Apologies for the long read but I will try to keep it short.
Was watching goals on Sunday and Dean Saunders was asked to give his assessment on Arsene Wenger and his future. His response was that he felt Wenger had done a great job and was not completely to blame for the poor return this season and the last 10 years.
His reasoning is based on the fact that only one team can win the league each season and it mostly goes to the biggest spenders. Before I go further let me make it clear that this article is not meant to be a defence for Wenger but I just thought it would be nice to put out the salient points and find out where genuine Arsenal fans stand with regards to his legacy.
Lately I have come to accept that the younger fans will always find something to blame Wenger for due to legitimate frustrations accumulated over the last 10 years. I dont know how old the likes of Inventor or Castor Troy are, but I will imagine that they were not old enough to see the ridiculous achievements of Wenger in his first 8 years at Highbury. Now you do have a few opposition fans like Kaiser and some spurs fans who still think the frenchman is a genius and will be missed when he is gone.
But the majority of opposition fans especially glory hunting united & chelsea fans will tell you managers like Pellegrini or LVG are presently better managers. I used to get annoyed at such statements but lately I have come to accept that maybe the age gap does result in differing opinions.
I've been an Arsenal fan for 28 years (since the age of 6) and I have only known Graham, Rioch (Rice briefly) & Wenger as managers. To the younger fans before the club appointed Graham they approached Fergie who was managing Aberdeen and Scotland but Fergie opted to wait till after the world cup before deciding on his future. The club went for Graham and the scotsman spent 9 years at the club.
With Wenger reaching the final years of his time at the club I wanted to know what most arsenal fans opinion of the man is and what would it take for them to want to see him continue as Arsenal manager beyond this summer?
The Legacy of Arsene Wenger
posted on 23/3/16
Obviously they can WNM
posted on 23/3/16
comment by Choice City (U6187)
posted 1 hour, 45 minutes ago
Obviously they can WNM
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Would u bet your house on it?
posted on 23/3/16
"You have upheld my argument. In that what Leicester do, or do not do, has nothing to do with AW, or Arsenal."
You misunderstood my point. You're making excuses for Wenger. The guy has had enough time to sort things out. This year was his chance to improve on his back to back FA cup wins.
Instead freakin' Leicester are running away with the Prem with Tottenham contesting them for it.
How can you be alright with this?
To make it funnier. Why are you acting like Leicester are this Barcelonaesque force of nature?
I'll give em their just dues and what have you. But they're really not that good. All they do is lump it up and play 180mph football.
I'm afraid Wenger has no absolutely no excuses whatsoever. And you hiding behind the "what about City and Man U" line is just pitiful.
posted on 23/3/16
"Whether AW remains or not I believe we are in a stronger position to challenge in the years ahead."
Aww. So positive.
posted on 23/3/16
comment by DubbedTheNewWenger90 (U19529)
posted 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
"Whether AW remains or not I believe we are in a stronger position to challenge in the years ahead."
Aww. So positive.
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It's called supporting the club....And in this instance based on the facts as I see them. Sadly a notion that appears to have been lost on some.
Like yourself who want Leicester to win the league ahead of Arsenal.
posted on 23/3/16
Support the club? Depends on what your definition of that.
Throwing ridiculous amount of money at Wenger and his goo0ns so they can waste everyone's time? I want what is best for the club. And unfortunately Wenger is not that at the moment.
I want Arsenal to win. But I'm resigned to the fact we won't. It's called being realistic.
And if anything I am being like you seeing positives in that prospect. Maybe you should too.
posted on 23/3/16
comment by What would Stuart Pearce do? (U3126)
posted 14 hours, 25 minutes ago
While it seems like AW’s reign is coming to an end, there are misconceptions in regard to the club’s business strategy during the Emirates project years.
Arsenal were financially inhibited, and were unable to compete in the transfer market. AW had to use player trading as a way to balance the books. Each year an established player (or two) had to be sold. The team was in constant transformation. The club accounts support this view.
http://www.arsenal.com/the-club/corporate-info/arsenal-holdings-financial-results
To offset, the club sought to bring in younger (undeveloped) players with sell on value. “Project Youth” as it was known. The downside to this were the wages the club had to pay were somewhat above market value. It was a calculated risk. But one the club had to implement, as wages were spread over the duration of the contract, and therefore easier for the club to absorb.
