Five reasons for Wenger out
There is no denying that Arsene Wenger has done an amazing job at the helm of English giants Arsenal since he took over in 1996. While Arsenal already had plenty of domestic success in their history, Wenger played a large hand in transforming them into an international brand. During his tenure, Arsenal have participated in the Champions League for all but one season, they have built a fantastic new stadium which continues to receive accolade on top of accolade for its brilliance and they are currently the 8th richest club in Europe. But for all his success in north London, Arsene Wenger is not the man to take Arsenal to the next level and beyond. Only three titles wins in eighteen years in charge is nothing to boast about and he has never won the Champions League. For a big club in name, finances and assets, Arsenal is not as big on the pitch as they could be.
Bare in mind this is an opinion piece and I suspect many of you will disagree with my feelings on the matter (anyone that I am friends with on Facebook see’s the debates I get myself into almost on the daily on this topic), but here are my top-five reasons why Arsene Wenger should not sign the new contract he is reportedly close to agreeing on and leave at seasons end if he wants to his see beloved Gunners succeed at a new level.
Tactically Inflexible
For all his success at changing the way the game was played in England, Wenger has not progressed from his way of thinking over the years and it has become painfully obvious. Under Wenger, the Gunners have always been known as the best team in possession, their quick passing that sometimes bores you to death but no one could argue with its effectiveness – they could also catch teams on the break incredibly fast, from zero to sixty in mere seconds. The problem now is two fold: 1. Arsenal is no longer the only team to deploy this style of play, and are not even the most efficient at it any longer and 2. There are plenty of ways to counter the system effectively – this is where the further problem arises. Wenger never comes into a match using a different tactical set up based off his opponent (meanwhile managers like Pellegrini, Mourinho and Rodgers do). The even bigger issue is that he never has a plan B or plan C if his tactics on the day fail. He sits there and hopes that they will eventually work, which in itself is poor management in the least. A manager needs to be flexible and respond to what is happening on the pitch to ensure that his team has the best possible chance of winning on the day.
Afraid to spend the money that is available
The simple fact is, you cannot hope to win the BPL if you do not spend – it has become nothing but an arms race each transfer window to see which club can bring in the most fire power and depth. Naturally said players still have to blend tactically and develop chemistry, but those things come in time as they play together which is natural. Apart from the debatable signing of Mesut Ozil who is talented but arguably was not needed as Santi Cazorla is the same type of player in the same position, Arsene Wenger does not spend to replace or compete. Countless times he has lost top class players but has not spent big to properly replace them. Replacements were signed but always fell widely short of the mark. The signing of Ozil in many circles is deemed to be a singing out of pressure not out of want. Wenger loves to boast that he has a degree in business/finance yet he is horrible at managing the finances of his club in regards to recognizing when if the money is there to spend, and you need to spend it to improve, you spend it. To compete with the likes of Chelsea, Man City, Man United and now Liverpool once more, if you do not spend, you will have no chance of lifting the BPL trophy so it is no surprise that Arsenal have not won the league ever since clubs have become massively financially backed. It is admirable that he sticks to his morals, but morality when it comes to what he thinks the game should be about is not winning his club anything.
This is not ten years ago
Much in the same light as we just discussed, Wenger refuses to spend big when it comes to bringing in players. To his credit again, he did brilliantly in his yesteryears at the club finding foreign gems (more or less always in France and then eventually in Spain) for very cheap and them turning them into players that were top class for the first team – the problem with that is, you do not have the time anymore in this league to spend little, develop young talent and then reap the benefits on the pitch. The BPL is full of clubs that are not bashful at spending money on top young talent that are already first team ready (i.e. Hazard, Oscar, Jovetic). Long gone are the days that Wenger can send his scouts to the likes of Auxerre and pick a player that will cost less than a million and turn into a top class talent because either that player will take years to develop, or, other clubs are scouting the same young players he is which drastically decreases his chance of landing targets. Wenger no longer has the monopoly on knowledge of foreign markets that he brought with him in his early years in England as every club have massive scouting budgets and a host of scouts globe trotting constantly. All in all, Wenger’s constant reluctance to spend substantial amounts of money as continued to cost the Gunners in the race for silverware.
Not a man-manager or motivator
Tell me, how often do you see Arsene Wenger get off his seat on the Arsenal bench and instruct his players from the touchline? More often than not you will see him complaining to the fourth official 65 times a match but a prolonged stay to instruct his players for more than 3 seconds is like seeing a snow leopard in its natural habitat – rare. While these players are professionals, they still need instruction from their manager, they need to know his thoughts on how they are playing, what on-pitch adjustments need to be made, if their positioning is proper and even if they just need some encouragement. It has even been reported that Arsene Wenger usually does not even give the players a proper half-time team talk, but that he rather sits there and lets his players work out the kinks themselves. There is nothing wrong with letting players problem solve yes, but to have him not aid in said problem solving only causes more problems in of it self. The likes of Mourinho, Rodgers, Pellegrini and Martinez are constantly on the touchline making their instructions, that will change over the course of proceedings, crystal clear to their players – it is the only way you can guarantee the side play as you intend them to do so. However as stated before, given the fact that Wenger does not even know how to adjust tactically to changing situations, I guess he just belongs in his seat fiddling with his zipper, throwing copious amounts of water bottles and dreaming of shopping for the perfect baguette in his spare time away from the training ground.
Truthfully he lacks ambition
Any manager worth is salt that is okay with not winning anything in soon going on ten years, for me, lacks ambition. It is one thing if you are at a club that is “on the bubble” like Everton or Spurs – clubs that have talented players but cannot crack the upper echelons of the league just yet but at a big club like Arsenal, a trophy drought of eight years that could easily have been avoidable must be questioned. When your manager lets your top players go, only signs mediocre players in their place and even has those same exiting players come out and say that the boss and the club lacked the ambition they had, speaks volume in my opinion. Wenger is rumored to be just about ready to sign a new deal that is worth an extended three years where he will net 8million pounds a year – staggering numbers for a manager that has not won anything in almost a decade. Often times Wenger is more concerned with “doing the right thing” rather than doing what is required to get Arsenal back to winning ways when it comes to hauling silverware – again, his morals when it comes to football constantly come above his desire to press on urgently and win things for the club. It is not shocking to Arsenal supporters any longer that their best players have left for greener pastures – even Gunners legend Thierry Henry admitted publically that he left for Barcelona because he did not agree with the direction Arsenal were taking and are still currently taking. Wenger has been “building” for years but has not come close to presenting the finish product of all his scheming and all his projects and at the end of the day, that is not enough for the club or the fans and truthfully, should not be enough for him either.
As a lifelong fan, I will be the first to both commend and thank Arsene Wenger for all his accomplishments and for what he has done for the club we Gooners truly love. But as supporters we have to be honest with ourselves and beg the question, that just because someone had a glorious past, does that mean they are not expendable in the present if they are not putting their best foot forward? Wenger will always be loved in north London, but the longer he stays and fails in the current state of affairs, he does nothing but hurt his own legacy while he diminishes the ability for the club to hold itself to higher standards. We love you Arsene, we do – but it’s time to go.