Let me clear some things before beginning. I am not an Arsenal fan or a sympathizer, the latter left me a long time ago—you can only commiserate with helpless entities. Arsenal, however, are anything but helpless.
There are some people in this world who have enough money to stay healthy and live a nourishing life. If God forbid, some disease or illness shall befall them, they have the necessary means to get themselves treated and cure their ailment.
And herein lies the problem with Arsenal.
The Gunners are clearly the type of person who is ill and has the money to get treatment from a proper doctor, but they complain about how expensive it is to get medical attention these days and how aiding people’s health is now a business model than an act of humanity.
Where Arsene Wenger has failed
Wenger doesn’t like to spend big unless the player is the right one—and even then he won’t go over the odds. In a market as inflated as this—where the likes of Gonzalo Higuain cost €90 million—Wenger’s policy is as inscrutable as it gets.
The Frenchman is not only failing Arsenal, but also himself. After some highly successful years of glory, he made a legacy for himself; the heritage of a legend. His philosophies did not only bring titles to the club, it also helped them build the Emirates stadium.
However, change is nature. The only thing certain in life, apart from death, is change. If one denies it, it is the denying the rule of God. Mr. Wenger is going through a phase where he realizes that things around him has changed, yet he is too stubborn to let go of his ideologies because it worked in the past.
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The principles that made him the greatest ever manager of Arsenal is now tarnishing his legacy. The very dogmas that made him respected among Arsenal fans has now become the subject of mockery and loathing in the fan-base.
If reports are to be believed, Wenger won’t spend what Lyon are asking for Alexandre Lacazette. To add salt to this wound, it has also been suggested that they haven’t come up with a final bid for Shkodran Mustafi despite the glaring leaks in Arsenal’s backline.
This is just a display of sheer rigidness at the expense of the future of the club.
The quandary
Arsenal board now finds itself in a quagmire. They don’t want to disrespect the former Monaco boss by sacking him, but the fan pressure on them is mounting. Wenger refuses to change, ignores the calls of the fan and the needs of the team.
His comments after losing to Liverpool on the opening day is a testament to his adamant nature. Wenger knows that his squad is weak, he knows that signings are an absolute necessity of time, and yet there is nothing to show for when it comes to taking action. He is “working very hard to get one or two players in,” and that’s the problem: he is only ever trying phase.
"It's not pleasant but we have shown in the past that we have the mental strength to bounce back. We have to not panic.
"We played a very good first half and we were unlucky to concede just before half-time because the free-kick looked very harsh.
"We didn't recover properly and we paid for the lack of experience at the back and the fact some players are not ready physically to last 90 minutes at that level.”"We need players back, I have said many times that we are working very hard to get one or two players in. There is not much time left, but it has to make sense and be quality."It's about identifying the players and getting the right availability."
- Arsene Wenger following Arsenal’s opening day 3-4 loss to Liverpool.
The Premier League now is the home of competitiveness. Even the relatively smaller clubs are buying big in a bid to strengthen themselves. It is becoming a race where everyone is trying to upgrade themselves into a Bugatti—and then there is Arsenal still trying to win the race with a 2002 model Station Wagon Honda Civic.
Wenger now exudes the image of an old man who misses the past so much that he is still living in it, even though the time around him has changed. People don’t write letters anymore because no matter how romantic or diligent it might be, it is a highly time-consuming way to get a message across.
But Wenger does. He still writes letters, and never gets any replies because by the time the message is sent to the intended target, the person is already gone.
A repetitive joke loses its hilarity with every utterance.
