Mate, all I have done in this thread is show that contrary to popular belief, AW has always had money to spend if he wanted to (and no, not city or chelsea kind of money) which he has chosen not to. The facts are clear -- that is not persecution!
Wenger has persistently claimed 'he knows what he is doing' and he was going to "do it his way". Those are pretty bold statements.
It turns out he doesn't know what he is doing -- no excuses. Let's not invent more excuses than what have already piled up over the last 5 seasons.
And the reason why, people use the the "judge me in may" statement he made at the start of last season is because of the summary dismissiveness he showed to any concerns or criticisms of his squad from then until the predictably spectacular capitulation of the team towards the end of the season.
Also, until the proper annual end-of-season collapse he was still dismissive of any criticism of his squad based on the fact that we were second in the league --- using that as definition of success when it became clear we don't have it in us to catch the league leaders. It turned out we couldn't even hold on to that second spot!
This dismissiveness and display of arrogance rightly leaves no room for sympathy in some quarters.
If you want to call that persecution --- be my guest.
It is akin to the guy who shoplifts to feed his hungry family who when busted pleads that he was only doing whatever was necessary; but it turns out he's consistently passed up opportunities to make an honest living for himself and his family.