Arsene Wenger has dedicated the better part of 20 years to Arsenal. He’s an Arsenal man through and through, and has said (and shown) on a number of occasions that he would do anything for the benefit of the club, even if it meant leaving behind something special.
Despite financial instability for many years, with a huge stadium debt to pay off, Wenger put everything on the line just to do what was best for Arsenal. Players like Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas came and left, but somehow, some way, he managed to keep up an extraordinary level of consistency, securing UEFA Champions League football every season.
12 years on from Arsenal’s last title win and almost three years since the stadium debt was supposedly cleared and the Gunners became debt-free, little progress has been made. Some may argue that back-to-back FA Cup successes signals some sign of progression at the club, but in terms of the Premier League and Champions League, it’s still the same old fragile Arsenal we’ve all grown to agonise over week in, week out.
Saturday’s FA Cup home defeat to Watford was met by a large chorus of boos, which unfortunately at the Emirates recently, is nothing out of the ordinary. Three home defeats in a row for the first time since 2002 once again has fans split on the opinion of whether Wenger should stay or go. Even a 4-0 win against Hull in midweek didn’t stop some fans from protesting against the club’s most successful and longest-serving manager.
In recent years, Arsenal seem to have developed a recurring theme. While always competitive in the league, there is a point where the Gunners just seem to collapse. Whether it’s injuries or one defeat shooting down any confidence the side once had, something about the second half of the season always sends the club crashing back down to reality.
If we take a look at the way the league campaigns have gone since the move to the Emirates, there seems to be a notable pattern between being within touching distance of the leaders in the first half of the season and a huge drop in form in the second.
| Position after 19 games | Points off top | End of season position | Points off top | |
| 2006/07 | 3rd | 14 | 4th | 21 |
| 2007/08 | 1st | (2) | 3rd | 4 |
| 2008/09 | 4th | 10 | 4th | 18 |
| 2009/10 | 3rd | 7 | 3rd | 11 |
| 2010/11 | 3rd | 2 | 4th | 12 |
| 2011/12 | 4th | 9 | 3rd | 19 |
| 2012/13 | 7th | 16 | 4th | 16 |
| 2013/14 | 1st | (1) | 4th | 7 |
| 2014/15 | 5th | 13 | 3rd | 12 |
With the exception of last season, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Arsenal make a mess of things in the title race. Of course, a number of factors come into play as previously mentioned, but we’ve seen in previous years that a lack of belief and mental strength plays a key part.
The fact that it’s happened for so long is a sign that it has nothing to do with the players. Only two players from the inaugural season at the Emirates still remains at the club (Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky), but there has been one consistent factor in each and every one of the seasons where the side seemingly disintegrate – Wenger.
Now, Wenger is certainly not solely accountable for Arsenal’s weak mentality. In fact, Alexis Sanchez even openly admitted that the current crop of players lack the self-belief that they have it in them to be Premier League champions. But the fact that every Arsenal side has had the same problem over the past 10 years, he definitely can’t be left without some of the blame.
Arsene Wenger’s legacy is something that will be ingrained in Arsenal history and will always be remembered. He changed the club from one with years of failure to plenty of success. He built an exuberant side full of talent, went a season unbeaten and did what no manager before him could do in the Premier League – win a title. He also took Arsenal to the Champions League final in 2006, and developed a style now well-known among football fans as ‘Wengerball’.
With the staleness of the current side evident, and next to no progress being made, the Frenchman is taking a huge risk in potentially undoing a lot of what he has done for Arsenal in the last 20 years. His possible naivety in the transfer market over the past few years (despite bringing in players like Mesut Özil, Alexis Sanchez and Petr Cech), and turning a blind eye to some of the key areas in which Arsenal have needed strengthening for a long time, is seemingly costing him dearly at present.
His inability to adapt his tactics or selection policy in other games where it may sometimes result in a different outcome is also something that has aggravated fans. It’s been a long time since Arsenal fans have seen a variation of the 4-2-3-1 tactic used, when a simple formation change may actually be what they need.
As much as it is painful to say, because he’s done so much for Arsenal, it may be time for Wenger to finally let go of the club. We all know just how much he wants the best for the club. This was what he had to say in the annual general meeting back in October, as per the Mirror Online.
I am resolute to commit absolutely everything until the last day of my contract to bring back big success to this club. And I want to leave one day in a position where it can do even better when I leave. That is for me very important that I leave the club in the shape that the guy who comes after me can do better.
He wants to leave the club on a high – what manager wouldn’t? Although, with the direction Arsenal are headed in at the moment, it looks as if Wenger may not get the fairytale ending he deserves. For the sake of him not doing serious damage to his reputation and how he changed Arsenal, it might just be necessary that his incredible spell with the Gunners finally comes to an end.
