The Arsene Wenger Theory Of Work Distribution
I support Arsenal.
It’s a bittersweet relationship with more ups than downs, but I’m ashamed to say, quoting Gordon Gekko, that nothing ruins my day more than losses.
When we lose you will always find many fans, myself included, who have a theory on how things should have been done differently, particularly on the part of the manager, Arsene Wenger. We all think we know better than he, shaking our heads in disbelief as we explain just where the cretinous retard went wrong. It’s as if Arsene himself would hear these words and then slap himself on the head yelling ‘Of course! I’m such an idiot for playing Denilson when Wilshere would have been the better pick! What a fool I am!’
Well, Arsene knows, and he knows better than almost anyone in the world, so the idea that we fans, who dip our toes in the tactical water a few times a week, could do a better job than Monsieur Wenger is plainly fucking ridiculous. He lives it, breathes it, thinks about little else and has a wealth of experience to back his actions up. We all think we know better, but that’s miles from the truth. Sure, with the benefit of hindsight we might be able to see after the game a decision that might have improved it, but nobody knows the future and 20/20 hindsight is basically useless.
Which occasionally reminds me of advertising. An enormous number of people think they can write ads. They might not have the training or experience, but they’ve seen a bunch on TV so it can’t be that hard.
But hang on…I don’t think for a minute that I could just jump in and be an account director, planner or client. I would need to learn how to do the job and then practise for a while before I got up to standard. Sure, I could probably mange a few bits perfectly well, but on the whole, I’d be rubbish until I spent a few years getting good.
So why is everyone allowed to be a creative?
Could that just possibly be one of the reasons why advertising is not going currently going through its rosiest patch? Of course, people have fiddled with work in the past, but the fear that now stalks this industry is making sure no one feels secure in an opinion.
And if nobody’s right, then anyone can be.