'WIN NOW' IS NOT A STRATEGY - BUT DO WE NEED IT?
Please excuse the slow-moving website articles and podcasts — I’ve been shaking off an illness and, honestly, something ain’t right. I hate writing things like that, just in case it is something bad, and people point to this as the moment I realised I was about to die. But hey, these are the monumental writing decisions I make daily to keep the paragraphs firing.
What about Myles and Declan in that double pivot the other night?
Oooooooooooooof. MLS dropped an absolutely disgusting performance. An 18-year-old cosplaying a 28-year-old worldie at international level? Quite mad. The young man was out there doing Thomas Partey things, covering defensively like Kante. There was even a moment where he used his body to shield the ball as he went to ground — it felt very Granit Xhaka dark arts.
And what about Ethan?
He made his debut for the U21s, found space just outside the 18, and picked his spot like he’s been doing in the Premier League. I caught myself feeling sorry for him, like it was some kind of second-class selection to be with the kids — but then I realised: he’s still a baby. Playing for England U21s at his age, among that level of talent, is Milk Tray special.
If we’re going to take anything really positive from this season — aside from winning our first ever Champions League — it’s the flooding of £120m worth of talent into the starting XI. I thought Ethan might get 10 games this season. However, a small admittance… I didn’t say it out loud because I didn’t want to be called toxic scum… but I genuinely thought the suggestions that Myles would hit this level were kind of laughable. It felt like Reiss Nelson getting snapped next to Saka — like, come on, we know how that one ends, and it ain’t with him as an Arsenal regular.
Credit to Matt Kandela from the EXCELLENT Arsenal Opinion Podcast, who said it’s always the ones you don’t think about who make it… though he didn’t name names, so don’t give him too much credit.
There are rumblings Andrea Berta is starting work this week. I’m not going to whitter on too much about this hire until we see what sort of moves he makes. But the more I hear, the more convinced I am that Arsenal actually let Arteta hire someone who’s supposed to be his boss. We don’t have some next-level data guy like Liverpool — we basically have a more sophisticated Don Raul.
This move is about one thing and one thing only: Win Now.
Five years into the project, you could say that’s what we need. But you could also say that “Win Now” is what landed Arsenal with Willian when Arteta first arrived. “Win Now” is what made Spurs hire Conte and Mourinho. It’s what made Manchester United sign Varane and Casemiro. ‘Winning’ isn’t a strategy, it’s an outcome, but table-banging fans like these sort of hires because it makes them feel good about the future.
Progress is delicate.
In a league as competitive as the Premier League, you can lose your perch at the top very quickly. Your ascension can be interrupted by one or two signings that don’t quite hit the mark. The ‘win now’ approach can push you into tempting shortcuts and shortcuts usually come with a sting.
My hope with the Sporting Director hire was that we’d continue to progress by either promoting from within and trusting the people who’ve taken us from 8th to 2nd + UCL (possibly three seasons in a row) — or hiring someone who could be a counterbalance to Arteta’s massive thumb on the Arsenal power scale.
I fear we’ve done neither.
If you want to laugh at the potential 4D chess going on here, note that Mikel Arteta signed off on a Sporting Director who once handed out the most expensive managerial contract in the world — a €30 million-a-season deal to Diego Simeone, which had to be cut in half in 2023 due to financial pressure at Atlético.
I wanted to be all-in on whoever this hire was going to be… but I’m feeling a bit flat, to be totally honest.
Still — let’s see where this goes. Let’s see if there’s adherence to the player profiles we’ve typically signed. Let’s track patterns in the agencies we work with. Let’s see how many absolute bums we end up with — and at what price. Let’s see if this guys can sand down some of Arteta’s load management issues.
The stage has been set for Berta to be part of a flow of good news coming from the club over the next few months. New deals for Ethan and MLS are expected. Saliba, Big Gabi, and Saka are all in discussions with the club about their futures. Attaching his name to those commitments will go a long way.
And, as I’ve said before, the biggest thing Berta can do is bring some of that sales flair from Atlético to Arsenal.
Edu was great at spending money — atrocious at bringing it in.
If Berta can move some weight out of the squad this summer and fatten the war chest, that’ll help ease my fears that we just hired someone for their impressive BlackBerry contacts.
I’m gonna say it — there are too many f*cking podcasts these days.
Every time I open my apps, there’s another footballer gassing on in front of a mic, and a lot of it is so dull.
The latest offender: Rio’s podcast. Djed Spence was on there. Wearing sunglasses indoors — like he was part of an iconic Italian back four that won big things — chatting about his defensive prowess in one-v-ones. He even had the cheek to take a dig at Martinelli.
Now, whatever, in the grand scheme. But the idea that someone playing for a club:
Sitting 14th
With the 13th worst defence
Playing so badly Spurs fans are fighting with loanees and the manager
…is peak something. It’s a lack of self-awareness. It’s an overinflated view of your own talent. It’s disrespectful to your fans.
It’s… Arsenal under Unai Emery.
You remember those days?
Bang-average players posting on socials, yelling “foofty” in the dressing room, TikTok dances, total lack of focus on anything important.
I don’t miss it.
Meanwhile, Myles Lewis-Skelly is scoring against Man City, contributing to our Champions League run, and making his England debut — and he’s getting hammered for the crime of smiling in his "Welcome to England" camp picture.
On the other side of North London, you’ve got a player who didn’t even make the original Europa League squad popping off at a Brazil international while quipping that Spurs have no leaders.
So much to fix over there… I love it.
Okay, so the Liverpool collapse I predicted is coming — just later than I hoped.
News has trickled out to their fans that Trent is going to Madrid. Not sure how this is news — it’s been an open secret in football for a while. But the reaction has still been hilarious.
Does this matter to this season? No.
But let’s contextualise the issues:
Liverpool lost £57m before tax in their latest financials
Trent’s market value is at least €75m
They’re very likely to lose Salah to Saudi this summer — the best player in the world — for nothing
No one’s talking about Van Dijk, who’s been flirting with PSG after their UCL clash
That’s three generational players, at the peak of their powers, leaving a club that’s losing money and has owners trying to sell.
Let me be clear: Liverpool are going to need an insane amount of luck to even replace 50% of what they’re losing.
Alex Isak ain’t choosing them over Arsenal.
They might win the league this year, but they’re heading into a major transition season next.
Fans thinking they can just roll with Nunez, Jota, Gakpo, and Díaz aren’t paying enough attention to just how dependent LFC have been on the brilliance of Salah.
Just a shame their stumbles haven’t had Arsenal right there to take advantage.
It’s their league this season — and that stings.
But it is what it is.
Which is why Berta has to be the right guy.
We cannot afford a summer of Clément Lenglet, João Félix, and Jackson Martínez-type signings.
We need primo decision-making. So let’s see what happens.
Okay, that’s me done. See you in the comments. x