Mark Halfpenny
This week marks the 18th anniversary of Arsene Wenger becoming Arsenal manager, a truly incredible achievement in modern football. He arrived from Japan as a figure unknown to the vast majority of English football fans. Amongst those of us that are old enough, I doubt if even one person believed that he would be so successful, nor did anyone believe that he would still be our manager nearly two decades later.
Three Championships; two doubles; one glorious unbeaten season – all achieved in his first eight years in charge. Arsene was slowly building the foundations to transform Arsenal from a great English club into a great European club and many of us felt that Arsene’s Invincibles would surely conquer Europe, as they had conquered England. But the expected dominance failed to materialise and to this day, nobody outside the Marble Halls really knows why.
Slowly but surely, first place became fourth place; cup victories against the odds became mind-numbing defeats to Birmingham, Blackburn, Bradford, Braga or Wigan; dominant victories became humiliating defeats like the 8-2 at Old Trafford; the 6-0 at Stamford Bridge or the 5-1 at Anfield. These are not one-offs that can be dismissed. Collectively they are indicative of a Club with a losing mentality.
There are many theories, ranging from David Dein’s acrimonious departure to Arsene’s determination not to follow the Abramovich route to success. One day somebody at our great Club may break ranks and tell all but that is unlikely. It seems then, as if the reasons for our decline will never be known. However, one thing is known – with the assets available to him, Arsene Wenger should have achieved so much more since 2004.
And that brings me on to the real point of this article. Our fan-base is now hopelessly divided between those that feel Arsene should depart and those that want him to carry on regardless. This argument has raged for years now and I’ve followed it closely. There has been far too much abuse from both sides, but the thing that strikes me most is that the Pro-Wenger Arsenal fans are utterly unable to advance a persuasive and cohesive argument as to why he is still the best man to re-create his early success.
Their arguments invariably resort to positions like:-
1. Give him time and he’ll turn it around
2. He has been starved of funds / we can’t compete with the billionaires
3. Wait until Financial Fair Play comes in
4. Our Champions League qualification record
5. Be careful what you wish for
6. F*** off and support Chelsea / Spurs / Citeh / anybody else…
In relation to 1, 2 and 3, these arguments may have been true up to 2010 / 2011 but they cannot be advanced now. Our wage bill has long been in excess of £150 million a year and it has recently risen above Chelsea’s. Eboue, Song, Bendtner, Denilson and Gervinho have departed and big transfer fees are now being paid, but the same problems remain. For years we have been unable to win the high pressure matches and every half decent manager has worked out how to beat any team that Wenger sends out.
Furthermore Wenger’s transfer policy defies logic and his supporters seem blind to his deficiencies. He haggled over Edwin van der Sar and Mark Schwarzer, missed out on both and left us with Manuel Almunia. He paid £6million for Andre Santos / £11 million for Gervinho / £5million for Squillaci amongst many others; at the same time he was awarding enormous contracts to several woefully bad players.
When we needed a striker in January 2014 he brought in an injured Kim Kallstrom. When we needed defensive cover in the summer of 2014, he brought in yet more small attacking players. Worst of all he has steadfastly refused to bring in a world-class defensive midfielder, preferring instead Song or Denilson and now the slow, aging and not very good Arteta or Flamini. And his obsession with playing players out of position is baffling and counter-productive.
I debate often with two ardent football fans at work, one a Gooner and one a Spurs fan. Both are older, highly intelligent men and both think I’m mad for wanting Wenger to leave. Their arguments are that Wenger has had no money to which I always point out that our wage bill is one of the highest in the world and Wenger himself said that if given £100million, he would give it straight back.
They also argue that we cannot compete with “The Billionaires” to which I always point out that our 2nd largest shareholder is the richest man in Great Britain, but he is banned from our Boardroom. Their best argument is always that Wenger would be great again if he signed the right players. Talk about missing the point! That is the exact reason why so many Arsenal fans want a new manager – because Arsene Wenger doesn’t sign the right players to build a team like he did ten years ago.
So many times I’ve heard people say “If he signed a defensive midfielder ...” But that’s the whole point – he doesn’t sign one. He signs the same type of player over and over again and we keep crumbling under any pressure. So much so, that we currently have six players for the four defensive positions but 19 for the front six positions. This is bordering on negligence and nothing indicates that Wenger will ever re-capture his early brilliance.
All Gooners surely want the same thing. We want Arsenal to be successful again. For my Tottenham supporting friend at work, success would be finishing fourth but we are not Tottenham and they are not the standard we should judge ourselves by. So – without being abusive, can pro-Wenger Gooners please put forward their reasons why they believe that Arsene Wenger will bring successful football back to Arsenal?
