On the morning of Arséne Wenger’s 1000th game I felt strangely confident about the upcoming tie with Chelsea. It was as if everything had fallen in our favour; Ramires suspended, Willian suspended, Chelsea forced into a mid-week tie with Galatasaray (whilst the Arsenal squad could rest) all alongside the sensational nature of Wenger’s 1000th game being against the man he’s shared a war of words with over the course of the season and a man he’s failed to beat in 11 attempts, Jose Mourinho. Of course, it was all a little too good to be true and we all know the rest.
A loss at Stamford Bridge would have been disappointing but hardly surprising given Chelsea’s incredible record there. But 6-0? I would go as far to say that this is the single worst result of Wenger’s tenure. Perhaps the worst aspect of this humiliating affair was how both the manager and team had appeared to learn nothing from last month’s 5-1 mauling at Anfield. Almost identically to the game against Liverpool, we failed to stabilise and opted to aimlessly attack having conceded early which left acres of space to be exploited. To Chelsea’s credit, they did this admirably-their fast and ruthless counter-attacks proving just too much for the fragile Arsenal midfield to cope with.
Against the other sides in the current top four our aggregate score away from home now stands at 17-4 which is patently not good enough. Consequently, a proportion of Arsenal fans have suggested that Wenger is no longer an elite-level manager which becomes very hard to argue against after this weekend’s result. So is it time to change things up?
I would consider myself to still be a strong Arsene Wenger supporter, despite this; he does have some glaring faults as will be analysed in the next section.
Firstly, Wenger’s transfer market activity in recent history has been confusing at very best. Not least, the January window of this year. On January 1st Arsenal were top of the league, 2 points clear of closest competitors Chelsea. With the demise of Manchester United and the early season wobbles of Manchester City and Chelsea, this season appeared Arsenals best shot at the title in a decade. With this considered, it makes the decision to not recruit anyone other than the injured Kim Kallstrom even more bizarre. Whilst I fully appreciate that a top-level centre forward may not have been available, I fail to see why a decent striker wasn’t bought in to support Giroud, especially after the news that our most clinical player, Theo Walcott, had recently been ruled out for the remainder of the season. There is little doubt in my mind that a January signing who could deflect some of the goal scoring burden away from Giroud would have given this club a fresh impetus in its hunt for the championship.
Secondly, and perhaps crucially, is his failure to prepare against the strengths of an opponent. This was laid bare against both Liverpool and Chelsea who are both renound for fast counter attacks. It didn’t appear Wenger had considered either tactics or personal when looking at these games. The brilliant, but horrifically slow Mikel Arteta started both games and the speed of players such as Sturridge, Sterling and Hazard utterly showed him up. It was painful to watch him lumbering back in Oscar’s wake for Chelsea’s 4th. The decision to put the combative Flamini in against Chelsea almost seemed a no-brainer to me. Wenger’s lack of preparation when it comes to opponents is further highlighted in Thierry Henry’s book as he describes his surprise at being told that Wenger would only have a look at Barcelona’s team on the eve of the Champions League final night in 2006. Would a Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola or even Brendan Rodgers do this? Not a chance.
Despite these problems, Wenger’s strengths ensure he is still one of the best managers in the world. He has been courted by Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Paris and the French National Team in previous years, to me; this suggests he is doing something right.
One of his big strengths is man management, highlighted by the cases of both Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain who, for genuine want of a less-clichéd phrase, seem like different players this year. Both of which are two of Britain’s brightest young players and appear to be on the right road to becoming world class players. Certainly Wenger’s track record for taking young talented players and turning them into world beaters speaks for itself- Anelka, Henry, Fabregas and Van Persie to name a few.
It is also very hard to argue that Wenger’s sides don’t produce excellent football, Wilshere’s goal against Norwich and Rosicky’s against Sunderland great examples of what the fans have taken to calling ‘Wenger-ball’ which is unique in the premiership at the moment. Perhaps the most convincing of Wenger’s strengths is his consistency, for 17 years he has successfully guided Arsenal to Champions League football and every year he has successfully negotiated the group stage of this competition despite financial constraints since 2006. Whilst many are sick of the ‘top 4 is a trophy’ mantra, I for one would miss this guarantee of competitiveness if Wenger were to be replaced.
