Jurgen Klopp to leave, should Ivan make his move?

Well, well, well. One of the hottest stories of football is out, and if Arsenal manage to make their move on this, it could be monumental for the future of the club. Ready? Here it comes...

Wellington Silva has a Spanish passport.

Okay, I'll get serious.

The opportunity regarding Jurgen Klopp is huge. I know and I fully understand that he has flaws, but as innumerable clubs would tell you, there aren't many perfect managers out there. I can't be the only one in thinking that at present, he's the better manager to Arsene Wenger. Considering the age, the pedigree and Klopp's experience in German and European football, it's certainly an irresistible opportunity.

I agree that circumstance matters a lot. Arsenal are currently on a high, which means that the sentiment surrounding the club is primarily, yet absurdly, pro-Wenger. Arsene won't break a 2-year £8m contract unless the mood surrounding the club is toxic, which only seems vaguely feasible if Arsenal get spanked by Reading. Manchester City and Real Madrid look likelier to snare Klopp owing to managerial instability in their camps. The possibility of Klopp being an Arsenal manager next season (or indeed, ever) is very slender.

And yet, there is the faint hope that remains that Klopp could be at Arsenal come 2015/16. Perhaps Wenger could call it a day, perhaps the fans could force him to, or perhaps Ivan Gazidis could think the grass is greener on the other side, honourably "relieving" Wenger of his duties. The chances are low, yet they exist. And don't lie, whatever your views on the present manager, there had to come a time when you contemplated if Klopp should be the future manager for Arsenal, whenever that time comes. Wenger's not getting any younger.

But is he the right man to replace Wenger?

Klopp has his faults, sure, but so does Arsene Wenger. He has his merits, but well, so does Wenger. Perhaps our best course could be to weigh both of their traits and faults, even though they may prove futile in the end.

For the extremist pro-Wengerite, should you feel that it's disrespectful in measuring Wenger to someone else, kindly don't read the rest of the post. You may want to bathe in the past, but I'd love to think about our future.

Tactical approach

It's well known that Arsene Wenger isn't the most astute tactically. He's been guilty of "focusing on his own strengths" than looking at the other teamsheet. His teams have been susceptible to tons of schoolboy errors with regards to set-piece defending, even in the glory days. Thierry Henry's autobiography also stated that Wenger had not properly prepared for the Champions League final!

There have been mitigating factors behind the rare times he's shown tactical adaptability. Firstly, all of them were times under pressure, which suggests that Wenger doesn't do pre-game planning unless his neck is on the line. Manchester City was, according to Gunnerblog (a huge pro-Wengerite), a result of player pressure than his own brilliance. The tactic of pressing Liverpool high up the pitch seems like an exception rather than the norm. In any way, Arsenal stopped pressing after the initial minutes. In addition, I have yet to understand the real reason behind shunting Ramsey on the right, and I won't pretend to.

Even if you could find convenient loopholes in my argument to opinionate that Wenger is not as bad tactically as I'm making it out to be, the fact remains that Klopp is a much better tactician. His pressing style and defending as a unit is a promising philosophy, certainly better than possession football, which even Pep Guardiola admitted is behind its time. He sends his team out with a plan and does not believe in the concept of "pre-planned" substitutions, as Wenger appears to.

Arsenal have players like Sanchez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Giroud, Ramsey, Welbeck and many others who have the stamina and the will to press, which could make them ideal for Klopp's philosophy. Perhaps the only flaw in Klopp's pressing approach is that it pushes players to the limit which results in injuries, but hey, we were getting plenty of them under Wenger already weren't we?


Performance under pressure

I need hardly remind how badly Arsenal play under pressure. When the chips are down, there's barely any shape nor plan to go forward with. When confidence is flowing high and there isn't much onus on the team, an Arsene Wenger side is capable of producing truly breathtaking football. But beyond that?

Falling away in the title race in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2014 was not down to lack of money, it was because the manager could not get his team over the line when the spotlight was on them. We've lost to Birmingham, Bradford and Blackburn under pressure. We've thrown away two, three and four goal leads when things started to go wrong. We barely scraped past Wigan Athletic and Hull City when the FA Cup came to the business end. It's no coincidence that Wenger has never defended a league title.

