Thomas Williamson
Amid all that will be said by Wenger and the club as to why he is staying on for another three years, one cold, possibly selfish, fact is behind the decision - the determination and desperation of Arsène Wenger to add the words “Champions League winner” to his CV. The Champions League is Wenger’s obsession; his desire to win it is what in reality motivates our private and somewhat reclusive manager to get out of the bed in the morning. He craves a place at the top table of managers who have conquered Europe. He knows deep down that he is doomed to be remembered as the Tim Henman of football management unless he can achieve it.
The great paradox of Arsène Wenger’s career is that, despite the transformative effect he has had on English football as “Le Professeur”, he has never mastered European competition, and is the unlucky holder of runners-up medals in all three cup competitions. So why has this been the case, and will three more years make any difference? In my view the knowledge that his best-ever opportunity to win it is behind him has had an impact on his mental health in recent years. He also knows that in 2004 he could have had any job in Europe, but not any more. So Arsenal is his only chance to win the one trophy he really, really wants.
Arsène Wenger has never conquered Europe because of his dogmatic and blind adherence to his principles. Wenger abhors negative tactics, and bases his approach around his team playing in their own way and not worrying about the opponents. (We know this because prior to the FA Cup final Lukas Podolski had apparently not even heard of Hull forward Matty Fryatt. José Mourinho, in comparison, would have drilled into his players how to deal with the threat posed by the opponent’s strikers). And it is true that in the League, where his Arsenal team have more often than not been technically superior to their opponents, this approach usually bears fruit. We are usually able to outscore the likes of Wigan, Hull, Sunderland and Norwich.
However, Europe requires an entirely different approach. The Champions League knock-out stages are a sprint not a marathon. Each two-legged tie is a game of chess that requires a tactical roadmap in order for your team to overcome it. It is also the case that in Europe you are likely to face teams who are your technical equals or superiors. So conquering Europe requires you to come up with a tactical plan for dealing with your opponents; in fact it demands it. And Arsène Wenger is simply incapable of doing this.
Think about it. How much tactical work on nullifying the opponents do you think the team did before the two Bayern Munich home games? I would guess very little, and much less than Chelsea did in 2012 against Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Playing Bayern calls for a deep and flat back four, and above all else a focus on not conceding, with the aim of getting a goal when you can. However in the two home games our defence was all over the place. Alex Ferguson usually favoured an attacking approach but was willing to be pragmatic on occasions, such as against Barcelona in 2008.
Our successful 1994 Cup Winners Cup final defeat of Parma is a case in point. George Graham recognised that his team were technically inferior to the Italians and focused on how to nullify them. If Wenger had been the manager he would have sent his team out to take Parma on in an open contest and would have lost.
So, Wenger is sure to come up short in his obsession. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and, at 64, Wenger certainly is an old dog. So, three more barren years lie ahead in Europe, and then what, yet another contract in yet another futile bid for one man to reach the pinnacle of his career?