I would also suggest that this season has been our best in recent memory; we have spent the majority of the season at the top of the league (despite falling away towards the end) and look primed to go on to win the FA Cup. A quantifiable improvement on the last few years in which we haven’t looked close to challenging for the Premier League.
Some fans have commented that Wenger’s replacement is irrelevant in the decision as to whether he should stay on as Arsenal boss. For me this is nonsense; if he were to go, it would have to be on the assurance that we are getting a better manager. Some names that have been suggested recently include Dortmund’s Klopp and Everton’s Martinez.
Klopp has taken Dortmund to second in the Bundesliga this year, 23 points behind league leaders Bayern Munich and only a point ahead of FC Schalke. In what is often described as a two-team league this does not show a manager who is particularly superior to Wenger, despite their relative success last year. Furthermore, Klopp has sold Kagawa, Gotze and Lewandowski in the last 3 years, two of which to their most direct rivals (a trait which Wenger has been lambasted for in the past). I would suggest that Klopp, whilst a great manager, isn’t much of an improvement on Wenger at preset..
I find the case for Martinez even more perplexing. Yes, he has produced some good football with both Wigan and Everton, but so has Wenger with Arsenal to a consistently higher standard. He has had a satisfactory year with Everton but is unlikely to finish above 6th marking a distinct lack of improvement from last year. I do think Martinez will become a top level manager in time, but for now, I don’t think he’s anywhere near the quality of Wenger.
Summarising, the heavy defeats to City, Liverpool and Chelsea have all been disappointing this year and until Wenger changes his philosophy regarding looking into the opposition, he will continue to be outwitted by the best managers. I live in hope that Wenger proves me wrong on the transfer market front and continues buying the calibre of players similar to both Cazorla and Ozil with a top-level centre forward and physical defensive midfielder this summer. However, until a realistic alternative that shows evidence of being Wenger’s superior enters the frame, I maintain the belief that Wenger is the right man for Arsenal and I hope he begins to prove me right with an FA Cup this season.
Written by Luke Girling (@_Arsenal94)
A loss at Stamford Bridge would have been disappointing but hardly surprising given Chelsea’s incredible record there. But 6-0? I would go as far to say that this is the single worst result of Wenger’s tenure. Perhaps the worst aspect of this humiliating affair was how both the manager and team had appeared to learn nothing from last month’s 5-1 mauling at Anfield. Almost identically to the game against Liverpool, we failed to stabilise and opted to aimlessly attack having conceded early which left acres of space to be exploited. To Chelsea’s credit, they did this admirably-their fast and ruthless counter-attacks proving just too much for the fragile Arsenal midfield to cope with.
Against the other sides in the current top four our aggregate score away from home now stands at 17-4 which is patently not good enough. Consequently, a proportion of Arsenal fans have suggested that Wenger is no longer an elite-level manager which becomes very hard to argue against after this weekend’s result. So is it time to change things up?
I would consider myself to still be a strong Arsene Wenger supporter, despite this; he does have some glaring faults as will be analysed in the next section.
Firstly, Wenger’s transfer market activity in recent history has been confusing at very best. Not least, the January window of this year. On January 1st Arsenal were top of the league, 2 points clear of closest competitors Chelsea. With the demise of Manchester United and the early season wobbles of Manchester City and Chelsea, this season appeared Arsenals best shot at the title in a decade. With this considered, it makes the decision to not recruit anyone other than the injured Kim Kallstrom even more bizarre. Whilst I fully appreciate that a top-level centre forward may not have been available, I fail to see why a decent striker wasn’t bought in to support Giroud, especially after the news that our most clinical player, Theo Walcott, had recently been ruled out for the remainder of the season. There is little doubt in my mind that a January signing who could deflect some of the goal scoring burden away from Giroud would have given this club a fresh impetus in its hunt for the championship.
