Arsenal as divided as ever...Signing Lacazette won't solve the problem

First day of the season, at home to Leicester. That is when it all starts up again, if the result isn't right. Then away at Stoke and Liverpool, fixtures that are never easy.


By the time Arsenal return to the Emirates to play Bournemouth on September 9, they could all be at each other's throats: just like last season.

Ivan Gazidis, the chief executive officer, stood at a meeting with supporters last Thursday and pleaded for unity, but he isn't going to see that, unless the team gets off to a flyer. There is a fundamental disconnect at the club's heart now.


Last season, when Arsenal were the only occupants of the Premier League's top six to miss out on the Champions League, Gazidis promised change. That failure was going to be a 'catalyst for change', in fact. And then Arsenal won the FA Cup and Arsene Wenger signed his new contract.

And there's the problem, because Wenger doesn't think Arsenal need change. He thinks they need him. His philosophy, his methods, minus interference. He remains convinced he is the best thing that could possibly happen to Arsenal, this or any season.

And maybe he's right. He won a trophy last year; he made history with his seventh FA Cup win as manager. Everton would love to be Arsenal; so, too, Tottenham, who last won a trophy in 2008.

Yet there are a lot of big clubs now competing for four Champions League places and at least two — this season is exceptional, with Manchester United qualifying through the Europa League — are going to miss out.


Last year, it was Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea. This year, Arsenal. It is going to happen. Six into four doesn't go.

So Arsenal's circumstances are not so terrible or remarkable. Yet Gazidis was widely reported to be begging fans for unity.

No other club in Arsenal's position is begging. There is no pleading to get behind Jose Mourinho or Pep Guardiola, nobody has to implore on behalf of Jurgen Klopp or Antonio Conte — and even without a trophy in close to a decade, there isn't insurrection against Mauricio Pochettino.

This is an Arsenal thing. Arsenal are set at go almost before a ball is kicked.

There is an unbridgeable divide between those who wish for real change, and those who support Wenger — because Wenger won't change. How could he, now, at 67?

He might tweak, he might tinker. He might add the odd bod to his staff under duress. But the sort of change dissenters thought Gazidis had promised? Not while Wenger remains.

The mood at the meeting was said to be hostile, despite Arsenal's interest in Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette. The occasional big-ticket item no longer placates the fans these days. They are not going to be sidetracked by the next Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sanchez.


It's bigger than that now. This is about regime change, root and branch reform, overthrowing the system. A new striker won't fix it — and certainly not if, as he arrives, Sanchez departs. There has been change, but not enough to pacify.

Arsenal have brought in an Australian fitness expert, Darren Burgess, as director of high performance. Yet what happens to fitness coach Tony Colbert, a Wenger man for 19 years? He stays. In fact, he's just signed a new contract.

What happens to head of athletic performance, Shad Forsythe? He is expected to work closely with Burgess, according to reports. In other words, as you were.

Gerry Peyton, goalkeeping coach since 2003 and believed to be under scrutiny, is also staying on with a new deal. Huss Fahmy has joined from Team Sky to work on player contracts — but Dick Law, the current contract negotiator, remains.

Wenger has not got a new band. He's just added a couple of seats to the horn section.

So, Arsenal are back where they started, as divided as they were last season. Gazidis can talk about reconnection, but results are all that resolve this now. He can beg and plead, but the only change that will heal Arsenal is the kind that takes the club from fifth to first.

And that won't be easy, with all the commotion.