Should Wenger be replaced as Arsenal Manager?

[Power n Glory]

I think that's unfair. We as Arsenal fans have been spoilt.
And some of the kneejerking on here...well, the old place, was ridiculous.
But I don't think people are being unreasonable. It's been 6 years without a trophy. Now if you're a Newcastle fan then to complain about that would be stupid but we're not, we're Arsenal fans and our club has a rich history of success. There is a reasonable expectation of continued success given our history and current resources. And Wenger has raised our level and our expectations further still. He has done brilliantly to keep us at this level amid the stadium move and in an era of billionaire owners. But given that he has kept us at this level (perennial top 4 finishes, last 16 and better of the CL, often getting to the latter stages of other cup competitions) surely expecting us to go and win one here and there is reasonable.

There are some people who were whining after 2 or 3 trophyless seasons. Those people were acting like spoilt brats IMO. But with every year that goes by, every collapse, every Cup final failure, every year where the same flaws are not addressed and stop us from fulfiling our potential, the number of people who think Wenger's best years are behind him grows.

I agree with you on that but not about the people that were 'moaning' after two or three throphyless seasons. Was there some sort of threshold to when it was acceptable to start calling out the mistakes and problems? I don't think there should be. Obviously there are some OTT posts as usual but I remember a few good threads pinpointing specific problems ages ago and now we have a situation where it's just snowballed into a bigger a problem and because it's happened so often, people have finally lost their patients.

Zimm used to get ripped on here. He was calling things early. Was he moaning for the sake of it or could he see serious problems? I'd say the latter. Remember the long Denilson debates and all the stat nonsense? Look now, after all that time wasted playing him in the first team, we've sacrificed points, time, even players just to accommodate him and now it looks like a huge waste of time because he can't even get into the first team yet he has the nerve to say he wants to leave because he's a 'winner'. It was said ages ago that we need players like Song and Jack playing in the middle, Denilson didn't offer much on attack or defence. Now look look what's been concluded after 3 seasons. He's not good enough.

On the old site there were debates about the youth system, defence, the types of players we need to bring in, Wenger's team selection, his poor tactics and subs....most of this stuff was said 2-3 seasons ago. It's an 'I told you so' moment, I'm afraid. (Where the heck are the smilies?) I'd say the penny has finally dropped but it's a damn shame it's come to this. I just hope come next season, Wenger shuts us all up. I don't look forwards to watching Arsenal anymore and that's unusual. He has to pull it together.

I voted yes, we need to replace him but I want to see what he does next season. If he goes, the board need to do it properly and line up a coach before he leaves.

[Boss]

It's funny how some of the biggest detractors of Wenger in this thread were slaughtering Zimm 2-3 years ago.

[fakeyank]

He needs to go! Not because he doesnt spend money. Its because he doesnt rectify the obvious problems.

Why is our attacking play so slow and boring? What happened to the football that was played when he came?

Why dont our strikers ever get into the box?

Why are players like Bendtner and Chakma played out of position?

When will our defense learn to defend? Why are we one of the weakest at defending set pieces for the last few seasons?

Why cant we get a defensive coach when we are so weak at defending? Surely it wouldnt cost us a mountain to get a defensive coach.

Why do we always seem to roll off and die in the last 3-4 months of a season?

Why do the players not seem to give a fuck about the club? Watching the cunts play the CC final was a joke.. it was a final after many years, chance of winning a trophy and the players got off the block as if they were playing a charity match! We lost to a team that got relegated.. that says it all really!

Why does he let go off Senior players so easily? In fact not bringing Vieira back was a huge mistake IMO. Agree he has no legs and is not the same player but a player like him can have a huge impact in the dressing room. Surely an educated man like AW should know the effect it would have in the dressing room.

These problems are not money related. They are just tactics or training ground stuff which AW is doing wrong for the last 4-5 seasons running.. If we were losing because the players gave a fuck but we just cannot compete with the City's and Chelsea's, thats a different thing. We have a very talented squad but we just dont have the heart or character of winners. That unfortunately stems from the manager.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Boss, 2-3 years ago, it would have been unfair to be critical of Wenger to the extent we are now. It was an entirely different scenario where there were restrictions on finance as there was huge uncertainty over the Highbury Square development given the impending global financial collapse. The Club had also just completed the largest capital expenditure project any football club has ever taken on in the history of the game - a project largely made possible as a result of his work.