You could perhaps say the same about Borussia Dortmund under Klopp as well, except that Jurgen has managed to defend the Bundesliga title (from Bayern Munich). I'll admit that Klopp sides sometimes tend to dwarf under pressure, but not nearly as much as Wenger sides do. Klopp is still capable of cajoling his troops when things are going wrong. Wenger hardly gets off his seat.


Squad building

Thankfully, Wenger has seemed to learn from the days of Almunia, Eboue, Cygan, Diaby, Denilson, Chamakh, Park et al and now buys players after careful inspection. Sure, that still doesn't hide the fact that Arsenal have Sanogos and Flaminis to get rid of their current squad, but this Arsenal team is still one of the most talented I remember. Wenger's hope was to leave Arsenal with a better team, facilities and infrastructure. He seems to have gotten that together.

I haven't followed Dortmund over the course of seven years, obviously, but it seems that Klopp is a pretty good squad builder himself. At Dortmund, he saw his star players lured away by bigger clubs. That won't happen at Arsenal, Ivan's sponsorship deals have seen to it.

The big stage

Let's not lie - while money has been a factor in Wenger not competing for the league in early years, it wasn't the reason why Arsenal did not win the league last season. Money's not why Arsenal fell to Monaco, nor did not challenge for the league this season. Money wasn't why Blackburn, Birmingham and Bradford defeated Wenger. Putting every single Wenger failure entirely down to lack of money was one of the biggest cons the club pulled. I'm surprised that Arsenal fans - otherwise very intelligent and analytical - did not pull the club out on that cheap trick.

Whisper it quietly, but Wenger cannot perform on the big stage anymore. When he came in the mid-90s, football wasn't global. However, he knew the French market and raised level of competition by his Thierrys and Vieiras as well as introducing a new diet and fitness regime. Back then, he was ahead of the times.

He's not now. Teams know how to play against Arsenal's possession style. Wenger doesn't have that tactical edge over managers in the Champions League - a stage where Arsenal needed to compete this season. We weren't close to winning the league this season; the only reason we're second is because the teams around us - aside from Chelsea - have regressed as well. Arsene is running out of steam.

Wenger's been on the job for 18 years. Think about that for a second. Surely the rigours of the job would be getting to him?

Klopp offers more. He offers progress. He's young, energetic, he offers new ideas and dynamism. He'll come to Arsenal all the wiser from his exploits from Germany and he'll have a plan. It could backfire - sure - but it's definitely worth a go. Klopp's done more than enough to warrant a chance at an elite club, or at least, a club striving to be one.


Personality

The only major issue with Klopp is this - he's too much of an ego. I understand that managers need to be egoistic and dominatory for their club to reach the pinnacle. Sir Alex Ferguson was an egoist. Jose Mourinho is an egoist. Arsene Wenger is an egoist.

And therein lies the problem. Arsenal is definitely not a club suited for egoist managers. The Arsenal board of directors do not have the footballing knowledge to demand proper accountability from the manager. Stan Kroenke might not want to risk Wenger leaving and his failsafe Champions League money to come under risk.

Wenger has cut a dictatorial figure at the club - I think we all know that. Andries Jonker and Sir Chips Keswick have said as much. Since most of the board are filled with businessmen who lack footballing knowledge, Wenger’s given a free reign. In terms of transfers, players, positions, formations – Arsene Wenger calls all the shots. Since David Dein's departure, his degree of power even eclipsed Sir Alex Ferguson’s at Manchester United.

Arsenal regressed for a while under this rule. None of Shad Forsythe, Andries Jonker and Steve Bould are given much of an input, because Wenger does not take kindly to criticism. Remember his reaction to Jacqui Oatley’s probing questions and Paul Merson’s post-Anderlecht analysis?

My fear is that Klopp could go the way of Wenger, because I'm not sure he's a manager someone like Ivan Gazidis can control. I don't want a dictatorship at Arsenal, I want a collaboration. I want the likes of Forsythe, Jonker and Bould give Klopp their input, and for Jurgen to take that data and create something special. I don't want Klopp's aim of raw hunger for success skew, to controlling power at Arsenal - like it did with Wenger.

Klopp may go the way of Wenger, he may not. Heck, we may never know, for his chances of ever managing Arsenal don't sound great. But call me crazy (and you will), but I'd be willing to take that risk. As I said, Klopp's not perfect, but he may be worth the gamble.