For fans to point the finger at AW, (for 9/10 trophy-less years) is not a reflection of what actually transpired. During this time, AW was approached by PSG, Munich, and Real Madrid, (amongst others) and could have joined any of them, won silverware, while earning considerably more money. And also with vast wealth at his disposal to spend on players. Yet he remained loyal to Arsenal and helped mould the long term future of the club.
Whatever your current opinion of AW may be, the guy deserves tremendous respect for what he has done for the club.
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Wenger didn't overachieve whatsoever during this period. The most credit he deserves is the consistency of finishing top 4, to not have slipped out once (we had some close calls) is quite impressive but we were the 4th best team in England and 4th highest spenders.
We finished way below the financially stronger clubs but let's remember our main competitors during this period were Everton, Spurs, Aston Vila.
We hardly did anything special and Wenger has dubbed it his greatest achievement to protect his legacy, it's not although it proved to be the most difficult due to close-calls, fans unrest, media-pressure etc..
Wenger's greatest competitors during this period were the supporters and media, the actual teams we were fighting had no right to finish above us.
Wenger hasn't done anything special in over a decade, truth be told.
posted on 23/3/16
comment by The Godfather (U10154)
posted 10 hours, 38 minutes ago
*arsenal have had more stick than Chelsea
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Chelsea won the title last season and have done 3 more times than us in the past decade not to mention 2 European titles... I think they're allowed a pass tbh.
We've done nothing for a long time but you're aware of that.
posted on 24/3/16
Inventor
While Arsenal could have won a trophy here or there, as you acknowledged we finished below the (financially) stronger sides – who happened to be our rivals. To achieve domestic success, in general, Arsenal had to overcome at least one of these sides.
Even if Arsenal spent an extra few million here or there, it’s inconceivable, (given the financial might of our rivals) that it would have made any real difference.
However the financial argument does not tell the whole story. Unlike 99% of clubs in the league, Arsenal were constantly rebuilding. Any team that loses its focal/best players year in year out is obviously going to struggle for cohesion. Especially when they were replaced with lesser inexperienced players.
The criticism of AW is that Arsenal did not win anything during this time. The fact that he kept the side competitive, (never mind silverware) was somewhat more than “anything special.”
I suspect it will be some time yet before the achievement is (universally) given the credit it deserves.
posted on 24/3/16
comment by What would Stuart Pearce do? (U3126)
posted 10 hours, 12 minutes ago
Inventor
While Arsenal could have won a trophy here or there, as you acknowledged we finished below the (financially) stronger sides – who happened to be our rivals. To achieve domestic success, in general, Arsenal had to overcome at least one of these sides.
Even if Arsenal spent an extra few million here or there, it’s inconceivable, (given the financial might of our rivals) that it would have made any real difference.
However the financial argument does not tell the whole story. Unlike 99% of clubs in the league, Arsenal were constantly rebuilding. Any team that loses its focal/best players year in year out is obviously going to struggle for cohesion. Especially when they were replaced with lesser inexperienced players.
The criticism of AW is that Arsenal did not win anything during this time. The fact that he kept the side competitive, (never mind silverware) was somewhat more than “anything special.”
I suspect it will be some time yet before the achievement is (universally) given the credit it deserves.
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So? Arsenal were always in a stronger position that every club outside the top 4 regardless of rebuilding Arsenal have had at least 1 world class player every season.
2011 - Cesc, Nasri, RVP
2012 - RVP
2013 - Santi (prime)
2014 - Özil
etc..
This was more than enough to see off our threats as world class players make the difference, look what Suarez did for Liverpool.
Yes Arsenal may not have had a right to win the title over those sides (in some views) but it shows what a limited manager he is that he can't overachieve.
He can't get more out the squad that the quality warrants whereas gifted coaches like, Koeman, Pochettino, Ranieiri have taken their club to heights they couldn't imagine in the past couple of years, the latter 2 putting in a better title challenge than Wenger has in a decade.
Wenger isn't the man to take us to the next level as we are now discovering. Top 4 triumphs is as good as it got for him in modern day.
He deserved the chance to oversee this era as many WOBs acknowledged but we're into the 3rd season now as still haven't progressed. His time's up I'm afraid, he's lost it