You could argue that Wenger managed this process incredibly well, but adapted to managing that situation so well, that he has become too immersed in it and has failed to adapt to the changing circumstances we see today.

[Cripps_orig]

As others have no doubt mentioned, i want Wenger gone cos he doesnt solve the obvious problems we have. He doesnt even try to. The trophyless years i can handle, i understand we arent win going to win trophies all the time and we'll have barren runs. Thats football but that does not mean i dont want us to win trophies and when you get so close to trophies and then fail due to the obvious problems then that is all down to Wenger.

Can anyone see him changing? No neither can i. Hence we need a change.

He seems to think the fans want him to spend £50m on one player to justify his BS about not spending money. We'd rather he spend £50m on 4 or 5 players to improve the squad. He completely failed at his job last summer and should have gone then but our inept board gave him a new contract which was the start of our downfall this season.

This is Wengers biggest summer of his career. If he fails again then he has to walk on September 1st or be pushed out. The tide is turning, the fans are growing restless

[Özim]

Boss, 2-3 years ago, it would have been unfair to be critical of Wenger to the extent we are now. It was an entirely different scenario where there were restrictions on finance as there was huge uncertainty over the Highbury Square development given the impending global financial collapse. The Club had also just completed the largest capital expenditure project any football club has ever taken on in the history of the game - a project largely made possible as a result of his work.

You could argue that Wenger managed this process incredibly well, but adapted to managing that situation so well, that he has become too immersed in it and has failed to adapt to the changing circumstances we see today.

I don't agree with this, it's not money that stopped him solving problem areas, it was several things:

a) His blind belief that the young players had it in them
b) Poor coaching, seemingly little or no work on problems
c) Signing the wrong players, signed for the way they could fit into his passing style rather than our need

It's easy to blame money, but at the end of the day even then he had many overpaid young players who had achieved nothing, a more rounded approach might have yielded better results.

IMO even then there was a general lack of hunger and desire in the team as well as no leadership.

[Xhaka Can’t]

I don't agree with this, it's not money that stopped him solving problem areas, it was several things:

a) His blind belief that the young players had it in them
b) Poor coaching, seemingly little or no work on problems
c) Signing the wrong players, signed for the way they could fit into his passing style rather than our need

It's easy to blame money, but at the end of the day even then he had many overpaid young players who had achieved nothing, a more rounded approach might have yielded better results.

IMO even then there was a general lack of hunger and desire in the team as well as no leadership.

I'm not blaming money. I'm pointing out the situation as it was then and how the environment is completely different now.

Three years ago, I'd say our postion was almost as well as could have been expected given what I mentioned earlier. It is the failure to move on from that position since that gives rise to criticism.

[Özim]

I'm not blaming money. I'm pointing out the situation as it was then and how the environment is completely different now.

Three years ago, I'd say our postion was almost as well as could have been expected given what I mentioned earlier. It is the failure to move on from that position since that gives rise to criticism.

Ok fair enough, I put it down to a flaw in his methods rather than us not being able to compete.

The problem now as it was then was his rigid policies and ways, nothings changed really it's just that we're a few years further down the line.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Yeah, I think his methods played a part, but they may also have been part of the reason we maintained our position back then - and for me, back then, maintaining our position while there was significant uncertainty at the time was the key objective. The Highbury Square and Queensland Rad developments cast a huge shadow over everything at the Club and there was no telling how much further the financial climate could have deteriorated.

Thankfully those fears were not realised, but the strategy that was right for the time has not changed to reflect the new reality, and that in my view as far as the playing side goes, is Wenger's fault. He seems totally unwilling to change and I find that incredibly frustrating from a man who brought so much success as a result of the changes he initially brought to the Club.

[Power n Glory]

We probably had better and more experienced players in the squad back then. We still had the same sort of problems. We could beat the big teams but would buckle against the small teams. Wenger probably spent more money back then as well. We bought Ade, Theo and Diaby in one window. We bought Rosicky and Gallas in another with Baptista on loan and those decisions were made during times of uncertainty and when the debt was massive.

Finances should be left out of this one. We're seeing the same mistakes we made seasons ago happen against the same teams now but rolled into one season.