Arsene Wenger: The man who once led a revolution, now struggling with evolution

Arsene Wenger and the problems that persist

It’s been a harrowing last month or so for Arsenal on and off the pitch. The old adage, “when it rains it pours” could not be more apt to the describe the situation currently plaguing The Arsenal. February/March usually heralds the arrival of season defining games, Wenger talks up our chances and how we are ready to face them, the fans feel confident buoyed by the good early season form and then the world comes crashing down. Sounds familiar? It should, this has been a recurrent theme over the years.

A once fluid title challenge has now evaporated to reveal the bones of a battle for fourth spot. Seems everybody but us saw it coming. The media and pundits alike for months downplayed Arsenal’s title challenge to the chagrin of many a Gooner, we became paranoid and claimed there was a conspiracy to vilify us. Sadly all their premonitions have come true. In the space of a month and a half all hopes now rest on the FA Cup, the trophy Arsenal last won before the drought hit.

If Arsenal were to go on and win the FA Cup then it could act as a catalyst for revival and it would be poetic justice that the trophy that heralded the drought might now lead to a flood of silverware. But football is a funny little game of glorious uncertainties and an FA Cup win might just paper over wider cracks. The repercussions if Arsenal does not win the cup this year are too horrible to even consider.  The hostility between the “Arsene Knows Best” and “Wenger Out” brigade has reached critical mass and it only needs one tiny flame to light up this powder keg situation.

A few seasons back one could sympathize with Arsene, he had to build squads with a meagre budget thanks to the debts incurred on building the Emirates which he did with aplomb. Key players left at regular intervals and yet he plodded on building his squads and bringing Arsenal to the brink of greatness only to have it seized due to a combination of injuries, bad luck and lack of mental strength. This while Chelsea and Man United continued to dominate the landscape of English football, a period that also heralded the rising of the blue moon in the shape of Manchester City.

Now however those issues aren’t present anymore. Wenger has the financial backing and a stable squad to boot, things looked promising as Arsenal amassed the highest points total in 2013 and fans dreamt of title No 14. But the rot of previous seasons seems to have set in once again. What is extremely frustrating was that this could have been avoided this time around. Despite the financial clout Arsene has failed to deliver in the last 3 transfer windows. The signing of Ozil was massive and turned the summer transfer market from a B- to a B+ window for us but it still wasn’t good enough.

The gaping hole of a good competent striker wasn’t filled and this has come back to haunt us. Giroud did a terrific job on his own up till January/February but since then his form has tailed off, 1 good game is followed by 3 terrible games, not good enough for a title challenge. It isn’t his fault, he is technically deficient and could never fill in for a Robin van Persie who could create something out of nothing. His off the field antics haven’t endeared him to the fans either. His inability to dribble past a defender and his lack of presence in the box when needed have stung Arsenal badly recently.

This issue could have been addressed in the January transfer window. A short term loan for any striker could have been looked at to help Giroud and mitigate the loss of our 2 main goal scoring threats of this season: Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey. Instead Wenger brought in an injured player as cover in what was one of the most baffling moves of any transfer window ever. Upon further enquiry Wenger said he only had a few hours to make the decision or pull the plug on the transfer. Surely an entire month was enough time to sort out better deals?