It has been a long and barren six trophyless years for all Arsenal fans. Not since the league / FA Cup double winning season of 2005 have the Gunners added silverware to their trophy cabinet. Wenger is under immense pressure this season from his club’s supporters who are demanding the situation be rectified, but fans should keep the faith in their manager.
Pretty football
Despite the lack of success at Arsenal, many Gunners fans have enjoyed the style of football that is displayed at the Emirates stadium. The Barcelona-esque passing and movement, the domination of possession, their style is without question the most entertaining brand of football to watch in England.
Typical of the fierce rivalry between Manchester United and Arsenal, United legend Paul Scholes recently jibed Arsenal saying: “they just flatter to deceive. They may play the prettiest football, but it doesn’t always produce the results they need. It doesn’t irritate me that people say they’re the best footballing team because, while they’re doing that, we’re winning games.”
Scholes should know just as well as anyone though that pretty football can win matches, as Barcelona showed in the Champions League final, dismantling his side 3-1, in arguably one of the best team performances in the history of the game.
Wenger’s philosophies on football can produce results. He is the most successful manager Arsenal have ever had, managing the club to four league titles and four FA Cups. What Wenger needs is the right personnel to carry out his instructions.
Demands to spend big
Fans have continually berated Wenger for refusing to spend large sums of money on players with big reputations. Even Wenger’s own players have expressed their frustration at his principals.
Dutch striker Robin van Persie most recently said: “You need investment to keep up. When you look around, you see Manchester City are buying loads of good players, Liverpool are doing it now and Manchester United have been doing it for years. In a way, you need to keep that up because if everyone is doing something you need to do it as well.”
Wenger should not be blamed however, for refusing to be fiscally irresponsible. Fans should look at Leeds United or more recently Portsmouth – both are good examples of what can happen when the finances don’t add up.
Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are all entirely owned by foreign owners. Only Arsenal continues to have a situation where a significant portion of the club is owned by different groups, such as the Arsenal Supporters Trust, and individuals.
It is this large group of shareholders, not Wenger, that fans should direct their frustration at if they want to see the biggest names in football playing at their club. I have no doubt Wenger would enjoy having a Sheik or a Russian tycoon shower him with the finances to construct a terrific side. But that fact of the matter is, particularly with the long running share stake battle between American Stan Kroenke and Russian Alisher Usmanov – Arsenal have limited finances.
Principles
Fans of Arsenal are terrified at the prospect of losing key players this season, most notably captain Cesc Fabregas and French midfielder Samir Nasri. But fans should understand that Wenger has acknowledged the damage losing both players would cause. It led Wenger to say that Arsenal would not be a ‘big club’ if they lost both of their star players during this transfer window.
Wenger wants to bring success back to Arsenal, just as much as anyone else, so he is passion and devotion for the club should not ever be questioned. Wenger’s fiscal principles however, rest on the foundation of ensuring the club is successful not just this season, but for the many seasons to come.
Arsenal could install any fan as the manager who would offer Nasri the extra £20,000 per week on a five year contract that the French star is demanding. Any fan could be put in the hot seat and ask the board to make a £50 million bid for Udinese’s Alexis Sanchez. This would be the fastest route to ruin for the English giants.
Nobody can question Wenger’s ability to manage footballers, he turned a Juventus reject into the most feared striker on the planet, and he snatched a young pup from the Barcelona academy, who has developed into one of the best central midfielders in world football.
Arsenal fans could demand the resignation of Wenger tomorrow, but it wouldn’t place the club in a position that is anywhere closer to winning silverware. Instead, enjoy the pretty football, watch it comfortably in the knowledge your club is financially secure, and if you trust in Arsene, success will come again.
Can Arsenal win a trophy under Arsene Wenger this season?
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