Could this be Arsene Wenger’s Last Season at Arsenal?
Arsene Wenger may be one fifth place finish away from the end of his reign as Arsenal manager.
This time last year such a statement would have been laughed at, but is it really inconceivable that the Arsenal fan’s faith in Wenger would be permanently fractured should his young squad who he has for so long talked up fail to claim a Champions League spot? It’s certainly not getting any easier for him. Big spending Manchester City may feel they have the firepower to blast into the top four this season, with Everton, Aston Villa and Tottenham also targeting the spot as their ultimate goal.
In Wenger’s own mind though his young team is in transition, on the cusp of being one of his greatest sides. But as time goes by he’s finding fewer and fewer people willing to go along with this project, including the players. He’s put a lot of effort into the development of Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas, but may find the two jumping ship before the final pieces of his master plan have been put into place.
Despite almost universal calls to sign some established players, Wenger’s only piece of business so far this summer has been to sign defender Thomas Vermaelen, who at 23 is young for a centre back. The Frenchman has always been reluctant to spend big sums on single players, but in a summer where all the top clubs are targeting massive signings, Arsenal need a big name to establish some buzz around the club again, and convince his employers, the fans and the players that they can challenge for honours this season.
There were certain other factors to Arsenal’s season that were out of Wenger’s control. Long term injuries to key players, dissent in the dressing room, fans getting on player’s backs. But in football more often than not you create your own destiny, and fault inevitably should be, and will be, saddled with the manager.
Wenger’s philosophy isn’t without merit. There were moments last season when we got glimpses of a side capable of great things. I fully expect players like Samir Nasri, Carlos Vela, Johan Djourou and Theo Walcott to continue to improve over the coming season, and Andrei Arshavin certainly looks like a fan favourite in the making.
But unless Wenger concedes his talented young players need some older heads to play alongside, the groundwork he has laid for Arsenal’s future will become worthless. A fifth place finish would mean losing their better players, and Arsenal may consider ending their relationship with the man who has guided them to so many glories.
Topics: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, English Premier League
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Absolutely brilliant piece. You managed to rehash all the unfounded speculation at other sites and turn it into a depressing, doomsaying piece that the bedwetters will cream over.
Shame you didn’t spend any time suggesting who would be a better manager than Wenger, or pause to consider the miracle of 13 consecutive years of Champions League qualification even with the financial constraints of building Britain’s most modern stadium, but that’s just nitpicking….
July 3rd, 2009 @ 17:48Yep MJC said it all – one for the glory seeking cry babies that seem to be in abundance nowadays. I just hope its fans like who’s last season at Arsenal it is……
July 3rd, 2009 @ 18:05spot on article!! but im goin out on a limb, wenger doesnt win the league or champions league and thats it hes walkin. nevermind 4th or 5th place…fabregas wont wait anymore, his character is goin by with little success…and its clear barca would have him in a heartbeat.
July 3rd, 2009 @ 18:48Its been a case of maybe they’ll do it next year for 5 years now….in the modern day im afraid…you cant win anything with kids
mjc, that’s an outstanding post. my sentiments exactly. with any other manager, we sit at 8th with fulham and the other average clubs. people forget how much more teams like tottenham spend…yet we are a lock for the top 4 perenially. yes, we could bring in a benitez, who’s success is based on spending. but we’d be teetering on the brink of being the next leeds utd. spending doesn’t always work. and fans should remember, our healthy squad had a 12 point lead over utd 2 yrs ago. and we were never quite healthy last year….we are that good. and now we have depth. what are these geniuses going to say when we sit atop the board next year and are playing the most quality football on the continent? there’s no cure for stupid.
July 3rd, 2009 @ 19:05Really a bit of a ‘punchless’ article…….
July 3rd, 2009 @ 19:20Well said mjc! This pleb of a journalist has simply jumped on the band wagon with the fellow neigh sayers too foolish to see past the lack of silverware. In my opinion there isn’t another manager in the world that could have kept Arsenal in the running with the big spenders with the limited funds available. Not only has Wenger managed to keep Arsenal one of the strongest clubs in the champions league but he has also been instrumental in laying the foundations of one of the best youth team integration systems in the world.
The future for Arsenal is very bright, the rest of the premiership would do well to take a leaf out of Wengers book before considering spending upwards of £30 million on a single player!!
July 3rd, 2009 @ 20:09but in a summer where all top clubs are targeting massive signing? wish top clubs are u talking about? beside real MAD-rid ofcourse.
