Hayward Mislays His Pretty Patterns

Paul Hayward is undoubtedly one of this country’s best sports journalists and readers of the Daily Mail have become accustomed to his intelligent, perceptive and extremely well written observations, particularly where the world of football is concerned.

Yet even he is entitled to the occasional off day. Recently he did a piece in which he offered his reactions to Arsene Wenger’s unfortunate afternoon at Upton Park, entitled “What’s Getting Him Down?” and subtitled “Wenger may be finding the chaos of our game too much”.

As early as the second paragraph, the phrase “Arsenal’s suddenly Trappist manager” gave notice that he was not entirely on his game, and he went on to explain rather pompously that the Arsenal boss appeared to have departed from the “ironic detachment” which was his usual “modus operandi” and replaced it with “Silence. Indignation. And maybe something breaking in Wenger’s love affair with England.”

Considered in the light of what follows, this strikes an ominous note, because (after a sideswipe at the 52 red cards in Wenger’s first seven years in charge, yet curiously no mention of the fact that these days Arsenal are bottom of the News of the World ‘Foul Play League’) Hayward goes on to assert: “the signs are now that he is wearying of the constant anarchy and aggression of the English game which, significantly, declines to sit back and applaud while Wenger’s sometimes fragile team weave their pretty patterns and squander endless chances.”

There is so much to criticise in these lines that it is difficult to imagine that they were written by a journalist of Hayward’s calibre. To begin with, there may be elements of ‘anarchy’ and a good deal of aggression in the English game and much of the latter may, perforce, be directed at Arsenal, but neither is “constant”. Nor is it fair or reasonable to argue that a manager who throughout his ten highly successful years has always relished the big challenges is “wearying” of English football – especially when he wouldn’t dream of characterising it in such exaggerated terms as Hayward does.

As for the reference to Arsenal’s “pretty patterns”, that is plainly an unworthy description of the team which has for some time produced the purest and most beautiful football seen in this country – even if, exasperatingly, they do not convert enough chances. And to add that “Arsenal’s warrior core” has “softened further with the departure of Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole” does scant justice to Kolo Toure, Philippe Senderos and William Gallas – all of whom are in the proud tradition of men like Dixon, Adams, Keown and Winterburn.

It is, of course, faintly ironic that Paul Hayward should be so very far short of his customary high standards when attempting to write about a rare occasion when Arsene Wenger was not at his best. Fortunately those who know the Arsenal manager will be amused rather than concerned by this piece. And hopefully those who know Paul Hayward will regard it, not as mischief or misjudgement or over-reaction, but an aberration. “May he be rescued soon”.