Is It Time To Move On From Wenger?
When it comes to the future of Arsène Wenger I believe there are two fields, Wenger In and Wenger Out, and dividing those fields is a fence – I think the majority of Arsenal fans sit on that fence. Some may get off the fence to have a natter with some friends in the fields but ultimately return to the fence. Since the January transfer window closed I have seen people I interact with on Twitter leave the fence but more surprisingly I have seen people from the Wenger In field take a running jump, soar over the fence and land comfortably in the Wenger Out field.
This is happening every week and every week it becomes harder for his defenders to continue to defend him and it becomes hard for us on the fence too. Most people on the fence tend to have “pro-Wenger” tendencies because we accept he has had restrictions and has done a good job to keep us where we are but maybe feel we could have done more.
Yesterday versus Everton was another one of those days that saw a mass exodus from the In field and the fence to the Out field. By now, many who read the title will be nodding in fervent agreement or shaking their head in disbelief.
As an Arsenal fan of close to 25 years I have seen some good Arsenal teams, some bad Arsenal teams and some extraordinary Arsenal teams. I remember the title winning team of 1991 – I’m not sure if that is because I watched much of it live or because I have them on VHS or a combination of both – and they were a fantastic team but the best teams I have ever seen came during the Wenger years. He has treated me to some sensational football and almost all of my top 10 Arsenal games. It is hard for me to want to see a change because I understand how difficult he had it when we moved stadiums. However, I am starting to wonder if he has run out of ideas.
Wenger is a very intelligent man and has earned his title as one of the best and most respected coaches in the world but as the quality of footballer has improved over the years you have to assume so has the quality of manager. What Wenger is well-renowned for is something all modern coaches have developed with. Arsène’s innovations are now the standard. Does that mean he isn’t as good as he once was? I don’t agree but what it does mean is the quality of his peers has improved exponentially since he first arrived in England.
The methods Wenger adopted and presented as innovative and inspirational in the late nineties were just part of his toolkit. He also had the knowledge of existing training methods and regimes. His blend of the established and the new is what gave him the edge over most of his counterparts. What we have today in the likes of Martinez, Rodgers, Guardiola and Simeone is young managers who have the knowledge of the established methods of the likes of Wenger and his ilk but also the innovation to adopt modern methods and technological advances that are championed by the likes of Verheijen and others.
There is, of course, still a place for established methods and old tricks as Rodgers proved when he joined Liverpool and pulled out a nigh-on 20 year old mind game with the three envelopes. In Manuel Pellegrini we have someone of similar age and experience to Arsène Wenger, who is flying in the league and odds on favourites to win the league. Alongside the achievements of Jupp Heynckes last season, it goes to show that there is still a place for older managers.
What those seasoned managers had over Wenger, at first glance, was/is money. Arsenal’s resources have been restricted and sure, we have £100m in the bank but let us not forget £42.5m of it was spent in the summer. Many things went wrong last summer and this January – and it cannot be argued Arsenal have rued the loss of Walcott and Ramsey, within 2 minutes of coming on yesterday Ramsey made Arsenal look more dangerous than they had the entire match – but judging Arsène on accumulated failures since 2006 is unfair in my opinion as this is the first season we have seen a slightly more level playing field and that is reflected in the points tally of all teams.
I want to give Arsène at least one more year because I think he has earned the right to spend the money his management has made possible to stockpile and receive in the future thanks to our new commercial deals – which do not come into effect until this summer. Some will argue he has had the chance to spend that money but it’s not a debate I wish to have because for each legitimate reason for not spending put forward there are 20 poo-poo statements and overall I think they probably cancel each other out.
However, I also feel that maybe if we stay in the Champions League for next season, have an FA Cup to build on (removing the “no trophies” monkey from our backs) and a pile of cash then maybe it would be prudent to bring in a new manager with new ideas and direction. But who?
This is where I struggle because the popular name is Jurgen Klopp. I like Klopp but under similar restrictions he has hardly performed better. When Chelsea first came into money, Arsenal went the season unbeaten and won the cup the year after. The Bundesliga, whilst entertaining, in the past two years has been a one horse race – and I can’t see that changing anytime soon.
Dortmund finished 25 points behind Bayern last year and are already 20 points behind this year. Klopp is a wonderful manager but his performance at Dortmund with just 2 years of having an immeasurably richer rival and a few star players he hasn’t really done much better than Wenger did. Given time he may do but 20+ points is a huge gap. Would he do better at Arsenal with greater resources? Possibly but considering his performance has been on par with Wenger, in my opinion, I still lean towards letting Wenger spend the money.
