Kevin Whitcher
There are some that feel Arsene Wenger’s words of late indicate he will not be in charge at Arsenal next season. Some are convinced he is staying. A board meeting held today will decide and the question people have been asking for months will finally be resolved.
In terms of league position, there is no question that, since finishing second in 2004-05, Wenger has maintained consistency. With the net spend and wage bill the club have paid out, Arsenal have had the third or fourth biggest outlay of the Premier League clubs – third until Manchester City arrived, fourth subsequently. And the manager has generally delivered a third or fourth place finish, with the exception on 2015-16 when, due to Spurs’ collapse, he enjoyed his best finish since before the stadium move by coming second. That Leicester were the one better team took the gloss off of this achievement. Anyway…
2013-14 - 4th
2014-15 - 3rd
2015-16 - 2nd
It looked like an upward trajectory, but this season we have seen a 5th place finish, although Arsène has claimed it as an improvement because the team garnered four more points than the previous season, conveniently ignoring the reality that four teams accumulated more, meaning the club will miss out on Champions League involvement for the first time since 1998.
The FA Cup Final against Chelsea was a source of joy and frustration. The latter because to see the team play at such a level raised questions as to why they had not been able to produce this kind of performance before. They had it in them, but Wenger was not able to get it out of them. My personal feeling on this issue is that the players know that the manager has not got what it takes to win a league title anymore (2015-16 proved that beyond doubt) and so they do not play with the consistent intensity and focus that is required to win titles, and a series of knockout ties against top opposition in Europe for that matter. So there are small errors which lead to the expensive concession of goals. At Wembley, in the semi-final against Manchester City and in the final v Chelsea, the players smelt a trophy and played to their maximum in terms of effort, intelligence and ability.
The team won nine out of ten matches since Wenger decided to try three at the back after the humiliation at Selhurst Park. However, take out the two FA Cup matches and we are left with eight Premier League games. The opposition were either hopeless or on the metaphorical beach with nothing to play for. The one exception was Spurs, and that was the defeat. Although the system does seem to suit the players, we can’t really be sure that it is the solution to all our problems. Given the performance at White Hart Lane, in which Tottenham enjoyed a hatful of chances and but for Petr Cech should have won by more, an element of doubt is justified. It has always been the matches against the big sides away from home where Arsenal have been exposed the most in recent seasons. In the campaign just finished, they gained zero points out of 12 against the four sides that finished above them. The new formation did not buck that trend.
Some will see the FA Cup Final as evidence of a new beginning, a team capable of a title challenge next season. And I would agree with that, but I am far from convinced that will happen if Arsène remains. I recall back in summer of 2014, after the FA Cup win meant a first trophy for nine years, Ozil had a year under his belt and the club purchased Alexis Sanchez. Optimism was high. We were ready to go to “the next level” as Arsène called it. He signed a three year deal and delivered two further FA Cups. We are now at the same point again. Another trophy win, another possible contract extension. That’s fine if Arsenal have no ambitions to win the Premier League. It really depends what you believe the club are capable of achieving. With five teams in the Champions League next season, Arsenal have a chance to get back into the top four, but can you really see them winning the title?
We ran a Twitter poll asking: After Saturday's cup win, how do you stand on the question of another two seasons of Arsène at Arsenal?. The response was that 32% wanted the manager to stay for another two seasons, and 68% wanted a new face in the dugout.
Significantly, the club have extended the renewal deadline for season tickets to June 8th. This would allow time for them to make an announcement that Arsène was stepping down, and reveal his successor, or lay out the plans for change with Wenger remaining, or perhaps just announce a major signing (or agreement that one of Sanchez or Ozil will extend their stays). One suspects the club are a little worried by the drop off in renewals for the club level and hospitality box seats, the deadline for which was before the end of the season, and feel the need to announce something that will protect against a similar reaction from those in the cheaper seats.
The announcement about the board meeting’s decision will be made tomorrow, allowing enough time for Arsène to escape on holiday to the Med if he wishes to avoid whatever fallout occurs from the directors’ vote. I suspect the board have already made up their mind. Wenger will be present at the meeting and they are hardly going to hold a vote in front of him.
There are a lot of sub-standard employees on the books in Wenger’s various backroom departments – coaching, scouting, medical. Certainly, they haven’t secured the best players, kept them fit enough nor got the best out of them consistently on the pitch. Yet Wenger hired them and critically has not fired them. The manager himself has blamed his technical staff – he stated after failing to make the top four just over a week ago that, “It is the technical department’s responsibility that we didn’t reach the Champions League.” So who is accountable? The individuals in question or the guy who thought they were good enough to do the job? And how exactly were they culpable?
The manager has been trotting out a variety of excuses for a series of failings for many seasons now, but there is one consistency in all of them. It is never his fault.
Judge me in May, he often says, conveniently when he is on a boat enjoying his holidays rather than facing anyone with the temerity to challenge him. He declined to join the end of season lap of appreciation after the Everton match, for fear of hearing the fans’ verdict. Well, today, there is no escape. The jury will deliver their decision. Let’s hope it's the right one for the future of Arsenal Football Club.
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