Should Wenger stay or should he go?
Why Wenger should stay
He is one of Arsenal’s most successful managers of all time. Under his reign he has won the double with Arsenal and created the ‘Untouchables’ of 2004, with Arsenal going through an entire season undefeated. 3 Premier Leagues, 4 FA Cups and the club’s first Champions League final. This is a man who brought the world Youri Djorkaeff and George Weah, and Arsenal Thierry Henry. He is the Premiership’s second longest serving manager for a reason.
He’s smart – he has a degree and a Master’s degree, and was also a former sweeper with first-hand knowledge of the game.
He’s good with money. Despite not breaking the bank like many competitors, he has always brought Arsenal Champion’s League football and created some world-class players, consistently being part of England’s ‘Big Four’. He also bought Nicolas Anelka for £500k, and sold him two years later for £23.5m, a tidy £23m profit. Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord were bought with the money.
Wenger is (partly) responsible for one of the greatest Facebook groups ever; ‘’Arsene Wenger steals foreskins and irons them on his face.” https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4929122102
He might have failed to land Phil Jagielka or Gary Cahill, but might have banked a bargain in signing an experienced German international from Werder Bremen for only £8m. Per Mertesacker has played 75 times for Germany and is only 26, whereas Cahill was allegedly priced at nearly £20m, and at 25 only has 4 caps. Wenger also brought in South Korean striker and captain Chu Young Park from Monaco for £3m, which is a lot cheaper than most Premier League reserves these days. Finally, he snatched Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta from Everton for £10m and Brazilian left back Andre Santos from Fenerbache for £6m. All for less than some of the £30m players Arsenal were being linked to. But will it pay off?
Why Wenger should go
Like Rafael Benitez at Liverpool, many fans and pundits think Wenger’s time has come. Benitez won trophies, and Wenger did too, but towards the end it was no longer happening. Liverpool fans tired of Benitez’s arrogance and poor signings, and some Arsenal fans were annoyed Wenger seemed to ignore Arsenal’s problems on the pitch and point blank refuse to sign anyone, even after Fabregas and Nasri left. An 8-2 drubbing by Man Utd seemed to be the drastic wake-up call the Frenchman needed.
He is something of a cheapskate. He also does not seem to be persistent enough, letting Fulham stopper Mark Schwarzer slip through his fingers when he could have solved Arsenal’s goalkeeping problem For years fans have been crying out for big purchases as Man Utd and Chelsea strengthen their title-winning squads, Liverpool challenge and Man City emerge. He has finally opened the purse strings, but went for the cheaper options rather than the big money buys fans were expecting before the transfer window closed. . Will he live to regret it?
The no English policy – the recent emergence of WIlshere, the improvement of Theo Walcott, the acquisition of Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain and even Aaron Ramsey (ok, he’s Welsh) are notable exceptions. But apart from a fringe player and a few reserves, that’s about it. Arsenal have long been renowned for their cosmopolitan line-up and have attracted criticism for their consistent lack of English or even British players featuring in the starting eleven. This is the team that once boasted the famous England back four, Seaman in goal and Ian Wright up front.
He is no stranger to controversy. Despite Arsenal being historically one of the most undisciplined teams in the Premier League (they have not finished a match with 11 men on the pitch this season), e seems to turn a blind eye to this but never fails to spot the opposition doing the exact same thing. He has had a famous war of words with Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, and pissed off the FA on more than one occasion. Someone as intelligent as experienced as him should be leading by example. Then again, it seems to work for Alex Ferguson.
Finally, he is simply not getting the best out of his players. Not only has he lost Cesc Fabregas (something that seemed unthinkable a few years ago) and Samir Nasri, he is also not getting the best out of star players such as Andrei Arshavin or Tomas Rosicky. Only Robin Van Persie seems to be on form right now.
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