I win almost 60 per cent of my games. I can and have rebuilt the club for you. I have sold my best players to build a fabulous new training ground and stadium.
I made your football club the best run, most financially viable organisation in the Western Hemisphere and we still play some of the most attractive football on the planet.
Sounds like a dream football manager, doesn’t it?
That’s exactly the resume Arsene Wenger can boast. And that’s without reminding us about two decades of Champion’s League campaigns, league titles, FA Cup wins, and more top-flight football than almost any club in Europe.
Of course, the knock on Wenger is he hasn’t won enough – well, not enough for those Gooners who think winning is a right.
In a world where instant gratification is all-conquering, supporters and pundits suggest it’s time for Wenger to go.
I just want to laugh out loud and enjoy such madness. The shrewd management and tactical thinking that has saved Arsenal from precipitous decline now has ‘Inspector Clouseau’ – as he was once affectionately known by his players for his clumsy ways – facing the end.
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Like Jimmy Connors in tennis, Wenger has had to face many foes: Sir Alex Ferguson and his colossal 65 per cent win percentage, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, and the Manchester invaders from the Middle East. Yet, still Arsenal are relevant. More than relevant.
As a Liverpool fan, I know all too well what it is to be living with a past that haunts the present. Since winning our fifth Champions League Cup in 2005, we have appeared in the competition once in the last seven seasons! It’s been more than a quarter of a century since our last Premier League title, yet I am more convinced more than ever that we are close.
Pushing out Wenger is the kind of madness that only the spoilt and famously blinkered do. Gooner fans are lucky Arsenal’s board has had the foresight to realise that Wenger is as sure a bet in football as you can get.
That winning the title isn’t the only thing that matters. Success is more than just holding the trophy aloft, it’s a celebration of style and quality and perseverance. Being a winner, like Wenger, is often tougher than lifting the title in fleeting moments of success.
Ask Blackburn Rovers, who won the title in 1994-95 and now find themselves languishing third from bottom in the Championship.
Wenger’s success is timeless and lasting in an age where crazy management and even crazier decisions lead to perilously poor results.
Like Ferguson, Wenger is unique. Uniquely qualified to continue to lead Arsenal, even if a good percentage of their fan-base don’t seem to know it.
bob haynes
Guest
Winning trophies not important anymore clearly. Soon staying in the prem will be success enough!!! Wenger was a legend now he cannot motivate some of the best players on the planet. His time is up. By the way, Liverpool have never won the prem. They last win the league when it was the first division.
SM
Guest
It's baffling that this myth of Arsenal being an 'attractive' team to watch has persisted for so long. To my eye they haven't been that since about 2008. Am I missing something here?
P Air
Guest
Nice article. As a Newcastle fan I wish we had the problems that the Arsenal fans are having. So close to promotion from the Championship back to the Premier League and the team is starting to flounder. Typical of the Toon - nothing comes easily. Arsenal sitting 6th in the league looks pretty good to me.
Kaks
Roar Guru
Which is way his best players always leave. Fabregas, RVP, Nasri (when he was tremendous), Clichy (when he was one of the better LB's in the Prem), Sagna, Song, Hleb (he was amazing the year he transfered to Barca). All of the players mentioned above moved on because they wanted to win trophies and didnt see that happening at Arsenal. All of the players mentioned above ended up winning a plethora of trophies. I dont think it's a coincidence.
Kaks
Roar Guru
Dont forget his inability to implement a plan B when plan A is working. The reason Arsenal are so weak is that Arsene has them play the exact same way every year and every game, without adapting the play to the opposition they are up against. This isn't a problem if the opposition have not figured out how to combat it, which isnt the case. I hope Arsenal dont make the CL this year, they are a waste of space.
Sean
Guest
I'm sorry but this makes no sense. Being relevant is pointless if it doesn't bring you any championships. The last time Arsenal won the premier league was over a decade ago. They have won two FA Cups in the last 10 years and that is it. You don't want a manager to keep your team relevant you want one that will bring you trophies. You can't compare Ferguson to Wenger, one had trophies every 2-3 years the other has fallen by the wayside. If players were asked whether they would like to be relevant for 5 years or win a championship once every 5 years I guarantee they choose the latter.
Fadida
Guest
Sorry, I disagree. Arsenal are regressing, left behind. Wenger is yesterday's man, falling behind his contemporaries. This is a typical Arsenal season; Use the transfer window to buy lightweight and injury prone attacking mids when a centre back, ball winning mid and striker are required. Start the season on fire, before getting injuries to the areas they should have covered. Fall away by Xmas, losing to every team above them, every time because Arsene is predictable and Wenger weak. There are glaring areas to reinforce in the winter window, but will he? No. He'll get one player back from injury, a player who has flattered to decieve for 5 years, claim they are a new signing and all the cover they need. They then get 2-3 injuries , rally when the pressure is off, and scrape into 4th, claiming it a success. Oh and get thrashed in the last 16 of the Champions League. This happens every season. Every one for 10+ years. Except this one. They won't scrape 6th. It's ridiculous, and I'm not an arsenal fan!!!
Marty Gleason
Roar Guru
You're right, but sport is about unpredictability and excitement and people are tired of Arsenal's dead certainty. I personally don't think they're relevant, you need to feel they're a chance to beat big teams to be relevant.