The Arsenal XI share the same craggy defiance as their coach except for the first half and the last 15 minutes of the second
Arsene Wenger basically says make me:
"If I go out now and play one against one with you, you will see I will beat you and at least if I don't manage to beat you, I will want to beat you. That will not change as long as I can move."
An admirable sentiment. Even more so for a 63 year old in his sixteenth season at the same club going through an eight year drought (yes, Allianz Arena, second leg miracle, blah blah) of silverware. The fire had not died out. But what motivates this man should also motivate the club for 90 + minutes, not 10. And herein lies the disconnect.
"We live in a world of emotion, of excess, and it is down to people who have responsibilities to put that into perspective and keep solid and keep guiding the club in the right way."
That in so many words means Arsenal is wedded to its economic prudence and will remain steadfast in the midst of giant vampire squids squirting swathes of staining black ink money on this sport. Except that the club's wage structure undercuts that message quite significantly as players who have not played a lick sit on the bench earning close to £2m a year, inflating the wage bill to fourth largest in the Premiership.
Andrey Arshavin loves Arsenal's economic message so much he's turned down every offer because where else can you earn £60,000 a week for doing nothing. That is the definition of excess. The problem is not a war chest, the first priority should be to get rid of the unproductive players and the savings received will tot up to what Sunderland, Stoke, Fulham, and Wigan spend in two transfer periods.
There is also a performance upside to this. Wenger makes sure that those who wear an Arsenal shirt deserve their place. That translates into more pride and passion on the pitch. Jack Wilshere is already doing that but the danger is he's already showing signs of frustration in carrying the team. That was one of the factors that drove Fabregas back to Barcelona. It becomes too exhausting to find you're on page 325 while everyone is still reading the preface.
Wenger also put to rest the Sun's obviously planted story (par for a Rupert Murdoch run rag) that the club was contemplating a two year extension before his contract ran out in 2014. There are good and bad ways to exert pressure on Wenger and this was particularly obnoxious. The bottomline is Wenger is not going away unless its of his choosing. You may draw up a short list, a long list, A list, B-lister in the Sun, David Moyes, Juergen Klopp, Jupp Heynckes, Michael Laudrup. All sorts of lists. Extracting needed change (in transfers, in tactics) will be a challenge.
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