Clash wrote:Sean wrote:It is very sad how the last eight years have tarnished him so badly. But then he did develop an irreversible God complex after the Invincibles and had unlimited power at the club after Dein was sacked.
It just goes to show how lucky TOF was to have Dein and the back five (etc) when he arrived. He had the platform to succeed once he had a good midfield in place and a long term successor for Wrighty.
It was a great shame he couldn't win the CL in 2006 and the title bottling of 2008 was another turning point. Then the failed Project Youth really kicked in, backed up with the austerity lie and the perpetual 'stadium card' which shielded him from failure in a lot of window-lickers eyes. There really is no way he should have survived the dismal results and failures of 2011, let alone the humiliations in the years since.
There are worrying signs that he was always like this, but he had Dein and the players to push him to victory. Today, he looks like a massive fraud. It is distasteful and scandalous that he gets an £8.3M per year salary for his absence of coaching or tactical awareness/flexibility, leading to the same mistakes being made for eight years. Wembley 14 and 15 were happy anomalies. He is wilfully negligent.
It's scary to think that today's Wenger would probably never have signed Patrick Vieira. He is that married to his failed sideways football philosophy.
He has also irreversibly changed the character of the club and was one of those who tore us away from Highbury. The club is unrecognisable now and that is NOT a good thing. He has also proved to be an absolute failure in Europe, but still maintains an unhealthy personality cult. If he stays on at the end of this season, all hope is lost while the man is alive.
Excellent post Sean
Your last paragraph is the worst thing Wenger has done because it means the damage is permanent not temporary. Its unbelievable to me that people praise Wenger for these changes and expect us to show gratitude when effectively he has destroyed so much that so many cherished.
I was discussing Wengers 20 year anniversary with another fan this week and he basically said to me that although he knows I dont like Wenger I should still respect that he has done 20 years. I said no because he hasnt justified being here for 20 years. Normally when a manager remains at a big club for that long you have to respect it because it means they have had sustained success. Wenger has not done that. He should not have got past 13 or 14 years.
It was the same on his 1,000th game. Praise was heaped on him all week for his longevity but again him reaching that landmark wasn't justified by his management and the 6-0 thrashing he got in game 1,000 proved that.
I agree with you that there are signs Wenger was always like he is now. Admittedly it is with the benefit of hindsight but seeing him in a new light makes more sense than someone going from a genius to a fool in such a short space of time.
Underachieving is perhaps the thing that epitomises Wenger more than any other. Yes he had some great success but that was with some of the greatest players ever to play the game. However, Arsenals 1999 team was aruably the best in our history. Wenger managed that team to three trophyless seasons in a row. Desperately unlucky in the first of those 3 seasons ... but huge underachievement in the other seasons. Which was repeated again after the Invincibles.
In contrast Wenger has NEVER punched above his weight. He has NEVER overachieved with what he has had at his disposal. He has NEVER won a game or a trophy against the odds ... but he HAS lost many games and trophies against the odds.
Anyone not under Wengers spell or with an agenda can surely see that it reflects badly on Arsenal's pride, standards and ambition that they have allowed Wenger to remain as long as he has as our manager. The volume of mistakes that we've seen in that time is astonishing.
Quite simply a flawed manager like Wenger reaching 20 years at a big club is a disgrace to that club.
Cheers, Clash. Same to you
What also stings about the move to Cashburton is how they openly wanted Tarquins in the bowl, with those obscene ticket prices going up as the team's performance stagnated. So much for 'tenner a ticket'. The 2008 title bottling stings, as we could have gone on from there to win more things, instead we cleared out the experience, some of the last Invincibles and weakened our midfield. Had he walked away in 2008, he would still be thought of very fondly by Gooners.
The style of play got worse, with this 4-5-1 sideways shite with shambolic defending and goalkeeping. TOF built the team around Fabregas, who was too lightweight for this league (as good as he was). There's nothing wrong with a 4-2-3-1, but the way we play it was more like a 2-8-0, with all passing and no shooting. Even five years after the Cuntalan rat left us (and was subsequently spat out from his 'beloved' club to join the blue scum), we still play this infuriating style of play. TOF seems to be all about aesthetics over results, creating even more snobbery in the AKB and Tarquins with this annoying shite about 'how great we play' being better than winning things. Having 'principles'. FFS!
That 1,000th game embarrassment brutally highlighted why TOF should no longer be here. We were also on our way to bottling yet another title before spring, then we did it again last season. It was embarrassing to see Dein in that sycophantic programme about TOF's anniversary praising him for his long-ago achievements. It was very telling that most of the highlights shown in the programme were from a decade before; the Highbury days.
You are right that for us to go trophy-less between 98-02 wasn't great. We were also pretty bad in the CL with a great side, getting knocked out in the group stages. Funnily enough, TOF's 'purple patch' in the Be All and End All was 2004-10, when we were going through the post-Invincibles decline. Since 2010 we have been knocked out at the same stage each season after struggling to get out the group. It's all so pointless, despite TOF's obsession with winning the Be All and End All without tactics.
You're spot on about TOF never overachieving. Always 'par' - as some AKB like to say - or underachieving dismally. It really is amazing that TOF has come through this perfect storm - with the 'stadium card', the austerity lie, overpaying shite players, his now clearly hoarding of the cash and continuing with moneyball signings - with his supporters
still calling him a messiah that can do no wrong, despite his repetitive and predictable screw-ups every season. What an absolute waster he is.
TOF is really the luckiest man in football.