Again, I don't believe Gazidis has the guts nor the authority to make the change in the first place. This entire discussion may well be pointless. But then again, you can't expect Wenger to stick around and keep performing forever. Arsenal need to make the leap sometime soon.

Why not this June?

-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]

As the days go by, Klopp seems more and more perfect for Arsenal

What a performance by Dortmund; with their backs to the wall and marred by injuries, they nearly pulled off the impossible and shocked Real 2-0. Even as an Arsenal supporter, it's difficult not to feel for them.

Have Arsenal ever done something like that? The last time they did so, I recall, was when they defeated AC Milan 3-0 at the Emirates, a game where Chamberlain had a screamer in central attacking midfield. Today, under the excuse of injuries, Wenger's Arsenal seem dubious of beating even Wigan Athletic.

Could you ever imagine Klopp getting hammered 6-0 at Stamford Bridge and insisting that Ramsey, Ozil, Walcott and Wilshere were the reasons? Let's not forget that he had Subotic, Schmelzer, Gundogan, Bender and Sahin out for this match, yet managed to scare the coconuts out of one of the best teams in the world. And had Mkhitaryan not played like Nicky B, they could well have pulled off the impossible.

I know that many people worry that Dortmund's present injury crisis might be passed on to Arsenal once Klopp arrives. However, under Wenger, isn't there a guarantee that we WILL suffer injury crises and we WILL collapse? At least under Jurgen we know for a fact that the team will give its all regardless of injury hamperings.

And it's not like Dortmund's injury crisis was Klopp's fault. Upon close insight of Dortmund's squad, it's obvious that less funds are the root cause of their injury woes. Due to less money there's less players, due to less players there's overplaying, and due to overplaying there are injuries. Sounds similar to Arsenal of six years ago?

Actually, it's not. In Dortmund's case, Klopp is forced to overplay his key players due to lack of options. He's forced to keep a small squad. However, at Arsenal, Wenger chooses to overplay his key men regardless of other options. Did you know that Ozil, Chamberlain, Koscielny and Wilshere started the match against Coventry? Lest we forget, options like Zelalem, Vermaelen and Frimpong were available. Why play your key players against the worst team we've faced this season? No wonder they're injured now.

Klopp's present Dortmund are similar to Arsene's Arsenal of 2007ish. Klopp has less funds, and is forced to keep his side in the top-flight. However, upon comparison, Klopp's present Dortmund are doing miles better than Wenger's Arsenal should have been doing 7 years ago, during their financial difficulties. While Arsenal used to scrap fourth place on the last day (and still do), Klopp challenges Bayern year after year and takes his team far into the Champions League.

What's the notable difference that separates Klopp's present Dortmund to Wenger's past Arsenal, you'd ask. The answer lies in the wage budgets.

To see the astonishing cash wastage of Arsenal under Wenger, enlighten yourself by looking at the money spent on some sample deadwoods:

Sr. No.	Name	Transfer fee	Weekly Wage	Annual Wage
1.	Fabianski	£2m	£50,000	£2,600,000
2.	Mannone	£350,000	£30,000	£1,560,000
3.	Squillaci	£4m	£50,000	£2,600,000
4.	Djourou	FREE	£50,000	£2,600,000
5.	Santos	£6.2m	£60,000	£3,120,000
6.	Diaby	£2m	£60,000	£3,120,000
7.	Frimpong	FREE	£30,000	£1,560,000
8.	Denilson	£3.4m	£60,000	£3,120,000
9.	Rosicky	£6.8m	£80,000	£4,160,000
10.	Arshavin	£15m	£78,000	£4,056,000
11.	Chamakh	FREE	£60,000	£3,120,000
12.	Gervinho	£10.6m	£60,000	£3,120,000
13.	Bendtner	£200,000	£50,000	£2,600,000
14.	Park	£3m	£50,000	£2,600,000

Money wasted on transfer fees:  £53,500,000

Wage budget wasted (annual): £39,936,000

Total money wasted (annual):   £93,436,000

All these duds have stayed in the club for at least two years.

Wage budget wasted (2 years): £79,872,000

Total money wasted (2 years):   £133,372,000

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Just let that sink in.

