Arsène Wenger. An enigma, genius, breath of fresh air.
There’s a plethora of phrases which come to mind when one thinks of Wenger’s early years at the helm of Arsenal FC but none more than “In Arsène we trust”.
Revolutionising the way football was played from the players diets, behaviour, style of play to how the club went about signing new players with Arsène preferring to develop young talent over marquee signings, a model that has been since copied the world over.
However, since Arsenal’s somewhat fortuitous FA cup victory to the detriment of Manchester United in 2005 there has been a painful fall from the sky high pedestal which Arsenal fans had reserved for their manager.
The League and Cup defeats to Birmingham and the loss to Manchester United to break Arsenal’s undefeated run have been landmark moments defining an Arsenal side that have not adapted to the ever changing football landscape as evidenced by defeats in Cup competitions by two lower league sides, the 3-1 loss to Bayern and a precarious fifth position in the league.
How did Arsenal, a club which is valued #4 on Forbes rich list get to this point?
The one man who must take the brunt of the blame is Arsène. As with all great visionaries, their great strength is to follow a path that few can see and even fewer dare to take.
However, Arsène’s failures have not been his desire to win or find the odd bargain in the transfer market but his inability to buy “top top quality”.
This was not helped by David Dein leaving in 2007 who at the time was the go to guy for transfer dealings and was instrumental in keeping Thierry Henry at the club.
Currently, Viera for Manchester City, Zidane for Real Madrid and Leonardo for PSG are all great examples of the importance of having the ability to convince prospective players that their club is the right one.
Notable examples being Varane who Arsène wanted to sign and Nasri who Arsène wanted to keep signed by Real Madrid and Manchester City respectively.
This leads onto an external factor somewhat out of Arsenal’s hands which has been the influx of money in the game.
With billionaires pumping cash into the game this has lead to clubs without a sugar daddy in the boardroom having to compete with a smaller pool of resources and with transfer prices inflated and leaving a lower margin for error.
Transfer flops such as Torres to Chelsea or Kaka to Madrid or a host of signings that Liverpool have made in the last few years are transfers that Arsenal could ill afford to make.
However, rather than push the envelope and go out for players who have the potential or ability to take Arsenal to the top they have opted for players that should really only be squad players at best serve only to increase the wage bill. Ramsey, Santos, Park, Chamakh, Eboue, Squillaci, the list goes on.
The situation has been made worse by statements that Diaby or Rosicky back from injury were like “new signings” and players such as van der Vaart, Mata, and Michu which are all well within our reach only to be bought by rival clubs.
Even the players brought in, who have gone on to be relative successes such as Arteta, Cazorla and Vermaelen are not of the same calibre signings as their counterparts in other EPL sides such as Vidic, Kompany, Silva, Mata etc all of whom Arsenal had the means to purchase.
This has inevitably lead to a vicious circle where players have left for fresh pastures (RVP the latest), prospective players have decided against signing leaving the current crop of players feeling disillusioned at the state of the club.
To those who say the current players should get on and do their job- you are right. To those who say the culpability for losing games lies with the Arsenal players and therefore they have no right to complain-you are right. To those who say that loyalty is due to a man who has given so much to Arsenal FC – you are right.
However, the squad needs strength in depth so that when fatigued they can rest. Next a new acquisition needs to be a genuine challenger for the first team spot, pushing current first team player to perform to his maximum. As for loyalty to Arsène – as Mourinho pointed out Arsène has had it easy at Arsenal, with his blinkers on for too long.
This is not helped by a seemingly weak handed owner dubbed “silent Stan”, who on the surface looks to be more than happy to only compete for the champion’s league spot, which is less risky, potentially providing longevity to the club financially.
On the flip side the long term effects will be seen down the line with more empty seats at the Emirates stadium and weaker commercial deals than competitors due to the Arsenal brand depreciating year on year.
The second half performances of Arsenal this year where they have been 16% more likely to score and 24% less likely to concede has been a direct consequence of a reactive rather than proactive strategy by Arsène for too long.
You need not look further than Arsenal’s Champions League opponents Bayern Munich to see what can be done in response to a disappointing season following a champion’s league final loss and Bundesliga dethroning.
Bayern sacked their sporting director, Christian Nerlinger and replaced him with German legend, Matthias Sammer prompting a summer outlay of £61 million (net) where ten new players were brought in of which three started today’s game.
They now stand 15 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga having conceded only seven goals in the league with a world class manager in Guardiola arriving next summer. Surely something similar could be done at Arsenal with greats like Henry and Berkamp waiting in the wings and reports of a transfer war-chest of £70million?
Arsenal’s only transfer in January was Nacho Real, a left back who has shown promise but was only signed because of a Gibbs injury, when it has been clear Santos was not an able second string left back.
With all that said many still feel that if Arsène clinches a champions league spot and approaches the 2013/2014 season with a more pragmatic attitude to transfers then his tenure may warrant a further eight years and the last eight forgiven, considering the necessary transition brought about by the financial challenges as a consequence of changing stadiums.
The youthful core of Wilshire, Gibbs, Walcott and Szczęsny do provide hope for the future but if he does indeed leave this summer his stature from “In Arsène we trust” to “In Arsène we rust” has indeed been a classic tale of two halves.
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