Why Wenger is stuck playing a real-life version of CM 2002

[Red Gunner]

Why Arsene Wenger is stuck playing a real-life version of Championship Manager 2002 with Arsenal

By Jonathan Wilson

When I was a student in the 1990s, I played a lot of the computer game Championship Manager. I was good at it, leading Sunderland to countless league titles.

For years I bought each new edition of the game until, about a decade ago, work and life took over and I stopped having so much spare time.

I have dabbled in new editions of the game since, but it all seems tremendously complicated now. It used to be that once you had a basic system and a basic starting line-up, you could play like that in most games, making a change here and there for injuries or to counter obvious strengths of the very best opponents.

These days it is far more complicated: you have to analyse each opponent and select your team accordingly, tinkering with every aspect of the team set-up, monitoring levels of fatigue and morale, changing the tempo and the shape, deciding where you want attacks to focus. My old way of finding a line-up that works and sticking to it does not cut it any more.

I was reminded of the phenomenon last Sunday as Arsenal lost to Everton. It is true Arsenal have – again – had bad luck with injuries, but anybody who thinks their recent collapse in form is because of the losses of Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott is burying their head in the sand.

There are fundamental shortcomings at Arsenal that are not being addressed, of which poor, overworked Olivier Giroud is only the most obvious embodiment. He has started 31 league games this season, more than any other striker in the division – a remarkable statistic given his cup and European commitments. It seems little wonder he looks exhausted.

The failure to recruit another forward in January remains mystifying, such an obvious flaw that not to address it feels like a dereliction, but it is far from the only issue.

Wenger’s caution with money has become proverbial – and the fact is that he has consistently over-performed given the budget he has allowed himself to spend. But there are now tactical question marks as well.

On Sunday, Roberto Martinez surprisingly deployed Romelu Lukaku to the right of a front three and Steven Naismith inside him as a “false nine”. Naismith drifted deep, giving Per Mertesacker, who is excellent in one-on-one duels against a forward tight to him, nobody to mark, while Lukaku cut in to attack the chasm of unease that exists between Nacho Monreal and Thomas Vermaelen.

Monreal has looked increasingly out of sorts, not helped by the fact that Lukas Podolski, in front of him, offers next to no protection.

What was happening was obvious, but Wenger seemed unable to change it, not making a substitution until the 66th minute, by which time they were 3-0 down. His delay in adjusting is not unusual; only two clubs have made their first substitution on average later than Arsenal.

In the recent Champions League games against Bayern Munich, the contrast with Pep Guardiola, forever on his feet, micromanaging, was clear.

Wenger is 64 and his contract expires in the summer. He maintains that is not an issue but his insistence that he is “fully committed” increasingly draws the question “but for how long”?

Should Arsenal finish outside the top four, his position would come under even greater scrutiny, but there is also the possibility of a happy farewell, with a FA Cup success ending the nine-year trophy drought.

His tone this week has seemed elegiac, as though he may be considering the possibility. He spoke of paying a franc to watch the FA Cup final on the black-and-white television at his school in Duttlenheim and there was something poignant as he spoke of his struggle.

“Don’t imagine I sacrifice every day of my life not to win a trophy,” he said. “Everybody fights for that.”

That adds an extra layer of significance to Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final, against a Wigan Athletic team whose form has just started to wobble. They may be in the Championship but showed against Manchester City in the quarter-final how tactically astute they can be, switching to a back three for that game.

The challenge for Wenger is two-fold: can he shake his players from their recent lethargy and ensure an attention to duty, and can he respond tactically to whatever problems Uwe Rosler, Wigan’s manager, poses?

Even if Arsenal win, longer-term issues remain. It feels increasingly as though Wenger is playing Championship Manager 02 in a Football Manager 14 world.

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalco ... th-arsenal

[augie]

I used to enjoy championship manager (or football manager as it is now called) but for one reason or another I no longer play it as much. I'd like to pretend that it is due to work, family or local club commitments but I think that I would be lying. Back in the day I could manage Arsenal and make a change or two to what was already a strong squad but nowadays it would take a revolution of gigantic proportions to get the squad to a reasonable level thanks to the dross mr wenker accumulated (although it was much worse 2 or 3 years ago). I still buy it every year (otherwise I would feel that I am missing something ) but when I play it I tend to manage other teams instead of my beloved AFC

As for the corrolation between wenker and CM2002, I dont think that I can add anything that hasnt been said a million times on here before - the man is an outdated c*nt that is dragging us down more and more with each passing week

[Ed Hunter The Gooner]

For me too it's the same. Years ago I used to play it very intensively but not that much anymore, I still buy the game every year but the playing time I put into it is quite little.

I always play as Arsenal and one of my biggest satisfactions is to have a total squad clear out once I start a new game

[remigardeshair]

I loved the early versions of CM, I think 97/98 was the first one I played, nice and simple and you could play a whole season in one evening. Then it got more and more complicated and ridiculous.

For a while I was the researcher for the Arsenal squad, meaning I had to do the ratings for all the players, it was incredibly complex and time consuming (and unpaid, all I got was a free copy of the game).

The geekish rantings of those who played the games on the sigames forum were something to behold, flying off the handle because I hadnt made Justin Hoyte a world class right back, or not given Lupoli 20 for finishing, it was really hilarious.

[arsenalmorris]

I think we all realised that when Kim Kallstrom was signed, Wasnt he just about the best player on the game on Champ Man 01/02