The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Is Arsene Wenger still the right man to lead Arsenal to silverware?

Arsene Wenger lauded Aussie football fans. (Source: Wikicommons)
Roar Rookie
26th September, 2014
11

Tuesday night’s surprise 2-1 loss at the Emirates to Southampton in the League Cup raised many questions over Arsenal’s ability to be able to capture silverware in successive seasons.

Plastic fans will argue ‘oh it’s only the Capital One Cup’, but it’s a trophy that Arsenal are more than capable of winning.

The Gunners lifted the FA Cup last season after a thrilling 3-2 extra-time win over Hull City at Wembley, and finally ended their excruciating nine-year wait for silverware.

At the beginning of last season, Gunners fans were calling for Wenger’s head after a woeful performance saw them lose 3-1 at home to Aston Villa on the opening day of the season. But the former Monaco trainer shocked the football world only days later by signing Real Madrid playmaking sensation Mesut Özil.

Özil started life brightly at the Gunners, but under Wenger’s tutelage him and the rest of the Arsenal squad were left pondering at the end of the season at what might have been, despite their FA Cup triumph. Arsene Wenger’s men comfortably spent more time at the top of the Premier League table last season than any other club, but still only managed to secure fourth place.

The Gunners were strengthened in the summer, signing Frenchman Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle, Calum Chambers from Southhampton, Colombian World Cup keeper David Ospina and most notably Barcelona’s Chilean wing wizard Alexis Sánchez.

Though the club strengthened in various departments, they still need a holding midfielder and another defensive signing to truly address all of their weaknesses.

Gone are the days when Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and co. would go out onto the pitch thinking ‘are we going to win 3 or 4-0 today?’

Advertisement

Arsene Wenger has won three Premier League titles (including the incredible unbeaten season in 2003-04) and five FA Cups during his 18-year tenure, but many fans still argue that the club should replace the legendary Frenchman in the Arsenal hotseat. The Frenchman is a stubborn character at the best of times, and many questions remain over him and his team.

Can he get the best out of Sánchez and Özil? Will Arsenal stop conceding soft goals from set-pieces? Although the Gunners are noticeably stronger on paper than last season, when compared to sides such as Chelsea and Manchester City, the Arsenal squad does appear to lack depth.

Though Alexis Sánchez can play through the middle, the club still needs a striker who can finish off the hatful of chances that the Gunners incredibly gifted midfield create.

Arsenal’s success this season will be down to how Wenger chooses his team. Only a month into the season life is already getting tough for the Gunners. Mathieu Debuchy and Olivier Giroud have both sustained long-term injuries, Arsenal have already been dumped out of the League Cup and last week in their opening Champions League fixture put in a dreadful performance against a Borussia Dortmund’s weakest side for years, as they were beaten 2-0 at Signal Iduna Park.

Rampaging young Spanish fullback Hector Bellerín has entered the first team fold to cover Debuchy’s extended absence. The former Barcelona youth product made headlines earlier in the season when he broke Theo Walcott’s 40 metre sprint record at the club, but at only 19 the Spaniard is surely being thrown into the deep end far too early in his career.

Wenger has the quality in his squad to be able to compete on all fronts this season. Though Mikel Arteta has been in horrible decline for quite some time, the rest of the squad have started the domestic campaign brightly.

The Gunners’ comfortable 3-0 win over Manchester City in the Community Shield got the ball rolling, and despite their League Cup exit and poor Champions League start, confidence will still be high. With the pace of Walcott and Alexis accompanied by the finesse of Ramsey and Özil, the Gunners are capable of retaining the FA Cup and challenging for the Premier League.

Advertisement

This current side has the potential to rank among the greatest in the clubs glittering history, alongside teams such as Herbert Chapman’s great 1930s side, the famous double winning 1971 side, George Graham’s team of 1988 to 1991, and particularly Wenger’s teams of the late 90s and the 2003-04 Invincibles.

The current side have a long way to go if they are to ever reach this status, but if any man can lead them to the success that the team are capable of, it is Arsene Wenger. He has proven everybody wrong time and time again and turned promising but average players into world-beaters.

He may be old and stubborn in the eyes of many, but few are as good as the Frenchman at what he does.

close