My personal choice would be Roberto Martinez. I have always liked him and ear-marked him at the beginning of the season as a future successor as I thought he would shine at Everton and he has done. I think he is an intelligent manager with many similar qualities to Arsène, qualities that would ensure our brand of football is continued but he also has a more modern approach to injury prevention – prevention, not management – and has done well at two clubs on modest resources.
At Everton he has shown the intelligence to transform his team with a few choice signings to the type of team he wants but without upsetting the apple cart. He has built on the platform Moyes left him, much in the way Wenger did with Graham’s defence, and has made them a better team. A Moyes Everton would never have beaten us so comprehensively as Martinez’s did yesterday.
If we make the top four but Everton run us really closely would we be able to snatch Martinez? I would hope so but I don’t think so. He is an honourable man and I can see him giving Everton at least one more season before leaving and that might work out well if Wenger stays another year and if we are thinking about long-term succession plans then maybe it is right to let Wenger have one last season but it all hinges on where we finish this May.
Rodgers is completely out of the question. I respect him as a manager but we have more chance of buying Suarez for £40,000,002, than getting Rodgers.
The other options are going for someone younger, untested and probably from a smaller league or promoting from within. Both are ideas I am not keen on.
I’m going to throw a name out there and leave it at that – Carlo Ancelotti.
A part of me wants Wenger to succeed and stay for a while longer so as not to taint his legacy as I believe even if he left on a cup high this season his reputation would still be tarnished somewhat. Leaving on a title would add some sheen back to a reputation that should never have been sullied as much as some Arsenal supporters have done.
However, another part of me thinks it’s time to change and to move forward. It is a real internal conflict as the part that is thinking of change is the long-term strategist in me. I am a planner – I always have been. I respect those that think of the future as well as the now. It’s not right to think only of the future and never live in the now but it is equally wrong to only live in the now and never think of the future.
Arsenal sacrificed many things with the Emirates move – Arsène Wenger willingly sacrificed his reputation – including trophies to set this club up for the next 50 years or more and I respect that. As a supporter of the club I find it hard not seeing us lift silverware every season but I appreciate the short-term losses for the long-term gains.
Wenger was a huge part in making the platform for the future possible and that’s why I am so conflicted when thinking of replacing him so soon to the start of the future. Remember, the future was always billed to start next season so top four and a trophy this season would be marginally ahead of plan.
I don’t know where I am on Wenger’s future now. I don’t want another one season stop-gap like Rioch but I can’t see who is out there who deserves the platform we can give them – or who would use it properly – that we could realistically get.
The fence is wobbling at the moment and I’m losing balance. I don’t know what field I’ll fall in once the season is over or if I’ll manage to keep my place on the fence but what I do know is something needs to change at Arsenal this summer and it’s the manager – either as an individual or in terms of personnel.
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He may have sacrificed his reputation, but with 7 million pounds a year in his bank balance I am sure he is not losing too much sleep over it.
I like Wenger but if the same thing keeps happening over and over again then surely it is time to change.
Well written Daniel, there are a lot of good points raised in there, I agree with most but Ancelotti? I’d rather stick with Wenger!
In reality I believe we are caught between a preverbal rock and a massive bank account.
By rights, we should give Arsene the chance to spend some money, but in doing so we will need to give him a new contract. What if once he has that contract he decides that a DHL delivery man from Almeria is the way to go instead of a £40m striker.
We may laugh, but it can happen and if it does we are again in the same situation and only pro-longing the agony by a further 24 months whilst we wait for Arsene to “come good”
That said, do we go for a younger manager and allow him to spend the money. Once he has depleted the coffers and things start to go a bit MU, do we start baying for the new manager’s head also?
Do we then end up with a team like Sunderland where we have 12 or so players on the books that the new manager doesn’t really want?
It is a tough call to make.
Inevitably there will alway be changes as life goes on but I have to say, I wouldn’t want to make that decision because history proves it can be the undoing of the status quo.
But then again, things really do have to change……..
Not a bad post, No matter who came in, they would need in the region of 150 mil, and no injuries, arteta is to slow, carzola is played out of position,giroud is, well not good enough, sanogo rubbish, flamini great, but legs are gone now, give arsene the money that is needed and 1 more year to prove that HE has the ability, every one is going on about the FA cup , we have won F— All YET!!!!!
