Despite triggering a football revolution, Arsène Wenger’s adamance has damaged his Arsenal legacy
There is pain in every departure. After 21 years, giving his club and its people some of the most inspired times of their lives, Arsène Wenger is coming to the end of his most troubled season in charge of Arsenal Football Club.
His biggest headache is not that Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United have overtaken Arsenal. Rather, it is what is happening six kilometers down the road from Arsenal, where Tottenham Hotspur is in full gallop.
Enmity between Arsenal and Tottenham goes back a hundred years to when Arsenal, formed by workers at the Royal Arsenal munitions factory, relocated to the north London patch occupied by Tottenham. There is lasting hostility, born of resentment against Arsenal encroaching on Tottenham territory. And while, through the Wenger years, the Gunners had bragging rights, the Spurs’ revival makes Arsenal look dated. Not just Arsenal, but also Arsène. He is being made to appear past tense in his own house. His team, especially his most costly imports Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez, seem dispirited and disillusioned.
Their agents have a case. The money-no-object giants, from Real Madrid to Manchester City, from Barcelona to Chelsea, pay more than these two earn to their stars. But Özil seemed to lose heart and Sanchez appeared to run far less after Arsenal was humbled in Europe by Bayern Munich. Losing 5-1 in Munich, and then by the same score at Arsenal’s Emirates stadium, was shocking.
Collectively, Arsenal sagged. And whatever Wenger has said or tried has not had the desired effect. His unique autonomy at the club means that the slump is his responsibility.
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Denne historien er fra May 07, 2017-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
