Turbulent Times For Arsenal
The definition of insanity, Albert Einstein said, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Or as Arsenal fans would say, keeping Arsene Wenger as the club’s manager and actually expecting a different season to the Groundhog Day one everyone has experience over the past decade. After another abject performance, and that is an understatement, from Arsenal in their English Premier League match against Liverpool on Sunday, the only thing that was surprising was that Arsene Wenger actually looked surprised at his team’s performance; which just goes to show just how much in denial the Arsenal manager actually is.
Nobody, except Wenger actually believes he is the man to take Arsenal to the next level and turn them into title challengers again. Nobody disputes the fact that it was Wenger who actually made Arsenal into one of the biggest clubs in the world, but everyone knows he has stayed at the club far, far too long. Even Ivan Gazidis seemed to understand that fact as another pathetic season rumbled on last campaign. But, eventually, the Arsenal CEO blinked first and bowed down to the Frenchman, who stayed adamant over wanting to keep his position at the club.
HORRIBLE START
And, as expected, Arsenal have made another horrible start to the new season, and while there will be a faux recovery soon enough, the Gunners will end up finishing nowhere near the title winners, with a consolation cup title, possibly (even that looks unlikely at the moment), papering over the alarming cracks again.
The surprise is, after each match, there are countless articles written over what went wrong in that particular game. Against Liverpool on Sunday, for instance: Was it the fact that Wenger puzzlingly left his club record signing on the bench? Or was it because there was no midfield to speak of ? Maybe it was the complete and utter lack of tactics or mental strength in the squad?
It isn’t any of those and it is all of them.
BLAME WENGER
The reason behind Arsenal’s continued failings is the manager; the reason Arsenal do not have a proper midfield is because of the manager; the reason Arsenal have a defence so porous is because of the manager; the reason Arsenal keep getting it wrong time and again against the big teams is because of the manager, a manager who is stuck in an era long gone and refuses to change/or cannot change.
No club in the world, perhaps in history, have suffered as many humiliating defeats to other clubs of similar stature as often as Arsenal have under Wenger over the past few years. And each time, Wenger comes up with the same excuses, the same replies, the same “let’s come back with a better performance next time” answer.
And each time, when that does come for a while, the Arsenal fans, apart from a few, forgive him, and let him keep this club below the standards of where they need to be. Wenger, at one time, was the best manager in the world when it came to improving a player. He turned the likes of Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires into world beaters and was rightly revered for that particular quality.
Can anyone think of any player Wenger has improved of late? Every player Wenger has sold since Robin Van Persie went to Manchester United in 2012 has been for a lesser or about the same price as he was initially bought for. While that isn’t the definitive argument to show Wenger doesn’t make players better anymore, it is a pretty substantial one.
Even if Alexis Sanchez moves for a greater price before the transfer window closes, it won’t be because Wenger has made him a better player. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain might also move on for a profit, but can anyone say the midfielder has fulfilled his obvious potential since signing from Southampton as a teenager?
This Arsenal squad isn’t as bad as everyone paints it to be.
RIGHT TRAINING
They have a whole host of talented defenders, who, with the right training, can become a really great unit.
The midfield, potentially, has the capability to run a game – give Granit Xhaka the ball and confidence to dictate proceedings, Aaron Ramsey that freedom and confidence to go box to box, and Arsenal will dominate most teams, and dominate them in an efficient way, not by just keeping the ball with little effect.
Arsenal have a whole host of options in the attacking third, and yet, Wenger, famous for his attacking style, doesn’t seem to be able to get the best out of them anymore. The problem isn’t the defence, an invisible midfield or a toothless attack, it is the manager, and after the board bottled it by giving Wenger a two-year contract, expect another couple of seasons of the same-old, same-old from Arsenal.