Originally Posted by
Letters
I think it's as simple as he was a man ahead of his time...but that time was over 20 years ago.
It seems obvious now that footballers are athletes and should behave as such. When Wenger came in it was in the era when clubs still had "drinking schools", players would start the day with fried breakfasts.
Wenger's diet and fitness methods made us fitter than other teams. Players from that era have credited Wenger for extending their careers.
He also had a knowledge of the European and worldwide game which allowed him to cherry-pick some great players before they were on other team's radars.
It was perhaps a happy co-incidence that it was at a time when French players had a golden generation.
He did inherit a good defence and captain but just crediting his success to that is too simplistic - The Invincibles was pretty much entirely Wenger's squad, Vieira was Wenger's captain.
So where did it all go wrong? Wenger has always had weaknesses.
He was never a good motivator - but you don't need to be when you've got Adams or Vieira out there.
He was never a good tactician - but when you've got players like Vieira, Henry, Bergkamp et al, you don't need to be a master tactician.
Wenger's weaknesses were always apparent, looking back. It's hard to notice when you're winning a sack of trophies, but thinking back - we never retained the title, that squad really should have.
We failed in Europe - that squad really should have won a CL or two.
But in the early days his strengths outweighed his weaknesses.
Then other clubs started to improve their fitness methods.
Other clubs started to build global scouting networks.
Then the billionaires stuck their oars in.
Wenger no longer has the edge he once had. He's like a man who had a 128k Spectrum when everyone else had 48k ones, but then everyone else bought and Atari ST and Wenger didn't upgrade.
I still think he did pretty well in an era when the billionaires were starting to have a big impact and our finances were restricted by the stadium move to keep us relatively competitive.
For all the failures the 3 FA Cups have been nice.
But he's just not up to competing for the biggest prizes any more.
IMO the issue is more than Wenger hasn't changed, football has changed around him and he's been unable to keep up.
To be fair, not managers can. Clough did amazing things but couldn't sustain it and ended up taking Forest down in the end.
We haven't fallen anywhere near that far and I don't think we will. I just wish Wenger had gone at the end of last season, it was probably his last chance to get out with some dignity.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
