Arsene Wenger’s tactical ineptness and lack of attention to the defensive side of the game has been exposed time and time again.
The most telling example in recent years is the appalling defeat to AS Monaco at the Emirates Stadium in 2015. Wenger committed tactical suicide as the Gunners defence were once again at sixes and sevens high up the pitch.
A year on, nothing has changed. Arsenal players will be watching the Champions League final on the couch, while hopes for the Premier League was dead weeks ago.
12 years of failing to make PL Top2.
6 years of failing to reach CL 1/4 finals.
What LESS does he have to do? #WengerOUT #afc— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 17, 2016
The one thing Wenger has always held his hat on was the attractive football his team’s have been able to display over the years. His philosophy of playing football in the right way has endeared football fans across the world.
Even the football Arsenal have played this season has been listless and quite frankly boring as a lack of cutting edge and ruthlessness in the final third has culminated in the Gunners scoring a paltry 26 goals at home, equal with 19th placed Newcastle United.
Wenger claimed in December that the reason he decided opting against signing a top class striker for the fifth consecutive transfer window was he believed he had four ‘world class’ strikers already at his disposal.
With cash revenue’s pushing £200 million gathering dust in the Emirates coffers, it’s this sort of delusion and stubbornness that is dearly costing Arsenal’s ability to take the next step from pretenders to contenders.
In years gone by Wenger has had David Dein by his side to go out and get transfers done and have a strong input at board level to identify and implement strategies to ensure the club continues to compete for major honours.
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With ‘yes men’ like CEO Ivan Gazidis and owner Stan Kroenke accomodating Wenger’s mediocrity, there is no-one within the club that has the spine to question the Frenchman. Rather, club bosses seem more than happy to cruise along as the club continues to record profits that go straight into their back pockets.
The board had an opportunity to be bold and go in another direction when the likes of Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti all became available, but again, a lack of strong leadership and an unwillingness to call Wenger to account was apparent.
No other manager in world football has as much power over an entire football club that Wenger has, it’s almost like a dictatorship. Why would he quit, when he’s earning a staggering £8.3 million a year with seemingly no internal pressure on his position whatsoever?
Wenger is tarnishing his legacy, and from the outside it now seems his motivation to remain in the Emirates hot-seat is financially motivated and not performance driven.
The lack of accountability shown by Wenger and the board is staggering, as the same mistakes year in year out continue to occur and nothing is ever seen to be done to break this cycle of failure.
All we see from Wenger is him sitting pensively in his seat fidgeting away at the zip on his puffer coat with the only real sign of any sort of animation or emotion is him moaning to the third official.
With Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur finishing above Arsenal in a season where both Manchester clubs and Chelsea endured forgettable campaigns, Wenger’s position has become untenable, regardless of whether they finish in the top four or not.
What hope do Arsenal have of competing for the title next season when the big boys will be back stronger then ever under new management and heavy investment?
Largely, he’s lost the fans and by the looks of things the players, too. There is no way back from here.
Arsenal’s long standing motto reads ‘Victoria Concordia Crescit’ which translates to ‘Victory grows out of harmony’.
Going by this, victory is almost an impossible task with the unharmonious feeling that surrounds the club at the present time.
If Wenger claims he loves the club and has it’s best interests at heart then he will step aside at season’s end.
While it’s sad that he potentially will be denied the send off his accomplishments and service to the cause so richly deserves, no-one is bigger then the club, and that includes any manager.
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