I think the pertinent question is if Wenger is willing to embrace change. When you have deficiencies its best to accept it and delegate duties to those with d expertise. Stability at times breeds stagnancy. Knowing dat we have almost d same backroom staff and still do nearly d same things as almost decades ago is a very worrying situation but is Wenger ready to relax his grip? I would gladly see him stay if he actually reshuffles his backroom staff and severes d loyalty ties, get in people with modern knowledge,experts and specialists and actually let them do d jobs you bring them in to do. He can then be manager of a more effective setup. The setup must not necessarily be English since he loves a brand of football dat is distinctively non-English. I love what is been done wit d academy and d faces been brought in, d senior setup needs such breath of fresh air. He shd also relax his grip on transfers, provide d list of players he wants and allow Dick Law/Gazidis do their job while he pulls strings if he has to. He shd simply be a manager and allow his staff have an input in tactics, things would certainly work better this way.
Very good post and a lot more thought out than most have been. What I am struggling to understand though is four games ago we were fighting for the title now we clinging on to 4th how the hell can this happen?
I know we have had injuries but its been this story for the last nine years if we are ever close to winning anything we fall apart at this time of the year and be that injuries, referring, what ever it is. It always happens. Why?
Everyone keeps saying how Wenger is an intelligent guy, but how can he not see the glaringly obvious that is right in front of him, how can he not see what everyone person on the planet already knows?
We have got hammered against City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and now Everton and all in the same way, how the hell can’t Wenger have seen that these teams have all used that same tactic against us especially, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Everton. How can he not see that? I mean I am no football expert I don’t even play Fifa or Football Manager and even I can see this. So how the hell can’t Wenger, one of the highest paid managers in the history of the game not see it?
I really feel FA Cup or no FA Cup, forth place or 7th place he needs to say enough is enough. He needs to call time on a period in our clubs history which has brought so much joy, but joy that has now turned to pain of the worse kind. I say that because after the first game against Villa we all thought the worse we all expected to be lucky to finish in the top 6 never mind the top 4, but to raise our level of exception so high and for such a large portion of the season and then to have all that blown away like this, to go to Chelsea and be lucky to leave with a 6 goal hammering, thats too much to bear. He needs to go. He’s like your best friend who while your wife has cancer supports you all the way and then once she’s better gives her a good fuck while your away buying your mate a gift to say thank you for all the support.
How much can we honestly put with? How much more of this can we say is a one off, or is down to the ref, or injuries or whatever other excuse we are feed every week. I strongly believe that this squad when fully fit is two maybe three players away from being world class, but then when I think back to the squads over the last nine years has always been two or three players away from being world class, and that is exactly why he needs to go. His stubbornness has cost us and cost us big time, he has gone three seasons now with one striker, he has gone two seasons without a proper DM, and we all know had we brought a top striker and a top DM, had we say not brought Ozil, not that I am saying Ozil is a waste of money, I am saying he wasn’t the priority. Had we spent the 42.5M on say Higuain and spent reminder of that 42.5M on say Luis Gustavo, your telling me we would be in this position now? Had Wenger opened his eyes to the fact that teams have much more fight and energy than us and organised his team to defend deep and wait for an opening then would we have got mauled at City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Everton?
Enough is enough we lose at the weekend to Wigan, then Wenger should either be sacked on the spot or quit, and that isn’t me being emotional or over reacting thats me being rational. We win the FA Cup and secure forth he needs to step down in the summer and hand over to a manager with fire and passion something he had when he first came to Arsenal.
I look at guys like Klopp and Simone and see how they kick every ball their team kicks and how they have developed teams with high energy and teams that play top football. Yet we look at our lot and who can honestly say that in the really big games, games that eventually decide weather your winning something this season or going home empty handed have we shown any fight, any passion, over the last nine years? I am struggling to think of one game.
You mention Klopp not preforming well, but before his squad was broken up he won everything in Germany two years running and last season went all the way in the CL, beating good teams along the way. He is a much more energetic manager and likes his teams to play with the same level of energy he has. He would do wonders at Arsenal with the money he would have available to spend and he would be able to keep hold of his big names, both things he isn’t able to do now at Dortmund.
I understand your thinking when you say Wenger has earned the right to spend the money we now have, but lets be honest Arsenal in the summer just gone had over 150M in cash reserves and until the last day of the window spent zero, knowing the season before we had gone out of the the two cups to lower league opposition and just scrapped forth from our closet rivals, who at that same point had spent 100M. Wenger then decides to blow 42.5M on a top player we weren’t crying out for. Come on guys how the hell can you expect to challenge for the big trophies if your heading into the season with one average striker and a Bentder come on. We have a make shift DM in Artea and a run down Flamini who has tried his best, but against the big boys they are simply not good enough. Why didn’t he get a proper DM and then Flamini to offer cover? Why didn’t he buy Higuian when he had the chance? When is ask both these questions at this seasons AGM i was laughed off but the board members sitting in front of me.
