A Pain in the Arse(nal)

He took over from Bruce Rioch, and had one thing and one thing only on his mind: silverware.

Alex Ferguson was creating a legacy for himself and for Manchester United, and it didn’t look like any team was capable of dethroning his prolific team.

But Wenger had other ideas. He sought to overhaul the “1-0 to the Arsenal” philosophy that had been engraved into the Gunners’ style of play, and transform the team into one that blended youth and experience, one that could pay tribute to the true meaning of ‘the beautiful game’.

He did this in his first full season in charge at the club. He led Arsenal to a league and cup double in the 97/98 season, a season in which Arsenal showed incredible character and caught up with United against all odds.

He also managed to lead Arsenal to a 38 game undefeated Premier League campaign- an unprecedented feat that cemented his name in to the annals of history.

However, since 2005 when Patrick Vieira kicked his last ever ball for Arsenal to secure the FA Cup (against, you guessed it Man Utd) things have gone from bad to worse for the Gunners.

Big name players like Vieira, Henry, Clichy, Fabregas and Nasri have been allowed to leave the club, and Arsenal have suffered hugely as a result, failing to win any silverware since 2005.

Their transfer policy has been hugely criticised by both the media and by former players, and many of the players have insisted that their reason for leaving was down to the fact that Wenger was allowing his players to leave and that the club lacked the ambition required to win competitions.

Wenger has always maintained that this is not the case, and that he and the board of directors share the same aspirations as those of the rather impatient Arsenal faithful. But how can that be the case? How can Wenger claim that such nonsense is true when he puts so much time and effort into nurturing talents like Nasri and Fabregas and then allows them to leave for “bigger clubs”?

Arsene has lost control of his team; the board is now calling the shots and, as any manager with a spine will tell you, it is time to go when you aren’t the person making the decisions. Wenger needs to cut his losses quit as Arsenal manager. 99 percent of clubs would be happy to have him, and I’m sure that if he was given the financial backing needed to secure top names at a new club, he would return to his glory days and bring trophies to whatever club was lucky enough to sign him.

He must do this sooner rather than later as there is growing doubt as to the credibility of his footballing philosophy, but the bottom line is this: you cannot blend youth with experience if the financial resources required to make this happen are not there for you. Wenger needs to start printing off some CV’s and looking for work elsewhere.