Ever since Arsenal started losing ground in the Premier League title race, there has been a seismic shift in opinion on whether Arsene Wenger is the right man to carry the club forward. The Gunners are going through one of the French manager’s worst periods of his career in north London and exited two competitions in the span of three days.
While the 5-1 aggregate loss to Barcelona in the Champions League was expected, Wenger’s side reached a startling low when they exited the FA Cup at the hands of Watford at the Emirates. In the last eight games, Arsenal have won only once – a win over Hull City in a FA Cup replay. In the league, they have only won thrice in 2016 claiming three points over relegation-threatened Newcastle, Bournemouth and 10-man Leicester City.
It is only due to the bizarre nature of this league season that the Gunners still find themselves in third place. Now 11 points behind the Foxes, albeit with a game in hand, things look bleak for Arsenal with even derby rivals Tottenham Hotspur deservedly above them in the table.
This was supposed to be Wenger’s defining season. With other traditional top four sides capitulating over the course of the season, some in spectacular fashion, the road to the league title was paved for the Gunners when they topped the league at the turn of the year. Instead, it was slowly becoming apparent that this season only served to highlight his failure to take the club to the next level.
The Premier League title race is still not over. The final stretch of the season awaits, but it is hard not to level criticism at the manager for allowing the trophy to slip away from his grasp yet again.
This was just no annual capitulation in the month of February or March. And the once-popular excuse of injuries to key players can no longer serve as a reason for the disjointed performances. Having all the time and money in the summer, failing to sign a single outfield player was a sign of the massive trust he had in his squad.
And they have, quite simply put, failed to deliver.
Wenger doesn’t play the transfer market like he used to
“If we can find any player who can strengthen the squad then we will,” Wenger had said last summer. Yet, the only player who came in was Petr Cech from Chelsea. Although a world class signing who has saved numerous points this season, a closer look at Wenger’s recent signings suggest he is not solely responsible for bringing them in.
The £42.4m record-breaking signing of Mesut Ozil signalled the end of the debt-ridden era that had restricted Arsenal financially in the transfer market. New commercial deals replaced the older and outdated, but previously necessary, contracts and Wenger was free to spend as he liked.
“Apart from Messi and Ronaldo, he could have any player,” said Lord Philip Harris last summer, who handles the finances at the club.
Two FA Cups have been won in the last three years after Ozil and Alexis Sanchez arrived to strengthen the squad. But looking at the world class players signed so far, would Wenger have proactively signed them?
In all three cases, Ozil, Alexis and Cech were discarded by their clubs. Cech saw himself become the no.2 choice and was granted his wish to find another top club. Wanting to stay in London, Arsenal was the perfect and most obvious choice.
Alexis saw the arrival of Luis Suarez as the end of his own stint at the Camp Nou and handed in a transfer request. The Premier League’s allure was too hard to resist and Arsenal being the one club who had a similar style of play, it wasn’t hard for Wenger to convince him to join. But would he have signed him otherwise?
With respect to Ozil, there is only one explanation. Real Madrid is, well, Real Madrid. And Wenger capitalised on their need for money to fund the Gareth Bale transfer. But it wasn’t done until they had secured a group stage spot in the Champions League. The same can be said of Danny Welbeck and a homegrown player is always a bonus.
One could point out that he tried to target Suarez but a badly advised bid saw that deal scuppered even before it was given a chance to materialise.
The trend is clearly visible. In spite of having plenty of money in the bank, there were no certain bids to acquire the players he wanted; the players required to level up. Just players who were available to the highest bidder while also keeping their preferred destination in mind.
With both Manchester United and Liverpool in shambles at the time and a polarising figure like Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, a stable club like Arsenal was the obvious destination in the Premier League. They were not proactive signings, just opportunistic ones.
Absence of another senior voice to guide the club
There is no question that the Arsenal board are happy with the way Wenger runs things and give him full control on the footballing aspects of the club. Wenger did build a legacy – both with the team and the stadium – that will stand the test of time. And there is no denying the work he had put into the project.
“I built the club with hard work, without any external resources,” said Wenger when defending his record.
“If you compare where we are today to when I arrived, we have moved forward and without any money from anybody, just the money we produced from the work.”
This is not entirely true and does carry a tone of arrogance. Wenger did not accomplish so much single-handedly. A lot of credit goes to the man who convinced the board to back him – former vice-chairman David Dein.
It was Dein who drew up ideas on how to transform Arsenal from just another Premier League club to a world-renowned one. Wenger was just the man he needed to dove-tail his ideas for the club to eventually develop Arsenal into what it is today.
Dein was also heavily involved in player transfers and would back Wenger when the Frenchman was hesitant. The glory years of the Wenger era saw the likes of Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, Sol Campbell, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie signed – all world class players in their own right.
Since his departure in 2007, the board has stood by and allowed Wenger to stagnate in spite of accumulating the required resources through top four finishes and Champions League revenue. Although a youth policy was advocated and the club deserves the plaudits for sticking to its traditions, the reality is that such long-term plans do not work when player loyalty is bought by other clubs ready to splurge and strengthen their squads.
‘Wenger in’ or ‘Wenger out’?
The truth is that it does not matter. Wenger has grown a thick skin over the years and has become immune to criticism. He constantly defends his legacy when it has never been under scrutiny and it becomes his de facto go-to argument when relevant questions are asked of his management style.
Ultimately, his future is in the hands of only two men. One is Arsenal's ever-absent majority stakeholder Stan Kroenke whose sole interest in the north London club is the revenue it generates.
Kroenke Sports Enterprises owns various teams in American sports leagues such as the NBA, NFL and NHL, and they are not even close to being moderately successful in their respective sports. As long as Arsenal continues to be his cash cow, especially with mammoth financial deals signed every year, Wenger stays.
The other man who can decide Wenger’s fate is Wenger himself. He has always maintained that he sees out his contracts. His current deal runs till the summer of 2017. He will be 67 then but he is married to his job and even refused to take a break over the summer. It’s hard to see him riding off into the sunset and handing over the reins to another manager as much as he talks about leaving the club in a good position for his successor.
His stubbornness to do things his way, although remarkable, could see his career graph plateau in what has become a business where money talks. Known as the Professor for his degree in Economics, it is hard to understand why he did not see this coming. A lack of ruthlessness has cost Arsenal yet again as they look to battle for a top four spot rather than battle at the summit.
Wenger has all the tools laid out in front of him. He has an Arsenal of weapons to choose from (pun intended). But his refusal to use the resources he has at his disposal could see his legacy undermined when he eventually calls time on his career.
He is probably one of European football’s last romantic idealists. But the invincible aura of Arsenal’s saviour is long gone and what is left is a crumbling facade of a side that will never be considered a major threat in Europe.
