Over the weekend watched a BBC documentary on the 20th anniversary of the fall of Soviet Union. It had this long interview with Mikhail Gorbachev, where he spoke about his doomed roller coaster experience - from a revolutionary within to a beaten leader who oversaw the collapse of his country. Talked of Glasnost & Perestroika, reminding one of his charisma, powers of anticipation and courage to pursue change much against the wishes of the army and KGB. Eventually he was caught out by the surging nationalistic movement at the time and unceremoniously removed from power. As we hear from people close to him during his final days as the leader of the USSR, it emerges that he was blinded by his own stubborness. Blinded by his grand vision of how things should be. One could see that even after 20 years, he still has not come to terms with the fact that he was not allowed to complete the job he began. I would have thought after all these years, hindsight would have made him realise that his biggest failing was his inability to adapt. As I was watching Gorbachev speak, I could only think of the similarity to the situation that Arsene Wenger finds himself in.
It has been a horrible start to the season. Enough has been written about how Arsenal is on its way to a mid table spot after having been stripped of its 2 best players. Empty seats, angry fans and the end of Arsene Wenger era hog most season preview articles. Amongst a whole host of issues that plague the team, the primary reason why the Wenger youth project has not been successful is down to lack of leadership. Wenger has been the defacto captain of the team for the past few years and has failed to drive the team mentally & tactically. In April, our captain spoke out on his frustrations of being the leader of Arsenal:
I am the man who everyone looks to. I don't like to say it but it is true. If I play badly, I take responsibility and the pressure of the supporters. It is not something I am used to but I am captain, so it is reality. Only me and Van Persie remain of that [Invincibles] generation so we have a lot of responsibility. We are all so young that there is nobody you look at and say: 'Wow.'
At his first press conference at the Nou Camp, Cesc Fabregas spoke about many things - what caught my eye was the following bit, which convinvced me that he had first given up about Arsenal and then started thinking about going home.
At Arsenal, there were finals and semi-finals but we always lacked that little extra push to win something. That was hard to take. It was not that we didn't win titles it was that we kept going through the same routine, the same things happening to us and us messing up. I gave everything for Arsenal but it didn't show in the [trophy] cabinet because I only won one FA Cup.
But like a true monkey, I would like to believe that only way is up from here for the Arsenal and Arsene Wenger.
As a final note on our ex-captain, I am convinced that if Fabregas remains patient, it is just a matter of time before he becomes the captain of Barcelona and Spain one day.
