Before the game against Man United even kicked off on Saturday the mood was still sullied from the previous results and not even the international break could diffuse it. Saturday was an opportunity to come out and put those bad couple of weeks aside and play well against the weakest United team we’ve faced in years but it didn’t happen.
It felt like it was happening for the first half of that game, it was the best football we have played all season and I really thought we were on track to win the game despite not scoring from our attempts. It’s a game of two halves and that saying couldn’t have been any truer for Arsenal as the second half saw them fall apart. The best bit about that game was Szczesny catching Gibbs on the chops when Gibbs took him out just before that fateful own goal.
With every poor game of football, with every mistake made and with every defeat Wenger is signing his career away and ruining everything he built. He has forgotten about the deep history in our football, the history that brought him too the club. He has failed to build upon the back four he inherited and that should have been the main priority for him, he has in fact lacked the ability to replace most players after selling them with equal or improved talent.
It is no secret that I’ve not been Wenger’s biggest fan since Van Persie was sold to United with Wenger banking 5% of the transfer, I kind of knew from then that it was the beginning of the end for him, had we kept RVP for one more season then it could have been a whole different story I think we could have won something with that team. But selling him to a rival club was gifting them the title was a massive error in judgement, Wenger couldn’t convince him of the possibility of winning titles and trophies so how were we ever to believe that was the aim.
Wenger’s ability has been under question for a lot longer than two years though, it has been questioned for many more that and unfortunately it won’t stop any time soon and there are plenty of reasons for that.
When a man capable of managing a team that go unbeaten he sets a standard to which all things are measured by and maybe that’s why he has had so much pressure on him in the past. In the last three or so years it has been solely on bad transfer decisions and and injury list that needs be investigated.
Whilst the sensible fans amongst us don’t expect us to win the league unbeaten every year, we do however expect to see some of that talent continue from Wenger throughout the years but it never came, even last years FA Cup win was a frustrating game that we clinched by the skin of our teeth.
It’s quite simple really, when Wenger came to Arsenal he brought in modern and intelligent methods and practices that revolutionised football at that time, we are now 18 year ahead of that time and Wenger is still using those same methods, that same philosophy and that same attitude he always has despite the fact there are massive changes to this ever modernising game. He hasn’t adapted in any way other than formation and every game is the same tactics, same time for subs and the same mistakes over and over again.
What is clear now is that Arsenal need change, we’ve needed that for two or three years now and Wenger is just not willing to implicate changes or allow anyone else to impart their views. When a situation such as that arises it leads to the management position becoming untenable…but will the board or Wenger have the guts to pull the plug? I would think they will have no choice come May if we are not in the top four, that will ultimately mean losing money from the Champion’s League and I don’t think the board want that cash cushion gone. One would also hope Arsene would realise he has done all he can for the club and leave.
No Arsenal fan wanted it to be this way, we all had the dream of riding off into the sunset of Superclubs with Wenger at the helm but he’s not the same man he used to be. Even I wanted to be proved wrong on this one, I wanted Wenger to come out and prove us critics wrong.
He used to admire the cleverness of football and now he just envies it as he sits and watches his team fall apart with no effort to even catch the falling pieces. It wasn’t ever meant to end with majority of fans wanting him gone but…..
Enough is enough, he has to go in May for the sake of our club and our fans.