July 3rd, 2009 @ 20:13I found Mr Ngyen`s comment very sensible and truthful. There is much more pressure at the top of the Premier League now than there was even two seasons ago. The young players at Arsenal would arguably be the best of any club in the world and, given time, they will produce the goods but if it`s pieces of silver the fans want right now then they do need re enforcing and Arsene Wenger is well aware of this.To do this he would have to join the rat race and he doesn`t have rat race money, even if he did I don`t think it would change his dream. Most clubs are happy just to be part of the Premier League and staying there is an achievement. Wenger will only leave if the fans get damp feet, I`m sure the board will support him. So, to the unanswered question of who might replace him? Hopefully no one for some years to come but Gus Hiddink looks a lightly candidate.
July 3rd, 2009 @ 20:48Well said mjc.
“Despite almost universal calls to sign some established players” – When Arsene isn’t the manager then all those universal voices might have an impact. Arsene listens only to his own judgement on matters regarding the team. Fact.
“The Frenchman has always been reluctant to spend big sums on single players” – he has explained to your sort on countless occasions that this isn’t the case …. and you don’t even seem to know that Ivan Gazidis deals with ALL ‘ business’ on the transfer front ….. so you’ll not be aware of Arsene expressing his annoyance to Gazidis for allowing YaYa Toure to slip the net …. or the emergency board meeting it led to and the extra funds it’s made available (Get your facts right).
Your speculation about the dressing room has been managed well by Arsene, there’s no mention of Rosicky’s return to full fitness, or that of Eduardo.
QUESTION: You said, “Arsenal fan’s faith in Wenger would be permanently fractured” ….. I take it you mean fans like you, right?
OK, since your sort seem to be everywhere these days online, perhaps you can speak on behalf of everyone like yourself and answer this question: WHEN YOU FINALLY MAKE ARSENE GIVE UP AND LEAVE ….. WHICH PLAYERS WON’T BE LEAVING WITH HIM?
My Arsenal will become like Ebay, nobody will want to come, everyone will want to leave, nobody will invest in the club, half the stadium will be empty. Arsenal will be an empty shell. Kroenke @ Usmanov won’t be able to do anything with the empty shell once Arsene leaves …. and next to the bust of Herbert Chapman …. there will always be a bust of Arsene.
July 3rd, 2009 @ 20:54@MJC. Word.
July 3rd, 2009 @ 22:56@Van Nguyen. Rehash rehash rehash.
Good article but…
Thats stupid to think wenger will leave/be sacked if arsenal finish fifth.
Wenger has a job for life and deserves the benifit of doubt.
He has built this club up, he has brought these players in, and he has masterminded some of the greatest moments in football ever.
Please people put some trust in this man, he knows what he is doing, you people know nothing, are you the manager of Arsenal or any other football team for that matter, no
July 4th, 2009 @ 00:17Article is hilarious
How you could conveniently forget to mention the fact that wenger doesnt HAVE more then 15 mil to spend on transfers is beyond me
July 4th, 2009 @ 03:30Wenger may have been a top manager but the club under his and the board’s guidance have taken a wrong turn if you consider realistically challenging for silverware. If investors are willing to put their cash into the club and decrease not increase the debt what’s the problem?
July 4th, 2009 @ 07:35There are some quality responses on here!
@MJC: “You managed to rehash all the unfounded speculation at other sites and turn it into a depressing, doomsaying piece that the bedwetters will cream over.”
and
@Arsenal1Again: ” My Arsenal will become like Ebay, nobody will want to come, everyone will want to leave, nobody will invest in the club, half the stadium will be empty. Arsenal will be an empty shell. Kroenke @ Usmanov won’t be able to do anything with the empty shell once Arsene leaves …. and next to the bust of Herbert Chapman …. there will always be a bust of Arsene.”
Brillant comments both! I’m not commenting on the sentiment just the style. Both of you should write…how about an article on here??
On the subject, I actually wrote an article on Wenger early last season http://soccerlens.com/arsene-wenger-legacy-at-the-crossroads/10906/ where I suggested that Arsene, much as I like him (as a Man Utd fan), was being seduced by the sexy football belief and his relaiance on youth.
Having watched Arsenal last season here’s my latest view. This is a team only short of 2 or 3 players and we all know in which positions. After a bad start last season and then a run of injuries Arsenal came back to their best later in the season and only just came-up short.
I’ve never seen Arsene as gutted as he was after the 2nd leg CL defeat to Utd and I felt the penny had well and truly dropped as regards the transfer thing. He knows he needs a good defensive midfielder and a couple of decent defenders (1 already on board). With that and the progress of some of the younger squad members Arsenal can be the complete team.
The transfer market is difficult but not necessarily so for players in the positions Arsenal want. I expect Arsene to sign 2 or 3 more players by August and if they are the right ones Arsenal will be real contenders next season.
