5 worst mistakes of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal

There is no doubt that Arsene Wenger has been one of the most influential managers at Arsenal and in the Premier league. However, over the past 10 years, things have not been as hunky dory as the fans would have liked. While it is indeed a feat to having accomplished a top 4 consistency on a budget, there have been quite a few mistakes that he has made along the way.

#1 Invincibles broken up early

Of all his achievements with Arsenal, the Invincibles is definitely one of the greatest ever, and its hard to see any other team or manager being able to accomplish that feat anytime soon. However, instead of building on that excellent team, the squad was broken up far too soon, and since then, Arsenal have not been able to win the league title. It’s been a decade since that achivement happened, and they are no close to winning the league, forget about actually replicating an unbeaten season.

The likes of Patrick Viera, Sol Campbell, and Thierry Henry were all either sold off or retired far too quickly, and the next batch of youngsters did not have the same heroes to look up to while learning their trade.

#2 Loyalty

For someone who’s been to a lot of different countries and understands different cultures, it seems that Arsene Wenger has not tuned into the nature of a modern day footballer and the abstract concept of loyalty. While he may have fended off the offers of Real Madrid, France, etc to stay loyal to the project at Arsenal, expecting his players to do the same was naive to say the least.

Giving them bumper contracts and first team action may have felt would win their loyalty forever, but football players are always surrounded by agents who are always looking to make the next big buck. And the players themselves, looking at the short careers they have, would always look for better opportunities. And hence, year after year, Arsenal saw their best players leaving for other clubs and there was nothing the manager could do about it.

#3 Transfers

Over the years, the transfer market business in football has grown by leaps and bounds in value. Where 10 million would once have got you a Thierry Henry or a Dennis Bergkamp, you can’t even get a totally overrated Mario Balotelli. However, Arsene Wenger seems to have stayed in those good old days and still looking to land a deal where there is none.

As a result, not only have Arsenal started almost every season for the last decade with an incomplete team, it has led to several grumblings among the players who have left clubs that had more complete squads. And Arsenal, despite having a healthy balance sheet, have nothing in the trophy cabinet to show for all the years of patience.

#4 Tactics

It is admirable for a manager to stick to his philosophy come what may. But when that philosophy does not adapt to more modern problems and is not helping his team on the pitch, it is time to revisit it and make some changes. Arsene Wenger has always believed in preparing his team without giving the opposition too much thought. His belief has always been that his team will play the way they are good at, and when executed rightly, it will be enough to win the game.

While it is good to be trusting the intelligence of players like Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams, it is not always how it works with all players. They need help on the pitch and it’s the manager that should give them the lowdown on how the opposition might line up and attack them and where their weak points are. Also, having the same tactics every game makes you very predictable and managers like Jose Mourinho will take full advantage of it.

#5 Francis Jeffers

There was Francis Jeffers, and there was Wayne Rooney. Arsene Wenger plumped for Jeffers as his much advertised “fox in the box”, and it turned out to be a collosal flop. Of course, Arsene couldn’t have envisaged him to turn out to be a player who was more interested in partying than playing, but then again, there was Wayne Rooney. Just saying.