Is It Time For Wenger To Go?

Post from my blog. Let me know what you think.



It has been a hard month at the Emirates Stadium. Poor performances and have seen us lose three in a row for only the third time in Wenger's tenure. On top of this the club has not performed well since losing to Manchester City on the 18th of December. A run of 7 points from 6 games is as bad as our form at the beginning of the season.

So has Arsene Wenger taken the club as far as he can? This is by no means a knee-jerk reaction. What Wenger has done for this club, including his trophies, the new stadium and the style of football played has made us one of the biggest and most respected clubs in the world. I will look at a few reason why it could be time for Wenger to step down.

Recent results, and most importantly performances, have been unacceptable. I don't just mean in the past 6 weeks, but over the whole season. Of course we had an unbeaten run between the beginning of October and the end of December however even in this period performances were not up to the standard expected at Arsenal. Victories over this period often came when not performing well (2-1 v Sunderland, 2-1 v Norwich for example) and were over-reliant on van Persie. The famous 5-3 victory at Chelsea was a brilliant attacking display, yet at times our defence was woeful, as it has been often this season, with only Laurent Koscielny providing any consistency. Conceding 33 goals in 22 games is a long way from being adequate. After Christmas, performances have deteriorated to the point where teams like Fulham and Swansea have outplayed us. The displays against Wolves, QPR and Leeds were poor despite not losing.

The consistent poor performances no doubt come from the lack of a decent squad since the Champions League final squad in 2006. Players like Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva, Ashley Cole etc. have never been replaced with players of similar quality. Too many average players have been bought at often big prices. No one can argue that Arshavin has been worth £15 million. He looks completely out of sorts and his effort levels are close to zero. There are too many players who are not good enough for a top Premiership team: Rosicky, Squillaci, Fabianski, Denilson, Park, Bendtner and one of the worst players I've seen wear the red and white shirt, Chamakh. Now I understand that some of these players have had decent spells at the club, but their persistent poor play has not been dealt with by Wenger, who has full control at the club and continues to field these players.

If one analyses the bench against Manchester United last weekend, you'd see Almunia, Squillaci, Yennaris, Benayoun, Arshavin, Park and Miquel. Now I have nothing against Yennaris and Miquel, both are talented young players with potential. However is a bench like this going to challenge for trophies?

Arsene's record in buying defenders is atrocious. A history of his purchases at centre-back reads Stepanovs, Cygan, Senderos, Squillaci. None of these players were anywhere near good enough. Furthermore at the moment we arguably only have 3 good defenders: Sagna, Vermaelen and Koscielny. Whilst Mertesacker, Santos, Gibbs and Jenkinson could turn out well for this club, they could equally go down the same route as Djourou and Squillaci. Leaving Jenkinson, who clearly is not ready, as the only cover for Sagna, was a serious error by Wenger. Esepcially considering how poor Djourou has been at right-back. Some would say signings like Toure, Vermaelen and Koscielny were good moves by Wenger, these players are the minority, and in any case I think Wenger was lucky with the signing of Toure, not realising he would be such a good centre back.

Another failure of this club is the mental attitude of the players. On two or three occasions over the last few years we have been in with a shout of glory, if not top of the league, only to see an end of season collapse, often brought about by a failure to overcome mistakes or incidents, such as Eduardo's broken leg or Szczesny and Koscielny's cock up in the League Cup. This, as well as the lack of discipline, e.g. Djourou's red card v Fulham or the penalty conceded by Eboue against Liverpool last season leads many fans to believe we will never win another trophy under Wenger.

Some fans would point to a lack of transfer activity. Whilst this is certainly a factor. It is difficult to comment without knowing the true financial situation of the club. Newspapers have continually reported that we have £40m + to spend, indeed CEO Ivan Gazidis and Chairman Peter Hill-Wood have both said we have the funds, however it defies belief that we would have spent so little if we had the money. If so then Wenger really must look at himself.

Finally, Wenger seems to be tactically inept. Now this may seem too far to some fans, however there are two big examples. Firstly, Wenger's substitutions. For a long time now Wenger's substitions have been poor. He uses them more to replace tired players with like-minded players rather than to really change the game. This means we generally play the same way throughout a game, becoming more predictable as the game goes on. This was highlighted on Sunday when Arshavin was brought on for the excellent Oxlade-Chamberlain, to a chorus of boos from the Arsenal fans. Secondly, the 451 formations ( or 433, 4231 ) whilst having it's pros, means we rely on real quality on the wings. Something which Walcott and Gervinho haven't been able to provide, although I still think both could be good players. Furthermore, when was the last time Wenger used a different formation, or changed halfway through a game? I can't remember. This tactical stubbornness is another reason why we may not win more trophies under Wenger.

This has been a hard post to write. I love Wenger for everything he has brought to this club. Indeed, being a 20 year old, I can't remember another manager. The memories his teams gave me will long live on. I would never protest against him as he means too much to this club. I understand that it has been difficult to compete against Chelsea's spending power, arguably the best manager in British football history, and now Manchester City. We have done well to finish at least 4th every season since he joined. However, is this success for a club like Arsenal? Not for me. So, with a heavy heart I feel that perhaps this should be Wenger's last contract. I'd love him to prove me wrong.