Under Wenger, and a compliant board, Arsenal continue to slide, not dangerously enough to slip out of the Champions League positions but still away from the silverware zone. This should have been the season when Arsenal seized their first title since 2004 with their traditional rivals in the Barclays Premier League, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, temporarily struggling. Two of those, probably all three, will return next season with strong new managers, with new ambition, and new signings.
Dear old Arsenal begin to resemble one of those upper-class spinsters in the background of a Jane Austen novel, turning increasingly bitter as the years pass, being pushed farther back from the dance floor. Wenger was once the leading pioneer in the dugout, the trophy-gathering perfectionist admired throughout the world. Now he’s not even the most forward-looking manager in north London.
He has nobody to challenge him, to question why he believes Olivier Giroud is a world-class centre forward, even when he himself admits Arsenal have not been “clinical enough” this season. Why doesn’t he have a Plan B? Why don’t his players shoot from outside the box? Why does he let his team overelaborate in build-ups, allowing opponents to organise the barricades?
Wenger has nobody to take him properly to task about recruitment. Where are the real midfield enforcers, especially elegant ones such as Patrick Vieira who could create as well as destroy? Where are the tough defensive leaders such as Tony Adams? It is sad really. There is much to admire about Wenger. There is the dignity (although he is a terrible loser), the willingness to give youth a chance (being rewarded in the excellence of Héctor Bellerín and Alex Iwobi) and his refusal to duck a question at press conferences. His commitment to attacking football should be cherished. But he has forgotten that the game is about trophies. Back-to-back FA Cups in 2014 and 2015 were memorable occasions but the leading honours, the Premier League and the Champions League, remain increasingly distant visions. Arsenal lack the ruthlessness, leadership and tactics to last the course in those.
Leicester are the antithesis of Arsenal; less obsessed with possession, and more with their successful blend of pressing, pace and directness. They look hungrier, fitter and less susceptible to injury. Riyad Mahrez, the PFA Player of the Year, and N’Golo Kanté, the Leicester players’ Player of the Year, are from the French heartlands that Wenger used to plunder.
During a long interview with Geoff Shreeves, the Sky Sports reporter, Wenger praised Leicester for their title triumph but pointed out that they would be exhausted next season with their pressing style and increased fixture workload. Yet Ranieri will strengthen his squad. Ranieri has been rewarded so handsomely this season because he has delivered wildly above expectations. If anybody deserves a handsome new contract, it is Ranieri (who is in talks with his club’s owners). Wenger doesn’t deserve one but the board is passive. Arsenal’s structure and philosophy is flawed. Wenger helped appoint his supposed boss, the chief executive, Ivan Gazidis. Under Stan Kroenke, the owner, the club’s business model appears focused simply on Champions League football. Arsenal do not need to be at the front of the Champions League gravy train as long as they are on it. The essence of sport, winning, has become secondary. A runner-up culture pervades.
They don’t fight hard enough. On January 2, Arsenal defeated Newcastle United 1-0 at home to move two points clear of Leicester at the top. Having taken 42 points from 20 games, Arsenal then faltered, and have since picked up 26 points from 17 matches. When the pressure was most intense, Arsenal faded. Leicester stood strong. Even the possibility of Wenger extending his stay will infuriate substantial sections of an Emirates Stadium simmering with an air of incipient civil war. Support is split over “Wenger out” and “Wenger knows best”, “in Arsène we trust” and “in Wenger we rust”. Perspective is required over the extent of the dissent towards the manager that all accept is the greatest in the club’s 130-year history. Two fans in dispute over a banner will inevitably be captured by the cameras, run on rolling news and debated on phone-ins, giving an impression that the tensions are rife.
Even those of us outsiders who believe Wenger should have gone years ago must acknowledge that the majority of Arsenal fans do not favour a change, partly out of blind loyalty and partly because they cannot summon up a better alternative (although Ronald Koeman looks a good fit).
Some apathy was reflected in the number of empty seats in the previous home game against Norwich City but the anticipated protest was a damp squib. Today’s news of a contract offer may focus minds, probably polarising the support even more. A great club risk becoming even more divided"
One of the best non-biased , well balanced and utterly honest, expansive pieces of journalism regarding Arsenal and Wencunt in many a year....I hope some one gives it to wenker to read with his morning coffee and croissants the C.U.N.T
ps: Any Gooner on here who goes on Twitter should send Henry Winter BIG "Thank-You" for a most excellent piece of written journalism.
