Match Reaction vs Sunderland (away)

[Power n Glory]

I find FYs comments bizarre. Troubling, actually. He seems to feel about Wenger how I feel about Mourinho - and I do recognise that my almost visceral dislike of him is unhealthy.
The 'last decade' argument is lazy and simplistic, it doesn't take into account how our (literal) fortunes have changed in the last few years. And yes, the (relative) lack of money prior to that doesn't absolve Wenger of blame but it does mitigate it somewhat. The last few years the money has been there to compete with anyone so we should judge him by different standards.
The first year we won the FA Cup. No serious title challenge but it finally got that monkey off our back and gave us hope of greater things to come. The start of last season was a car crash, we were out of the title race before the first bend. Wenger should probably have been sacked for that but we did at least get it together, easily finish top 3 and retained the FA Cup. And some of the wins in big games or against teams we traditionally struggle again did give some cause for hope.
FY has accused me of getting too excited by 'a few wins', but it wasn't just a few wins. We were calendar year champions in 2015. I'm not claiming that as a trophy but it does demonstrate a long run of form good enough to seriously challenge for a title. IMO there was an argument to give Wenger once last chance at the title and it's been a car crash. So yes, he should go. But the worst you can say about him is he's lost it and is no longer able to compete at the top level. But there's no doubt in my mind that he has always done what he thinks is best for the club, both short and long term.
I can understand fans' anger and frustration at seeing yet another failure. I share some of that. I will never understand the level of hatred and vitriol aimed at Wenger though. Clough (who was, if anything, more arrogant than Wenger) lost it to the point where he ended up taking Forest down and I don't think he ever got this level of abuse. At worst Wenger has presided over us slipping from the best team to the 3rd or 4th best. Is that good enough, given expectation levels (which, remember, he has set - we never had these expectations from the club before Wenger)? No, it isn't. Does it deserve this level of abuse? I don't think so.

And yes, Wenger and Arsenal's fortunes are entirely entwined. Enjoying one implies enjoying both which demonstrates an unhealthy level of dislike for someone. It's a bit like enjoying watching your wife being raped because you dislike the person doing it so much and know it means you can see them put in prison. Bizarre.

You've said this a thousand times already. You still can't understand the reactions from fans even after his press conference? What do you make of what he said?

Also, the last decade argument is far from lazy. I think this season has really exposed him and his character. If he's able to, he'll look for every excuse and shift the blame whenever possible. Any stat to make his failings look a lot better than what they are. He misleads with information. Example, when the season ticket prices went up, he said we needed to stay competitive with teams like Chelsea. Rubbish. That was an attempt to manipulate the fans. The stuff about having to sell our players is misleading as well. He presents that info as if it was a decision forced on him from above to try and stay a float. Dig deeper and it's mostly players tired of not winning and engineering a move away from the club themselves.

So many more examples I could come up with. Most have had these gripes about him for ages. He's always set the Boards interest above the fans even though he wields so much influence. There were debates on here for years about Wenger's position at the club and how powerful he really was/is. It took a long time for some to accept he had this level of influence over the Board. When we weren't buying players, the thought was they were taking money from him. He just said in that press conference that Stan has never denied him funds and he works with much freedom. As seen this year with the summer transfer fiasco, Wenger can be quite delusional and naive about what we're capable of as a team and leaves us short going into a season. It's way too simplistic to give him a blank slate and ignore all what's happened in the past.