The Father, The Son and The Holy Howe: Reviewing Arsenal vs. Bournemouth

Were one to judge football by BBC montages, one would think that Eddie Howe was the undisputed spiritual inheritor to Arsene Wenger. On this weekend's Match of the Day 2, contemplative football quotes from the two men were superimposed over each other, until the words and letters came to form an image of their two faces, both looking ponderously thoughtful, juxtaposed side by side. Wreathed in this vaguely sententious atmosphere, it was as if Wenger was some ancient philosopher king and Howe a fresh-faced, meditative boy child, gifted to the world as his spiritual and ethical heir. Wenger was the holy father and Howe the miracle son, come to earth in pursuit of divine knowledge and with the intention of furthering the Arsenal doctrine, which is to create a team entirely made up of extremely delicate midfield playmakers who produce aesthetically perfect football and finish fourth in the Premier League every year.

On a superficial level, there may be some validity to the idea that Howe is Wenger's natural successor. The second-longest serving manager at a club currently in the Premier League, the Bournemouth boss has a long-term vision that incorporates progressive football, an Arsenal-esque inclination towards a high-tempo passing game and a commitment to wedging Jack Wilshere into his starting line up however he can, despite the midfielder's near total dearth of goals, assists and obvious statistical worth. As such, Howe seems to have all the attributes needed to be a successful Arsenal manager, or at least a sort of reborn Wenger with a cultural affinity to the south coast and roots in the sleepy Buckinghamshire town of Amersham. Likewise, Howe is clean-cut, straight-edged and abundantly marketable, and so fits into the other grand scheme at the heart of Arsenal as a football club, namely making shitloads of money from their carefully cultivated, near-immaculate brand.

That said, there is a whiff of convenience to the widespread rumours that Howe is set to succeed his French counterpart. The first stumbling block to any such move is Wenger himself, who has in no way acceded to definite retirement at the end of this campaign. There's a sense in which Howe's progressive approach has been rather casually conflated with Wenger's own complex, decade-spanning footballing philosophy, in a manner which is actually rather slapdash and cursory. Howe certainly knows how to bring success to a club, and inspire attractive football while doing so. Whether or not he would succeed away from that club is another question entirely.

When we think of Howe's success, we do so entirely in the context of Bournemouth. He came through the youth ranks on the south coast, spent the majority of his playing career with the Cherries, and has since managed them in two stints spanning a total of seven years, interrupted only by a short spell with Burnley. He has an intense, intimate and personal connection to Bournemouth, just as everyone at the club has a connection to him. He requires no motivation to manage the club, just as the players require no great motivation to perform for a Bournemouth legend who is respected by habit and by right.

In his one foray away from Bournemouth, Howe had a much tougher time of it, managing Burnley to the Championship mid-table before leaving to return to the south coast. His time in Lancashire was far from disastrous but, had he been at a club with greater delusions of grandeur, it might have been a rather lessing forgiving experience. In the same way as Arsene Wenger will struggle to adapt to life away from Arsenal, Howe has floundered away from Bournemouth once already, and felt the isolation of leaving his spiritual home. Perhaps what the two men have in common is not their approach to management, nor their philosophy on football, but actually their dedication to the club of their lives, and a fear of what awaits them when their time at that club comes to a close.