Monday 3 April 2017 11:38, UK
Sometimes in football you don't always get the result you want but you get the performance you need.
You could feel the nervousness at the Emirates yesterday. There weren't aeroplanes in the sky but there was a feeling of being with a family edgily divided against itself.
When Arsenal went one down you thought it might all turn quite unpleasant. Then there was the conspicuous lack of celebration for Theo Walcott's goal, followed by Theo getting the hump when he was taken off. The atmosphere all afternoon was uneasy.
Arsenal fans are wondering how to deal with Arsene Wenger. Arsene must be wondering how it came to this.
Arsenal didn't turn a corner yesterday but their path curved gently toward what might be a better place. They came back from a deficit twice and even if they didn't go for the win in hell-for-leather style, that was to be expected from a team that has only beaten Burnley, Sutton and Lincoln in recent months. Teams low on confidence usually play it safe.
The togetherness and fight Arsenal showed wasn't enough to convince anybody the club's troubles are over but it was sufficient to cause the next Arsene-in-the-stockades session to be postponed for a while.
There were just enough positives. The meekness Arsenal showed when they accepted their beating against West Brom last time out was gone.
With all the focus on the manager, a lot of people had forgotten that the players have responsibilities that go beyond shaking their heads sadly and saying that they had let the manager down again.
Too often this year they have let themselves down as professionals. Against the likes of Watford and West Brom we saw players who we know to be better playing as if they just didn't care.
In the near future the Arsenal board have a decision to make on the manager's contract and like Brexit, they must be wondering which would be better, no deal or a bad deal.
The club has accepted what has been delivered. It's a very successful business and a decent football club. That's unfair on the fans and unfair on Arsene Wenger as well. He deserves better than to be asked to finish his management career as a glorified clerk helping out the bottom line.
It is far from certain at this stage there will be a new manager at Arsenal next season. There is no distinct sense that Arsene wants to go or that the board has the ruthlessness to push him out. My hunch is he will stay.
I think he will have to give something, though. I don't see why his last two years can't be a preparation for a smooth succession with a new manager identified and structures put in place before Arsene moves sideways and upwards.
Arsene staying doesn't mean there can't be changes. United discovered when Sir Alex went that a new manager usually wants to clear out the ghosts. United's staff changed radically under David Moyes and a lot of expertise and a lot of the culture of the club was lost.
If you have one man running an organisation for 21 years people are bound to become set in their ways. When people talk about a new manager coming in at Arsenal it is accepted there will be changes in the way a lot of things are done. That shouldn't be too brutal if the transition is handled in a smart way.
If Arsene is to stay for another two years why not review and change these structures where necessary anyway. Change might be the cattle prod the club and its manager need.
Coming out of the weekend, Arsenal now look a good bet to end their long run of Champions League participation. They have 30 points left to play for and they need a massive percentage of them if they are to avoid the Europa League.
Yet if they were to beat West Ham on Wednesday night and Man City were to lose at Stamford Bridge, the climb would look a little less steep.
If Arsenal don't make the Champions League this year it might prompt the sort of reset the club badly needs. People often point out the problems that Arsenal have are the sort of problems that fans of most other clubs would kill to have.
That idea does more harm to Arsenal than anybody else. Being happy that the rut you are stuck in is nicer than lots of other ruts is a sure way to stay stuck.
Things aren't too rosy with many of the top clubs. Arsene must have looked down the line at Pep Guardiola yesterday and wondered about a funny old game it is. For all the fanfare City are no more advanced under Pep than they were under Manuel Pellegrini at this time last year. Except Pellegrini had won a Premier League by then.
If Arsenal head into this summer without the usual comfort blanket of Champions League qualification they will know they need to reinvent themselves as something leaner and meaner. The same for Arsene. I don't believe he is beyond change or that he can't play a constructive role in laying the table for his successor.
First he has to build on yesterday. Arsenal have to remember how to defend like an Arsenal team. Since January their only clean sheets have been against Hull, Sutton and Lincoln, while they have leaked freely and against Bayern Munich, spectacularly.
If they have to chisel out the results for a while so be it. The confidence will come back when the points start piling up.
Yesterday Arsenal stabilised. They can get back to full health but whether they need surgery or medication remains to be seen.
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