GO NOW, WENGER
Arsenal boss is looking a broken man
IN 1969 I walked out of Anfield feeling only half as desolate as a young boy should after seeing his team battered 4-1 by Manchester United.
The reason for the lack of suicidal thoughts was that I’d just watched George Best, close-up, in his prime, and amid the pain knew I’d witnessed the most talented player the British Isles had produced. Almost half a century later, that still stands.
Every fan surely remembers at least once seeing their side taken apart by a world-class force of nature and feeling privileged to have seen them in the flesh.
When you’re brushed aside by teams possessing the genius of a Maradona, Cruyff or Messi, softening the blow is the knowledge that no-one else could have lived with them.
There must have been many who watched the Arsenal Invincibles on their 49-game unbeaten league run across 2003 and 2004, during which they scored three or more goals on 18 occasions, who felt, amid the anguish of defeat, admiration for a special team.
And I’m guessing the memory of that unplayable side, with its sweeping moves, sumptuous passing and Thierry Henry’s gravity-defying goals, is making it hard for them to look at Arsene Wenger right now. It is for me.
Because nobody who loves football wants to see a man who has brought so much talent, intelligence, innovation and sheer joy to the English game looking broken. If this was boxing, Wenger’s refusal to throw the towel in would have been overruled by a referee months ago, but Crystal Palace on Monday felt like the moment the ugly fight between himself and the club’s supporters needed to be stopped.
It’s like watching your uncle being
pummelled in a pub brawl, only for him to keep getting back up for more because his pride won’t allow him to accept he’s done. To be fair to those Arsenal fans who want him to leave with his reputation intact, it’s gone way past their fault. The demeaning, embarrassing spectacle that is currently Arsenal is down to Wenger. Jamie Carragher’s ferocious critique after the Palace mauling: “What father would want their daughter to bring one of those players home? They’re bottlers, cowards,” wasn’t the most damning indictment of Wenger this week. Nor was his own fans singing “Arsene Wenger, we want you to go” while the Palace fans sang mockingly about wanting him to stay. The most telling put-down came from Sam Allardyce. Two years ago, in his autobiography Big Sam (natch) he laid bare his contempt for the Frenchman, saying he loved beating him more than any other manager because he was “arrogant” and “cannot take defeat”. Before handing him his fourth straight away hiding on Monday, Allardyce offered sympathy: “I’ve always enjoyed the battles. He’s a quality manager and he should still be here next season.” Afterwards, he dismissed his old enemy’s lamentable defensive tactics with smug ease, as though commenting on a routine win over his old club Sunderland. When a football purist like Wenger is being damned by faint praise and dismissed as predictable by his coaching antithesis, he should know it’s time to go. Because whatever magic he had is vanishing fast. The only attribute Wenger hangs on to from his glory days is the arrogance Allardyce and others so hated. But instead of turning it on his rivals, he now channels it towards his own club’s fans by callously dismissing the pain his stubbornness is inflicting. For the many outside the club who have admired his genius, it’s pitiful watching a man too conceited to admit defeat, refusing to let go. He really should, because Arsenal deserve better than this. As does Wenger’s legacy.
Embarrassing spectacle that is Arsenal is down to Wenger