Arsenal is a giant mess and has seemingly lost its way

For the lack of a better term, just what exactly the hell is going on with Arsenal, and what does the future look like?

By now, the tale of how Arsenal, or more precisely Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, changed English soccer has been told so many times it now verges on folklore. The Frenchman arrived, in the late 1990s, at a club, and in a country stuck in the sporting dark ages. In no time at all, Wenger set about modernizing the national game, carrying the North London club and the Premier League as a whole into a new era.

Arsenal was then left behind themselves. Wenger became too stubborn, too powerful, too stuck in his own ways.  Ironically, the man who forced English soccer to change failed to alter and adapt his own methods and ways, leaving as Gunners manager at the end of last season, not in a blaze of glory, but under a cloud of regret.

This symbolic change was meant to herald a new age for Arsenal. Wenger was not the sole root of their problems, but he was, in the eyes of many, the head of the snake. Getting rid of someone so powerful would make changes easier to implement in other areas. At least that was a common theory.

Changes were indeed made. Countless backroom figures were hired, but many of them left just as quickly as they had arrived. Sven Mislintat, the German scout lured from Borussia Dortmund to head up a new recruitment approach, left before the end of last season. CEO Ivan Gazidis followed him in departing the Emirates Stadium for a job at AC Milan.

On top of this, Arsenal has been left raking around in the bargain bucket this summer, with their transfer market budget standing at a measly $56 million (£45 million). For context, their closest rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, completed the signing of French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele for $75 million last week. And Spurs are renowned for being frugal.

What Arsenal are going through feels like a profound moment in the club’s modern history. This is about more than just summer transfer targets. It’s about the identity and direction of an organization that has dramatically lost its way in recent times. What do Arsenal stand for? What do they offer the sport? These were questions easily answered by anyone at the club. No longer, though.

Much of Arsenal’s current problems are rooted in the club’s current ownership. It’s no coincidence that the Gunners’ issues have been exacerbated since the completion of Stan Kroenke’s takeover last August. For years, the American had been engaged in something of a power struggle with Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, but a bid of around $690 million for his rival’s shares saw him take full control.

Kroenke, of course, is notorious as the owner of sports teams across the United States. Fans of the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Rapids and the Los Angeles Rams (previously the St Louis Rams) know what Arsenal supporters are going through right now. ‘Silent Stan,’ as he is known due to his unwillingness to talk to the press, is a universally unpopular figure in sports.

A dilution of resources and ambition is currently taking hold at the Emirates Stadium. This has had an effect on almost every area of the club, from the team on the pitch, to the strategy in the transfer market, to the people running things behind the scenes. Kroenke is eroding the very fabric of Arsenal as a soccer club.

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s now clear to see that the exit of Wenger only allowed Arsenal to contract further. The Frenchman, it now seems, was the only one holding back the tide. Some supporters surely see that and feel somewhat sheepish about their campaign against Wenger in the dying days of his Arsenal tenure.

Last season was something of a modern nadir for the Gunners. Their expected upturn didn’t happen. Instead, they finished exactly where they had finished the season before, lost in a European final to a London rival, lost their CEO and head of recruitment and wasted a whole year. It was difficult to pick the positives from that and it still is.

Before Arsenal can address their problems they must determine where those problems emanate from.