Part of me feels as you do that Wenger has earned the right to spend that money, but can we really afford to risk one more summer and see a repeat of last summer? As Philpe Aclair says Wenger is a gambler and he is right. Wenger take far to many risks and that is what has cost him big time. He built up huge respect and loyalty from the fans in the first half of his tenure and he has abused that trust and support he had from fans like yourself and me included and he has made us all look like idiots for defending him over and over again. He is still living off the glory of old and its clear to me that he has lost the passion to win. I mean who can you openly be happy finishing forth place season after season and then defend it by saying its like winning a trophy?
I will end by saying that I was watching a documentary film on a bodybuilder Kai Greene. This guy is a very philosophical bloke and is something rare in the bodybuilding world. In 2009 he competed for the first time in the Mr Olympia which is the biggest prize in the world of bodybuilding. He trained all year, and for the last seven weeks before the show he trained in solitude just him and his trainer. In those final seven weeks he left his family, home, kids, wife, all his creature comforts and just ate, slept and trained all day. He finished forth in the show, and he was gutted. Forth place is the highest any first time competitor has ever finished in the Mr Olypmia, yet he was gutted and very pissed off with himself and the judges.
After watching this documentary I thought to myself that this guy is a true champion, he is true competitor, he doesn’t settle for anything other than winning, and that is what Wenger was. He was a champion, he built his teams to do the same and when kids like Henry, Vieria, Pires, etc came he instilled in them the belief and confidence to be champions and not to settle for anything but the best. Unfortunately he has lost that edge, he has lost that winning mentality, and that isn’t down to injuries, or the ref, or money thats down to the man himself. I always have and always will believe that in a game which is 90mins any team, can beat any team, no matter how big the skill gap is within reason. I believe that the thing that trumps, skill and technical ability is work rate and belief and Wengers teams over the last nine years have lost that. So many of the great Arsenal players have come out and said the current Arsenal players are far more skilful than they were, but they just don’t have that winning mentality. And as Kai Greene said how can anyone who puts themselves through so much pain and hard work and sacrifices so much be happy with finishing forth.
Wenger I will wait for your answer on that last one.
Thank you for everything Arsene but good bye.
Arsenal till I die.
Wow, that’s a blog of its own. Quickly on your point re Klopp. Wenger also had his team ripped apart, year after year. He has managed to get his team within a few point in a much harder league. That’s why I wouldn’t put Klopp above him right now. They are par for me and par doesn’t deserve to spend the cash more than AW. Someone like Martinez, Simeone, Ancelotti or De Boer deserves it more than Klopp.
If we have waited this long already, a year more will not kill. I want Weneger TO START THE NEW ERA, TO REAP THE FRUITS OF HIS LABOURS….but also i dont trust him enough to change ! Not buying a striker in January is the last straw for me, how could he have taken such a RISK. 1year no more !!!
It was a bad weekend. Woke up around 2.47am and the first thing that hit me was the Arsenal bashing at the hand of Everton.The most painful was that we’ve been humiliated by all title contenders all with an embarrassing high scoreline. I can stomach a blip once or twice, but the ones this season have the mark of lnept and mediocrity written all over it, and I genuinely believed that this years league was ours more so when we led the table till january. Does that mean that we were just pretending to be title contenders. I don’t know whether its Arsenal or football generally, but Iv lost the appetite for football for the time being. The way we are playing leaves plenty to be desired. We lack drive, hunger, zeal, passion and above all the pride to play for the Arsenal. Its disheartening that a once great club is being torn to shreds by mid table teams and pretenders to the title teams. Can anybody imagine a mediocre Chelsea team thrashing Arsenal 6 goals in a league match. In Nigeria we were not able to raise our head among fans of other clubs as everybody is quick to remind us about our failure in the past more so when our title rivals have handed us some heavy drubbings. Something has to give. Its either Arsene gives or the players, but we can’t continue on this course for its a sure route and a straight flight to a mid table team. I will conclude by referring you to the video tape of the Everton match yesterday where one Arsenal reverend season ticket holder was crying as it dawned on him that his beloved Arsenal is gone and still going down.
I’m afraid I fall firmly into the ‘Wenger Out’ camp. I have done for some time. I had hoped at one stage earlier this season, as we sat atop the table for such a long time, that I may be proved wrong. And happily so.
But there is now no further doubt in my mind that his days are numbered.
The pro-Wenger camp will say that he’s not had money to spend, that the stadium move meant he had his hands tied. That is debatable – we didn’t just get £100+m in the bank in the last 12 months. That has steadily been growing for the last 4-5 years and has simply not been used effectively.