We've spent £133m - as mathematically proved - on players like Fabianski, Mannone, Squillaci, Djourou, Andre Santos, Diaby, Frimpong, Denilson, Rosicky, Arshavin, Gervinho, Bendtner and Park Chu Young on 2 seasons alone. Most of these players mentioned have stayed at this club beyond those two years. Arshavin, for example, was four. Mannone was six. Diaby was (and is) eight. Frimpong was around eight. Johan Djourou was TEN.

Okay, you might counter that by saying players like Rosicky and Fabianski have repaid the money invested in them. Fine, then. You could replace them with Almunia. Or Eboue. Or Miyaichi. Or Kallstrom. Or Senderos. Or Cygan. Or Merida. Or Traore. See my point?

The total wastage of cash on these players must be absolutely horrendous. At financially crippled times in Arsenal (2004 - 2009), Wenger must have tossed around approximately half a billion on these players, stubbornly trying in vain to bring 'Project Youth' into fruition. To add to that, he sold the world-class players that he did create from the flop project. Destroying a club's wage budget to such an extent - especially in lean financial periods - is not only a sackable offence. It's a scandal.

How could Wenger have repaired that? Instead of keeping Diaby, Frimpong and Denilson on combined £150,000 wages, he could have bought ONE world-class players on that pay packet. To use an example, Wenger confessed in October 2009 that he had the chance to buy Gareth Barry and Xabi Alonso, but refused to do so because he didn't want to stunt the progress of Song, Denilson and Diaby. How stupid does that sound?

And Wenger has an economics degree?

In all honesty - wouldn't you rather have one world-class player in the team than two average players? Isn't it better to have one van Persie in the team than two Bendtners?

Of course, I wouldn't deny that there would have been side-effects of having one decent player rather than two appalling ones. Due to the length of the squad being downsized, players would be overplayed and stretched to the core. Injuries would doubtless follow as well.

If you haven't deduced yet, the above perfectly describes Dortmund's present state. Dortmund's current injury problems aren't down to Klopp, it's down to being forced to having a thin but talented squad. Due to being hamstrung by money woes, what they've done is absolutely the right thing. As Klopp and Wenger have proved, it's better to have a thin, talented squad than a large, mediocre one.

If Klopp ever was to come to Arsenal, he wouldn't have to worry about a small squad. All he has to do is fire the current medical staff and fill depth in the team. Arsenal are currently lacking five players - 2 goalkeepers (Viviano and Fabianski are to leave), a centre back, a defensive midfielder and a striker. With £140m in the bank to spend (averages £25m per position with £15m to spare), that should be no problem.

Of course, my main objective of wanting Klopp at Arsenal is not because he'd sort out our injury woes. Rather, I want him because he can motivate teams, his pedigree will attract top talents and he can replicate Dortmund's pressing philosophy at Arsenal - a significant upgrade on Wenger's tippy-tappy football. This article was simply to erase fears that Klopp may be too similar to Wenger, when he is actually a whole other animal.

"Animal" is right, innit?

-Santi (Follow me on twitter: @ArsenalBlogz )

My dream Arsenal: one bereft of Arsene Wenger

For the first time since the Blackburn and Bayern nightmares, I have seen a remarkable acceptance from the majority that Arsene Wenger needs to leave from Arsenal. Of course, most of those perceptions might just change after we scrap a win against Swansea at home, but it's good to see Wenger at least come under long overdue intense scrutiny.

I felt, (and have done so for a year), that Wenger should have left the club at the end of the 2010/11 season. Losing the Carling Cup and capitulating in such stylish fashion (with a team that had Wilshere, Song, Robin, Cesc, Nasri, Koscielny, Sagna and Szczesny in their ranks) was not only disappointing, it was shameful and a disgrace to the name of the club.

I have maintained that regardless of winning the Premier League and the FA Cup this season, Wenger's position will remain untenable at the club. I don't have any personal agenda against the man, but I don't see why he deserves any more of Arsenal's time and resources. He's arrogant, money-oriented, a tactical joke, averse to changing his outdated mindset, living off past glories and out of touch with the modern world, to name a few faults.

Winning the FA Cup will not change one shred of Wenger's managerial mentality. One of the myths of ending our trophyless run has been that once we do so, an invisible barrier will be broken and Arsenal will evolve into a trophy-hungry team with a rejuvenated manager at the helm. I can guarantee to everyone that that is NOT going to happen as long as Wenger is in charge.

