Arsenal’s time is over

Let’s agree, as much as Fernando Torres is a has-been and Wayne Rooney a just-gets-by, Arsenal, as the jewel of English football, are done. They are finished and enterTottenham Hotspur, as much as you may not like them. Maybe, given his unfair and sad past, enter Njemba Ba also. I hope he is here to stay.

I do not want to spoil Sir Alex Ferguson’s moment of glory in celebrating a quarter of a century on the job non-stop by saying that his days of winning the championship playing badly are numbered. Let him bask in the glory of history, and I can tell you now, never shall a human being stay in a coaching job that long, not even Arsene Wenger.

The reign of Manchester United is being brought to its knees by, as witchcraft is, a homeboy. Manchester City may not be here to stay, but their antics are restoring a new football order in England, and it is a necessary one. Chelsea are not really playing any better, having tremendously retrogressed since the days of The Special One. Andreas Boas-Villa may be trying a little to hard to emulate that feat. It will work for a while and the bubble will eventually burst.

Back to my point. Only now can one get a bowl of popcorn and a very cold drink, sit down and relax and enjoy a very fluid and result oriented game of football, when Spurs take to the field. The same can no longer be said when it’s the Gunners playing. Guaranteed entertainment comes from the one and only White Hart Lane and you can take that to the bank.

It is not like I am ungrateful for what Arsenal gave us when I was still a Gunner for life. I am now a Spurs fan and like I was for Arsenal, for life. It was good while it lasted but it’s over now and life goes on.

Let me make it clear here. Maybe my attributes as a good coach come into play here, I am not sure. You may be wondering why, if I was a Gunner for life, I no longer go for them. I can only get to the grave and that’s it. I was with them while they lived, but they can now rest in peace.

Admittedly, Robin van Pierse has been on fire lately and the results have been coming from Emirates, sometimes against all odds and at others just. The kicks of a dying horse are dangerous but the horse is, honestly, dying. It has not been a slow death unfortunately, coming six years down the line.

The problem of the fall included the premature move of Thierry Henry to Barcelona which was followed by an ill-advised transfer of his heir to his throne to Manchester City. Emmanuel Adebayor might have been an outcast at the Emirates but he was the man Arsenal needed to make all the difference then.

The double vacuum grew twice and then thrice with the Samir Nasri deal and the vessel is collapsing. Not that Arsene Wenger does not care. The man is an astute businessman. In football you can either do business or coach. As an example, Jose Mourinho is an astute coach. Reeding of Adebayor for Maroune Chamakh was really bad business. Nicklaus Bendtner was not ready to carry the yoke.

Let’s draw a contrast between the two. Wenger has always complained about high salaries and football being too much of a money thing than a game. He thinks players are too expensive and salaries are too high, and that it is not football anymore. Fairly, Wenger is a nice guy.

Mourinho will pay anything for a player to deliver what he wants. He is a customer who tips well for a good service. He knows what he wants, and naturally, like all good coaches, selfish. That is what makes him special. He has a certain football in his head that only certain people can deliver for him and he gets those by hook or crook.

At Arsenal, they want whoever they get, to rise and shine and be moulded into a force to be reckoned with. They are house-wife-like bargain hunters. This worked (at least for them) a few years back when technology and game dynamics were very slow. Now things have changed direction, and they do so very fast. By the time a player matures to deliver for Wenger, the other ones have passed their sell-by dates and the dynamics of the game have scurried off in another direction.

If fate has it that these players reach a certain tactical level at the same time, the tactical playing field will have been evened by those like Manchester City who are willing to break banks. Arsenal are not a little behind the times but to see the bigger picture and solvelong-term problems, they have to remain an average team for a while longer like Liverpool. The transition period for them means a new generation of players and a new generation coach. Meanwhile, Spurs will occupy their space keeping it safe until their eventual return.

You may be wondering what all this means, given SAF is just as old school as Wenger. Manchester United’s football has been dynamic, and so has been their players over time. The Gunners stagnated their style while waiting for the maturing players and recycling a few veterans. Man U have always done the opposite, managing to fiddle around with generation gaps and tactics. It never failed them until Jose Mourinho came to England.

What Mouriunho brought to England changed the whole game in a certain big way. English football always had players kissing the club badges and celebrating goals by raising their hands to the fans. Remember  Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright, Michael Owen and Allan Shearer to name a few?

With Jose, they ran to him, they hugged him, they embraced each other. You will remember that the players uncontrollably sobbed like they were at a funeral when he left.  They played his football and not club football. This took the game to another level as football began to idolise the people who tailored and fashioned tactics. It made managers more relevant and much more useful and powerful. It cultivated a culture of a specific work ethic. Clubs ceased to be successful because they are Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester United for that matter.

In short, Gunners played the Arsenal way, while Chelsea played the Mourinho way. As for Man U, there has never been a club or manager’s way. It has always been the talented players' magic. That is why, even at this stage when Sir Alex is celebrating 25 years at Old Trafford, his greatest 11 put by pundits can easily look smaller that the next 11 you can pick yourself.

Think with me. In that 11, there is no Andy Cole or Dwight Yorke. The pair formed the most lethal partnership in the Premiership history. My point is that Man U have always been spoilt for talent that they did not need this or that, given that in that SAF's great 11, there was Eric Cantona, David Beckam, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Peter Schmichael. With those players, it would always be a question of when than how.

As for now Tottenham will give you that nice flow the Gunners gave us, the sleek passing entertaining fluid football that thrills. There is no guarantee as to how they will be doing this. This is for three reasons.

Spurs attract injuries with chilling consistency. They hardly get their best 11 on the pitch two matches in a row. It is not that they have the best squad in the league, but if they would manage to be spoilt for choice within their modest ranks, it would be interesting to see how far they can go.

The second reason is the age factor. This one affects Spurs in a different way from normal. Their good players are keen to end their careers in ‘big clubs’ like Manchester United, City and Chelsea. They dream about going to Real Madrid or Barcelona. For a Spurs player, a big club means more money because Spurs is big enough as a club.

The possibility of Harry Redknapp coaching England within months also threatens the smooth operation of Spurs addictive football. Arry has always loved beautiful football from the time he was at West Ham. His recruitment of African footballers is evidence enough of his belief in good technique and tactical awareness. He will take that away with him and his successor may not be that versatile.

While doing England duties, it will be interesting how players like Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Young will be competing with Theo Walcott for the wingers' positions. With Redknapp, if he has his liberty, you may wake up one morning with all four playing in the same team. That is the shrewdness of the man whose game has become so unEnglish that his country so much needs.

For now, sit down, chill and relax and watch the next Spurs match with the confidence of getting your money’s worth. Only if I could guarantee that it would last a life-time.