Arsenal: Goalkeeping coach debacle proves change needed

Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski have outlined the stupidity of former Arsenal goalkeeping coach Gerry Peyton’s methods. Such a debacle proves that change was needed.

Arsenal were in decline. That is the viewpoint of Unai Emery, as stated rather controversially this week. And it is also a rather plan and obvious fact. A club that was deteriorating from its own loyalty, the admirable old-fashionedness of the organisation was actually becoming the very crux of the issue.

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When Emery arrived in May, he introduce a swathe of coaches, extending from his new assistant, Juan Carlos Carcedo, all the way down to a new data and video analyst, Victor Manas. It was clear that a new culture was wanted, and would be instilled.

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Arsene Wenger’s time at Arsenal will be much discussed over the years, I am sure. But as more information is revealed, it is becoming increasingly clear just how unsettled and backwards his latter years were.

Take a conversation between Wojciech Szczsesny and Lukasz Fabianski for Polish media that happened earlier this week — you can read the quotes in English here. The two goalkeepers discuss some of the coaching methods of Gerry Peyton, the Arsenal goalkeeping coach for 15 years.

They highlight instances of when Peyton talked about how Eden Hazard would always shoot his penalty to the opposite way the goalkeeper dives, without ever actually discussing the why or how, which is crucial to stopping it in the future. They then say that Peyton would say to go with your heart in the moment against the Belgian, to trust your instincts, without any analysis on Hazard’s penalty patterns.

Other examples of his ostensibly inept coaching include randomly showing a four or five minute video of all of Szczesny’s goals conceded that Peyton believed should not have allowed, and then not making any sort of comment on any of them and just letting the video end and saying, ‘see, you’re not perfect then’ all the while doing so in front of the other goalkeepers in the squad at the time.

It seems clear to me that this inept coaching was riddled throughout the club, especially in Wenger’s later years. And it was not just the coaching. Many of the scouts were the same scouts that Wenger used in the late-90s and early 00s, but their success rate had substantially declined as the years progressed. And yet, Wenger was loyal to all.

While Wenger himself cannot be blamed for Peyton’s poor coaching per se, he can be blamed for allowing individuals of poor influence to remain at the club for such extended periods. Wenger was not just loyal to a fault. His loyalty, in the end, became perhaps his greatest fault. He shrouded himself in ‘yes men’, he protected himself with coaches and scouts and players that he knew and trusted but would never challenge him and hold him accountable, he managed the club in 2017 the same as how he managed it in 1997.

This, I am sure, is just one example of the poor coaching and management that was taking place at Arsenal in Wenger’s later years. It is a clear sign that change had to come.