Wenger is extremely arrogant and at 65, will not change his ways. If you tell him to not struggle his way out when stuck in quicksand, he'll shut his eyes tight, clench his teeth and try as hard as he can to fight his way out of it. It doesn't matter if his way is wrong or right. The more you'll tell him to change, the harder he'll dig his heels in the ground and resist it.

Losing against Chelsea was not the final straw for me. Even if Arsenal had defeated Chelsea 0-6 I'd still want Wenger gone, judged on the above reasons. Comprehensively losing against Chelsea was just further proof of what I'd known for over a year - that Wenger has been the root of a plethora of Arsenal's problems. It is not because of bad luck, bad refereeing or the board. It's all Wenger.

I will not waste further time in highlighting Wenger's faults, I already did that in the 6-0 review of Chelsea. However, removing Wenger from Arsenal is not the only solution, although it solves a lot of problems.

We've known for a long, long time that the board has been incapable and inactive since David Dein departed from the club. It wasn't coincidental that Dein's departure led to Wenger's decline - Arsene no longer has anyone to challenge him at an upper level, and he has thus lowered expectations upon himself season after season. Now Wenger's finished, forget about him, he's beyond repair. I don't think that bringing Dein back will bring back the best of Arsene Wenger.

Players need to be brought in as well. We don't need a whole revamp of the squad, we just need a few world class players that can take us to the next level. Le Grove made an interesting point today, I'd like to quote it:

"I’ve read around the web and there are people questioning the players psyche. Sorry, it doesn’t rub with me. Giroud is a league winner, Cazorla is a World Cup / European Championship winner, Ozil is a La Liga winner, Mertesacker is a Bundesliga winner, Podolski has won things. The problem isn’t the players, it’s the man who sets them up. These are top professionals. These are players that boast similar qualities to Chelsea. They boast better qualities than Liverpool. Yet they're collapsing."

I have always stood beside these fantastic group of players and I readily continue to do so even today. However, it doesn't take a genius to see that to flourish, they need reinforcements. I am not one for wanting Giroud, Arteta or Cazorla to leave the club. Instead, I want to augment them with world class players, a much astuter manager, a fresher tactical approach and more sensible approaches to matches. Let's face it, under Wenger, we're going stale and at this rate, backwards.

We need change, I think everyone agrees with that by now. But where? Here's what I think.

Board:

If there is no change in the board, the next manager will not be cleverly appointed.

Currently, there is no one in the Arsenal board who boasts of a footballing brain. Ivan Gazidis may sympathize with the fans, but he is afraid of taking action because he doesn't know if he's doing the right thing. I doubt if he'd know the difference between the offside rule and advantage play; no wonder he just gapes on while Arsene fields a tactically unprepared team.

As for Stan Kroenke, I think he's a clever man. Not clever in football, but clever in making profits. Kroenke knows that Wenger earns profits for him, he knows that Arsenal is currently a financial goldmine. Wenger, according to him, is the only manager who will guarantee (the profits of) Champions League football and keep the business smooth. Why replace him, he'd wonder.

There is no one above Wenger who will judge him based on what he does on the pitch. Look at Liverpool, they have footballing minds in the board (Tom Werner, John Henry, Dalglish), they have a progressive manager, therefore they're doing better than us besides having lesser money.

What we need, in my opinion, are at least two people in the Board of Directors who can think from a footballing perspective. Might I suggest David Dein and Dennis Bergkamp?

Manager:

Well, duh.

Wenger just needs to go once the season ends. He's turned into a money hog and power-hungry after he got too much space since 2006, and is completely beyond repair now. I also don't want him to pick out our next manager or get a position higher up in the board - he'll probably select one of the "yes men" and control them from above. Sorry, but I don't trust him anymore to affiliate in any way with the club.

Who should replace him? Contrary to some opinions, I wouldn't want someone like Roberto Martinez or Mauricio Pochettino at Arsenal. David Moyes at United is proof that average managers don't cut it at the top level, we should learn from that. I'm convinced that a board with Dein and Bergkamp will make a correct, informed decision, but nevertheless, I'd like to offer my suggestion: Jurgen Klopp.

