Arsenal: Lee Dixon makes right point about the wrong person

Lee Dixon has stated that Arsenal are ‘unfixable’ under Arsene Wenger. While he makes the right point, it is about the wrong man. His criticism instead lies at the feet of Stan Kroenke.

Arsenal are a club that is ‘unfixable’. That is the view of Lee Dixon. And, in the brutality of honesty, he is probably right. They are riddled with such deep-rooted, entrenched issues, infecting and effecting very nuance, every aspect, every nook and cranny of the organisation, that rectifying them is, ostensibly, an overawing process that is just too much.

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There are many reasons for the Gunners’ failings, from the culture of mediocrity that has seeped into the squad to the obnoxious, dismissive, and downright rude nature of the board, namely chairman Sir Chips Keswick. And they cannot be solved overnight.

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But in solving them, if that is a process that will ever come to pass, although that seems increasingly unlikely, there will be people who must leave. There are members of the organisation that are obstacles to progress. And Dixon, who does have a detailed and innate understanding of his former club and manager, believes that Arsene Wenger is one of those obstacles. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Dixon stated that, under Arsene, Arsenal are ‘unfixable’:

"“I honestly think they’re unfixable under Arsene. What he’s got there is he’s created an environment which the players don’t really know what they’re doing without the ball. It’s quite simple – when I watch them I think ‘they could beat anyone on their day going forward, but they could lose to anyone defensively’. That summed it up at the weekend against City.”"

Dixon, to an extent, is right. Arsenal, under the current regime and management, are ‘unfixable’. But while his point may be valid, the person he cites is not. I do not believe that Wenger is an obstacle to progress, and that significant change will only come once he departs. I believe that that person is above him.

Stan Kroenke, as the owner, is the man who must exit for and ‘fixing’ to commence. He is the one who is starving this club of the finances and investment that is required to challenge at the top in modern football. He is the one who is more concerned with lining his pockets than filling the trophy cabinets. He is the one who is happy to slip into mediocrity, as long as ticket prices are high and turnover is flowing.

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Wenger may be complicit in these crippling problems. And he may not even be the best solution. But he is certainly not the obstacle. History has proven that much; history, though, has proven the opposite of Kroenke.