. But if you were looking for nuggets (a ghastly pun on the NBA team of which he’s an owner) of insight you would be sorely disappointed. For an owner of so many sports teams, Stan Kroenke is just a depressing, clueless figurehead. Here is a so called nugget:
“Maybe it is one of those times when we have to work our way through, maybe with some young players. Arsene has been really good at developing these guys, people like Alex [Oxlade-]Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere. There are some really good players that Arsene thinks can be special. Arsene’s our man.”
Arsenal have been working their way through with young players for seven years now. It’s not new. Arsene just about got his hands on Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain, so he really isn’t the finished product and nor should he be at the age of 18. Kroenke has been associated with the Arsenal board for about five years now and this is the best he can offer?
It’s Arsene this, Arsene that. Little else but platitudes.
Contrast this with John Henry, a very hands on owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool who put his finger on the pulse right away by drawing attention to the the long list of unproductive players swelling the side’s payroll. Sure, he may not know the ins and outs of the soccer business or its history but since his ownership of Liverpool, he’s done a good job of turning around a dysfunctional ethos. Henry is the owner under whom the BoSox finally lifted the curse of the Bambino, so he knows something about long, long title-less streaks. He put Kenny Dalglish in charge, opened up the purse strings, and Liverpool are finally on the mend. Kroenke came in and bought more shares on the stealth. That’s about all he’s done.