The transfers that he has completed in the last few windows include Sanogo, Park, Viviano, Kallstrom & Giroud – hardly world beaters.
There’s been an inability, for whatever reason, to move on or replace the likes of Diaby, Bendtner, Fabianski, Djourou. There’s been a reluctance to blood youngsters like Gnabry, Akpom, Bellerin, Eisfeld, Afobe and others despite the first 11 clearly creaking. Why we haven’t strengthened our front line in the 3+ windows since RvP left is beyond me.
There is no plan B, or any other plan for that matter. We send out the same 11 every week, seemingly with no tactics to counter our opponent’s strengths or capitalise on their weaknesses – it may be argued we simply don’t have the personnel to do that, but whose fault is that?
Martinez, Rodgers, and the others that you mention, analyse each week’s competitors and plan accordingly, mixing up personnel, moving their positions, changing their responsibilities, giving players objectives and tactics so that they come together to deliver a positive result. When it’s not working you see those same managers on the sidelines screaming at the players on how to change things instantly, no hanging about – if that doesn’t work I’ve seen substitutions made within 20 minutes, more at half time this season. When was the last time we saw Wenger mix things up, change tactics from the sidelines, or make a substitution before 65 minutes that wasn’t driven by injuries?
Arsene Wenger is being made to look an old and out-of-date fool surrounded by ‘yes men’ – our results against the top five teams this season have been nothing short of shambolic.
And given his recent transfer window experiences I wouldn’t trust him to spend the money that currently awaits whoever is in charge of the next window – if it’s Wenger I see no reason to believe it will be anything other than a repeat of recent windows and the same old excuses: it’s World Cup year so no one wants to do a deal while they’re in their camp; their price was over-inflated after they had a great World Cup.
He does not seem to have a grasp on what is the ‘going rate’ for world class players at the moment and will insist on further derisory ‘take it or leave it’ offers for players that won’t be taken up by the clubs involved and we’ll end up with more last minute purchases on August 31 – two weeks into the new season, no pre-season prep etc etc. Same old same old.
Without dwelling on specifics, and I’m not necessarily supporting this particular purchase, but after the World Cup this summer is Draxler likely to go for less than the £37m Schalke were demanding in January? I understand we made an offer, so we were clearly interested in the player, but I’m not sure what waiting for the summer window is likely to improve, other than competition for his signature?! For similar situations see failed bids to sign Mata, Hazard and Higuain who are ripping it up for their current teams.
I say give the money to someone who has the passion and enthusiasm, the understanding of the modern game in terms of player development, tactics and finance, who understands their own strengths and weaknesses and surrounds themselves with a team of experts that help deliver better results.
There is no doubt in my mind that other managers could do better with the squad we have. And age does not necessarily enter into the equation – yes Martinez, Rodgers and Klopp are relatively young, successful managers, but Pellegrini isn’t. Nor is Ancelotti. Or Benitez. And look at what Ferguson did with a crap side last year – there’s not a huge difference between the team that won the league by 11 points last season and the one that trails it by 17 points this season. These managers demonstrate flexibility in their approach, a desire to learn and apply new thinking, new dynamics to a club’s structure.
I appreciate what Wenger has done for the club – the style of football, the new stadium, the happy memories. But 7 trophies in 8 years sounds a lot better than 7 trophies in 18 years! It’s time to go. If he goes with the FA Cup this year, wonderful. But I don’t want him near another transfer window, let alone signing a 2 year extension.
Another blog within a blog 🙂 Mostly fair points Matt and it’s hard to disagree with many. I’m still torn but I must say I feel you’ve been a bit OTT with some of the players. Sanogo is a kid and shouldn’t be judged as a full senior purchase. Drmic at a year older and for cash could be but Yaya was free. Viviano is a loan player for 3rd choice. A smart move when your no.1 is so young. Better than your no.3 being 19 because 1 injury & no.3 is quickly called into action. Those windows also saw Podolski, Santi & Özil so it wasn’t all bad. I’d say that Pellegrini & Ferguson had something we don’t know Wenger did – money. The £100m is there but how much was made available to AW? It’s easy to say he hasn’t tried to spend but how do we know he was given it? I think there are legitimate reasons for not getting Higuain and only retrospect can question it which is unfair. Like I said, I’m torn. The part that wants AW to stay & succeed is the part that understands the long term plans but ironically it’s the same part that says the long term is not with AW. Let’s see what the summer brings.
The one single reason that can make me accept A.Wenger to stay for an extra couple of years is getting Guardiola once he`s done with BayernM.