Secondly, and perhaps crucially, is his failure to prepare against the strengths of an opponent. This was laid bare against both Liverpool and Chelsea who are both renound for fast counter attacks. It didn’t appear Wenger had considered either tactics or personal when looking at these games. The brilliant, but horrifically slow Mikel Arteta started both games and the speed of players such as Sturridge, Sterling and Hazard utterly showed him up. It was painful to watch him lumbering back in Oscar’s wake for Chelsea’s 4th. The decision to put the combative Flamini in against Chelsea almost seemed a no-brainer to me. Wenger’s lack of preparation when it comes to opponents is further highlighted in Thierry Henry’s book as he describes his surprise at being told that Wenger would only have a look at Barcelona’s team on the eve of the Champions League final night in 2006. Would a Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola or even Brendan Rodgers do this? Not a chance.
Despite these problems, Wenger’s strengths ensure he is still one of the best managers in the world. He has been courted by Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Paris and the French National Team in previous years, to me; this suggests he is doing something right.
One of his big strengths is man management, highlighted by the cases of both Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain who, for genuine want of a less-clichéd phrase, seem like different players this year. Both of which are two of Britain’s brightest young players and appear to be on the right road to becoming world class players. Certainly Wenger’s track record for taking young talented players and turning them into world beaters speaks for itself- Anelka, Henry, Fabregas and Van Persie to name a few.
It is also very hard to argue that Wenger’s sides don’t produce excellent football, Wilshere’s goal against Norwich and Rosicky’s against Sunderland great examples of what the fans have taken to calling ‘Wenger-ball’ which is unique in the premiership at the moment. Perhaps the most convincing of Wenger’s strengths is his consistency, for 17 years he has successfully guided Arsenal to Champions League football and every year he has successfully negotiated the group stage of this competition despite financial constraints since 2006. Whilst many are sick of the ‘top 4 is a trophy’ mantra, I for one would miss this guarantee of competitiveness if Wenger were to be replaced.
I would also suggest that this season has been our best in recent memory; we have spent the majority of the season at the top of the league (despite falling away towards the end) and look primed to go on to win the FA Cup. A quantifiable improvement on the last few years in which we haven’t looked close to challenging for the Premier League.
Some fans have commented that Wenger’s replacement is irrelevant in the decision as to whether he should stay on as Arsenal boss. For me this is nonsense; if he were to go, it would have to be on the assurance that we are getting a better manager. Some names that have been suggested recently include Dortmund’s Klopp and Everton’s Martinez.
Klopp has taken Dortmund to second in the Bundesliga this year, 23 points behind league leaders Bayern Munich and only a point ahead of FC Schalke. In what is often described as a two-team league this does not show a manager who is particularly superior to Wenger, despite their relative success last year. Furthermore, Klopp has sold Kagawa, Gotze and Lewandowski in the last 3 years, two of which to their most direct rivals (a trait which Wenger has been lambasted for in the past). I would suggest that Klopp, whilst a great manager, isn’t much of an improvement on Wenger at preset..
I find the case for Martinez even more perplexing. Yes, he has produced some good football with both Wigan and Everton, but so has Wenger with Arsenal to a consistently higher standard. He has had a satisfactory year with Everton but is unlikely to finish above 6th marking a distinct lack of improvement from last year. I do think Martinez will become a top level manager in time, but for now, I don’t think he’s anywhere near the quality of Wenger.
Summarising, the heavy defeats to City, Liverpool and Chelsea have all been disappointing this year and until Wenger changes his philosophy regarding looking into the opposition, he will continue to be outwitted by the best managers. I live in hope that Wenger proves me wrong on the transfer market front and continues buying the calibre of players similar to both Cazorla and Ozil with a top-level centre forward and physical defensive midfielder this summer. However, until a realistic alternative that shows evidence of being Wenger’s superior enters the frame, I maintain the belief that Wenger is the right man for Arsenal and I hope he begins to prove me right with an FA Cup this season.
Written by Luke Girling (@_Arsenal94)
