Wenger is a legend but it’s time for change
ARSENE WENGER is a legend in the English game. He helped revolutionise football in England, created some of the greatest teams to grace the Premier League and introduced many players who will still be spoken about 30 or 40 years from now.
That status, in my view, will not be affected by a sequence of bad results but when the summer comes I believe that opening statement will need to be adjusted. It will have to refer to how Wenger ‘was’ a legend in the English game.
During a classy press conference yesterday, 67-year-old Wenger said he will still be a manager ‘somewhere’ next season but we have reached the point where his reign at Arsenal should come to an end.
As I watched Bayern Munich rip Arsenal to shreds on Wednesday, I felt sorry for him. Critics will ask why when he has a bumper salary to fall back on, but feeling sorry for him, more than anything, is a sign that change is needed. Nobody in football wants sympathy. When pity becomes the dominant emotion it shows that your threat has disappeared.
Wenger looked shellshocked in Munich but it has been the same for a number of weeks as results have dipped. Every time a television camera zooms in, every wince, squirm and scowl is magnified, every argument or angry gesture pored over as his emotions gnaw away at him. Things cannot stay as they are, whether it is for Wenger, the team or their supporters. Much of the criticism comes from the fact that Arsenal have allowed a culture to develop where they accept they are second best.
For all those who put Wenger directly in the line of fire, what about Sir Chips Keswick, the chairman, or chief executive Ivan Gazidis, or Stan Kroenke the majority shareholder? It is they who have fawned over Wenger for the way he has become a moneymaker not a trophy-taker.
Who allowed Wenger to develop so much power to the point where he is unsackable and can decide his own future? They did. Whatever shortcomings you believe the Frenchman has, the board have been more culpable. What they have done is a dereliction of duty to the club.
But the board are not the only ones with shortcomings. You have to question Wenger for the character of his squad. They are in a comfort zone, which stems from the fact Wenger lacks the ruthlessness of Sir Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho to send shockwaves through the dressing room.
The profile of player he targets now is a mystery to me, considering the template of the team he had from 1998-2004. He used to buy players with power and pace to accompany technique but now it seems he favours technique over everything, from physical strength to character.
Of course there is a problem in the game in terms of teams lacking leaders but where was the personal pride from those who played at the Allianz Arena? Arsenal displays do not reflect well on Wenger but the players should be ashamed and embarrassed about the way they have surrendered in big games.
Some believe Wenger should have gone five or six years ago but I don’t buy that argument, particularly when you consider certain factors. Arsenal, for example, had to go through a period where moving stadiums left them unable to spend.
And because they could not compete with the new finance of Manchester City, as well as the established power of Chelsea and Manchester United, it meant Wenger’s best players were susceptible to being lured away.
YET every year Wenger got Arsenal in the Champions League without fail. Is that appreciated? Well, to give it context, if Manchester United fail to finish in the top four this year, they will have been out of Europe’s top competition three times in four seasons.
How about Liverpool? They have had one Champions League campaign since 2009. So it was admirable for Arsenal to always be there when the purse strings were tightened during that difficult transition from Highbury.
But that was then, a different period. The situation has altered and the last three years, more than anything, show why the grounds for Arsenal to change their manager for the first time since October 1996 are so compelling.
In the current era, managers are usually judged on what they achieve over a three-year period. In that time, Wenger has never once progressed beyond the last 16 in Europe or challenged for the Premier League, finishing on average 10 points behind the champions. The whole point of moving to the Emirates was to fulfil those ambitions.
Another issue for Wenger is this: since Mesut Ozil arrived in September 2013 for £42million, Arsenal have invested £222.4m on new players, with signings including Alexis Sanchez (£35m), Granit Xhaka (£34m) and Shkodran Mustafi (£35m).
That is when there can be no more excuses about Arsenal not being able to compete financially, as Wenger used to protest. The net spend of £188.6m has been eclipsed only by the Manchester clubs.
When there is an outlay of that extent, fans have every right to believe they should be closer to the title. To make matters worse, it looks like Chelsea are going to make the leap from 10th last season to claim their second title in three years. They will do that with a net spend of just £7.1m.
Those who continue to support Wenger argue that fans should be careful what they wish for, using the example of Ferguson. There is, however, a huge difference. Ferguson left Manchester United as champions. Wenger won’t do that and that is why it makes Arsenal such an attractive proposition.
Will the house come tumbling down without Wenger? No. They won before he arrived and they will win again in the future. What a job this will be for someone with new ideas, with the prime location of London, the finances that make them one of the world’s richest clubs and the stadium.
This is not a club in need of major surgery. It is one screaming out for new ideas. And it should not matter that all the big names — Guardiola, Mourinho, Klopp and Conte — are elsewhere. The last time Arsenal wanted a revolution, they appointed some fella from Japan called ‘Arsene Who’.
And he, we should not forget, became a legend.