Splattered across various news outlets this morning is the eye-catching story of David Beckham's son Brooklyn, penning his first professional contract with Arsene Wenger's young Gunners, keeping him within the nest of the club until the end of this season. It's a fantastic story for media around the world. The son of a British footballing legend making it good at a world class club, under the watchful eye of a manager nicknamed "The Professor", who has behind him a legacy of nurturing young players into greatness.
Marvellous! Exciting! Another one for the future, Arsenal! All the preceding exclamations are accurate enough, and yet as I recall watching the weekend's football I notice what I've written. "Another one for the future, Arsenal". Whose future? There is no "at" before "Arsenal" in that statement, and the weekend performances across the league leave little for the reader to use their imagination on as to why. Why would up and coming stars want to linger at Arsenal these days?
The sad truth is, Arsenal have no defense, and Wenger has no defence for it. This means that, irrespective of their attacking prowess, Arsenal are time and again so porous that geologists are using videos of the games against Anderlecht and Swansea as a metaphor for limestone in their teaching methods! Having an Alexis Sanchez at the other end of the field is rendered meaningless, and as such it cannot be long before disillusion sets in, not just with the Chilean but with all of Arsenal's forward thinking fraternity.
Put simply, Arsene Wenger's stubbornness and refusal to sign world class defenders and a world class defensive midfielder is reaching the point where his obstinateness will drive the Sanchez's and the Ozil's out of the club. The league is already gone, the Champions League is not even close to being a viable aspiration with the current team, so that leaves only the FA cup, and a position in the top four. That's not enough reward for world class players hungry for medals.
So, while Brooklyn Beckham signing a contract for Arsenal might be a marvellous marketing opportunity for everybody at The Emirates, it has no relevance in footballing terms for the club at the moment. Economically it could well be a coup, and there are none better in football than Arsenal at fiscal economics.
However Mr Wenger, you need take heed. Arsenal FC is a product which you're selling to both prospective new players, and the ones you already have, as well as its supporters. If its appeal wanes, the product fails. Arsenal are currently failing on several levels in footballing terms. They are structurally unstable and have been for some time. As Nasri, Sagna, Clichy, Song, and Fabregas all sit in teams higher than Arsenal in the table, and Van Persie waits to come calling in the next game, the "deserting a sinking ship" story feels more and more accurate.
It's going to need more than the teenage son of Beckham to fix the problem.
Source: DSG
