Arsenal: The depressing truth comes to the fore once again

Martin Samuel, of the Daily Mail, has stated that Arsenal are a club ran for money, and not trophies. It is a depressing truth that is now prominent once more.

Arsenal are a club slipping into the realms of mediocrity. It started with their falling out of the title race year in, year out. Then came then humiliation after humiliation in the Champions League. And now, they have no Champions League football whatsoever, and do not look like they can haul their way back into Europe’s elite competition.

There are many reasons for their demise. Arsene Wenger, as a manager who has built the club in his own image, must take a large portion of the blame. The financial restrictions, primarily due to the move to the Emirates, have also had an influence, as have as underperforming players, poor coaching and development, and misguided retention and recruitment of talent.

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But bigger than all these issues is the presence of Stan Kroenke as owner. Kroenke is in it for the money. He always has been; he always will be. That is the viewpoint of Martin Samuel, sports writer for The Daily Mail, who stated the following on The Sunday Supplement after the 2-1 loss to Watford:

"“You look at Kroenke’s franchises in America – they are not greatly successful. America has this way of making these owners very rich, without having to win things. Kroenke comes from that background. It is very easy to look at all the money from the Premier League, and they are part of that big six now that are trying to get even more money from overseas rights. They are looking at it thinking why try to win the league when we can tick along nicely as a business and we don’t have to risk anything. At the top, it hasn’t set in with Wenger, but the people who own the club look at it in a different way and know they can still make a lot of money without winning the league.”"

That is sad to hear. And although there is no special reason to believe Samuel assessment’s of the club, recent history does suggest that he is on point in his analysis. Kroenke is happy if Arsenal are making money, and such is the reach, the publicity, and the global marketability of the club, it always will.

Kroenke does not care about titles and trophies and wins and success. He does not care about the fans, he does not care about the club or the community or the players or the coaches or all that work there. He cares about one thing: The size of his wallet.

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And that care does not serve Arsenal well. It means that they will always be well-run, it means that they will be financially frugal and economically smart, it means that they will be money first, success second. And as sad as that they may be, as long as he is the owner, that will not change.

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