Superb tactician. Charismatic. Passionate. Big name. Winner.

In my eyes, he's perfect.

People suggest that we don't need a big name as manager, we need someone with a revolutionary philosophy. I disagree. Only by getting a manager like Klopp will we attract top talents to Arsenal Football Club. Look at Moyes at United - he only managed to buy Fellaini in August even though he was in charge of a title winning side. Moyes might be a guy with the right ideas, but if he can't attract great players how will he implement them?

Klopp, we all know, is a big man with big ideas. He's ten times the tactician of Wenger - Dortmund's passing and pressing game plan prove that. He possesses a similar ideology of honing young talents and making them greats; Ramsey, Szczesny, Gnabry and the English core would benefit from that.

Contrary to popular belief, Klopp is not afraid to spend. He doesn't spend much at Dortmund because they aren't financially healthy. However, at a club like Arsenal (£140m in reserves), you'd expect him to go all-out on top talents, unlike Wenger. Even if he is reluctant, Bergkamp and Dein can keep him in check.

Klopp is my dream Arsenal manager. I'm utterly convinced he'll be a great long-term boss. Even if he isn't, he'd sure be better than Wenger. Klopp would change the medical staff, change the hectic training schedule, change tactics and keep the club classy. And I like that.

Players:

The next step - after making necessary changes in the organization of the club - would be to sort out the futures of the players in the summer. Vermaelen, Sagna, Podolski and Giroud are quality players that have uncertain futures, and I'd want to keep every one of those.

Forget Fabianski (and Bendtner) - these players will leave and there's nothing we can do about it, they've said as much. However, we need to build a good foundation by winning the Cup and finishing in the top four (why does it always fall down to this?). In the summer, we SHOULD strengthen the side. Here's how, in my opinion:

• Buy Julio Cesar [to replace Fabianski]
• Buy a young, promising goalkeeper [to replace Viviano]
• Buy Piszczek [if Sagna leaves]
• Keep Semi Ajayi [I watched him, he seems good and we need depth in CB]
• Buy a decent center back [Bould's choice, whoever is compatible with Ajayi (Ashley Williams?)]
• Convince Vermaelen to stay and make him a defensive midfielder [He'll get more game time in a more suitable position]
• Buy Draxler [If Podolski leaves]
• Buy Balotelli [We need a striker, and he has power and pace].
• Keep Joel Campbell and send Sanogo on loan
• Get Diaby, Kallstrom and Bendtner off the books

Irrespective of managerial changes or board additions, the fact remains that we're in for a very busy summer. And if we handle it the way I suggested, we could have a title-winning side at the end of August.

Main squad (potentially): Cesar - Sagna/Piszczek - Mertesacker - Koscielny - Gibbs - Vermaelen - Ramsey - Ozil - Walcott - Cazorla - Balotelli


Substitute squad (potentially): Szczesny - Jenkinson - Ajayi - *able CB picked out by Bould* - Monreal - Flamini - Wilshere - Rosicky - Chamberlain - Podolski/Draxler - Giroud


Notable reserves (potentially): *promising goalie* , Miquel, Arteta, Zelalem, Gnabry, Joel Campbell

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Imagine that. Getting rid of a regressive manager. Adding dedicated Arsenal servants to the pinnacle of the club. Appointing a revolutionary person as head of the club. Building a team of greats. Making the Emirates feel like home. Winning trophies.

It's every football fan's fantasy. And to top it all - it is possible.

We are very close to rebuilding a team of legends. It will take work, it will take bold decisions, but we have the resources and should have the guts to do it. And if you care about Arsenal FC, you better hope we do.

Wenger's given us a fantastic foundation, and I thank him for that. However, he has consistently failed to build on that and propel Arsenal into one of the greats. Just wonder what would happen if we got hold of a manager (and a board) that can do just that.

Will this ever happen? I am almost certain it will not.

But what if it does?




P.S. I don't know why Wenger hid from the press and ordered a complete shutdown of Arsenal media. However, if he thinks that people will forget about the Chelsea annihilation due to this, he could not be more wrong. Either there is something huge happening, or the manager is just too scared to face the world. Personally, I think it's a bit of both.

Oh yeah, and preview of Swansea will not be available.

-Santi (Follow me on twitter: @ArsenalBlogz )