Personally, I believe that there is no question of him being sacked. Top guy, top manager…and he may be on the brink of a whole new era. As a Utd fan I hope not but as a football fan I ask would anyone be more worthy?
July 4th, 2009 @ 11:37What are other teams playing for? For example doesnt ManCity or Bolton etc want champs league soccer?
July 4th, 2009 @ 13:02Arsenal, oh Arsenal have ended another year without a trophy……Is Westham or Asto Villa supposed to be playing for relegation survival only?
The premier league or any other trophies are not for the top four alone.
The manager should bring in top players in which position? Replace Van Persie, Fabregas or who. Of the players who’re calling for reinforcements who is willing to sitout and watch as the recruits are doing their thing?!!!
Some one remind me what did Chelsea win last year with the most expensive squad assembled?
The Arsenal fans comments are hilarious!!! Wenger didn’t need to spend money like Chelsea & Liverpool cos unlike them he inherited a title winning side with the best back 4 & keeper in the country plus a certain Bergkamp had just arrived.
But wait a minute £21m on Reyes, £15m on Nasri, the same on Arshavin, £11m Vermaelen, £9m Jeffers & shunning £25m in cash for Cole to get Gallas on a swap?
Wenger has spent/wasted as much money as any other manager and his inability to get £30m for Henry & Viera when United get £80m for Ronaldo shows just how woeful he is with money management.
How many times do the board need to come out and say “there is £70m to spend” before the arsene knows brigade believe it?
His policy of buying youth is just a vanity project for his ego cos he lost the mind games to Fergie years ago and gave up on ever winning the league again.
July 4th, 2009 @ 16:54Forgot to say he overpays the youngsters and squad players too
oh and 3 titles in 13 years hardly a legend
coincidence that he won everything before Mourinho and Benitez came to the league i.e before there was a top 4 when it was a straight two horse race every year. A two horse race that he won 3 times but finished 2nd in 5 times… sounds like a loser to me not a winner
July 4th, 2009 @ 17:10wenger needs to be put under pressure to deliver like other coaches,i feel he is too comfortable as a coach and appears too sturborn to listen to yearnings and emotions of fans loyal to the club
July 4th, 2009 @ 22:41Right before Barcelona played Espanol and lost at home after 22 games Pep Guardiola remarked that Barca’s first obligation is to play the way the great Barca’s side had played and then winning comes second, nobody dared to say anything why becuase he was winning, somebody also mentioned that Wenger won with an inherited squad, so does that make Pep less of a coach or does that actually show how good a coach he is , I would think it makes him actually look a better coach than his predecessor.We could go on and on, but just to address this article, Arsenal will not finish 5th I doubt they will even finish 3rd if Rosicky plays , yeah somebody would say but Rosicky is injury prone, well look at his career be4 he got injured and you see a different story, Henry never wanted to leave Arsenal untill the last year when barca had approached him after the champions league finals now as an economist whats the opportunity cost to Arsenal loosing Henry/Viera or Man U loosing Ronaldo for 80 million pounds,one thing I’d bet everybody would say is Man u would have made alot more money with Ronaldo around, rather than him making the money for Madrid. We are confusing loyalty here from Henry and the 80 million compensation that Man u have taken for loosing a pleyer that did not want to be around.Most fans are increasingly believing what is said in the newspapers and the tabloids, and want everybody to think thats the way things are, but in reality Arsenal will compete, all depends if they play well.
July 5th, 2009 @ 01:23IN ARSENE WE TRUST !!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 7th, 2009 @ 09:25They always try to walk it in!
July 9th, 2009 @ 08:34VERY WELL WROTE MR NGUYEN. IN MY VIEW WENGER WOULD MAKE A GREAT COACH. SOMEONE MENTIONED EARLIER THE APAULIN FEE HE GOT FOR HENRY I MEAN THAT WAS A JOKE. HENRY IS STILL VERY MUCH A TOP PLAYER AND THEY COULD OF GOT UPWARDS OF 30 MILLION FOR HIM. AT THE END OF THE DAY IN YEARS TO COME NO ONE WILL REMEMEBER HOW MANY GREAT YOUNG PLAYERS HE BROUGHT THRU. ITS ALL ABOUT THE SILVERWARE! AND AT PRESENT ARSENAL CAN’T COMPETE OVER A SEASON WITH THE STRENGHT IN DEPT OF UNITED, CHELSEA AND PERHAPS EVEN LIVERPOOL. AND I F*CKIN HATE LIVERPOOL!
July 14th, 2009 @ 16:39