Arsenal and Wenger debate – Consistent or stuck in a rut?

There was some good news for Arsenal fans this week, without the pain or pleasure of actually watching our team perform, with the defeat of Premier League rivals Manchester United continuing the remarkable record of Arsenal qualifying for the Champions League under Arsene Wenger.

And as I sit and watch Chelsea at Liverpool tonight I thought about that achievement in the light of all the fan frustration and the debate that this season has thrown up. THe problem for me is that it is not clear cut in any way. At times I agree with one side and at times the other.

THere is no question that seeing a great chance for the Premier League title pass Arsenal by this season was hard to take, but for me the waters of blame are muddied by our awful injury luck. I truly believe that luck plays a big part in sport and Arsenal have not had much in years but at the same time I wonder if the Gunners have just become stuck in a rut.

Back to the Liverpool and Chelsea match and there are two clubs that have endured a much harder EPL campaign than we have and it will not be the first time in recent years that they have finished out of the UCL places. THey have both spent more money than Arsenal as well so Wenger’s consistency is amazing in that respect.

Both have changed managers often as well and it has not alway been successful but every now and then it is and I wonder if Arsenal are sacrificing some brilliant years, with some bad ones along the way, for consistency that gets it’s own rewards but for the fans who want true glory is more like being stuck in a rut of mediocracy.

Like I say, I change my mind about this on a regular basis. What do you guys think?

Bob

Tags Chelsea Liverpool

14 Comments

  1. Arsenal are consistent under Wenger, there’s no doubt, but it’s average consistency, if that! I’d prefer us to have a mixture of great and awful seasons, rather than what we’ve been used to. I think Chelsea are a good example of this.

    Many fans defending Wenger, seem to take great delight in mentioning the plight of Chelsea this season, but what amazes me about these fans, is how short their memories are! Chelsea won the league last season, and made the Champions League semi the season before. Whilst Arsenal have been doing exactly what? Chelsea may have gone through a lot of managers over the decade or so, and have had the odd poor season, but have still had some great seasons, and have won everything since Arsenal last won a major trophy.

    I am not saying I particularly like the way Abramovic goes about his business, and one could argue his meddling has really contributed to some of those poor seasons, but overall, it’s been a huge success. I’d rather us also having up and down seasons, if it meant winning the major trophies. Wouldn’t Arsenal fans like to see their club finally lift the European Cup? Even Villa have won it!!

    1. Anyone that red thumbs you is in denial. You just spoke the truth, we’re consistent with being average, how many times did we have a chance to keep our place in 1st spot ? Last year we had the best chance to go to the CL quarter final and failed miserably. The manager only knows how to make the team achieve results that were expected when we were in stadium debt, even hough we’re no longer financially restricted he’s still stuck in that mentality of “we can keep losing games as long as we don’t lose top 4”. It’s why we still have players like Walcott, Mertesacker, Arteta, etc. in the squad when they should have been replaced with better quality players last year. Arsenal is consistent at crushing expectations, and it shouldn’t be applauded.

      1. You think 4th place is average while winning the FA cup 2 outta the last 3 seasons? Lmao stay in school kid

        1. Do you even watch Arsenal ? By a top club’s standard we are very average. We fail to win the PL when it’s handed to us on a silver platter, TWICE in 2013 and 2016. We also fail to progress in the CL when facing severely weaker teams than us. Any other top club would never succeed at failing like we do. We are consistent at not meeting people’s expectations, thats the sad reality and why I say Arsenal are average. They’re good if you want to be seen as a top 6 club, but they’re nothing special if you want to be seen in the same light as the likes of Bayern.

    2. How can you compare us to Chelsea whose spent over £1b on players the last 12 years

      1. Ok, but now let’s look at Juventus, Atletico and Dortmund. All spend less than us yet have more quality than us.

  2. Also, I don’t see how the injuries can be deemed bad luck, when they occur with such consistency. Obviously, something is fundamentally wrong at Arsenal which is not helping or causing these injuries.

  3. Qualifying for the championsleague is all fine and good, no disrespect but credit to Wenger on that! I would like to see our club Excell in winning the league and even the holy grail in football “the championsleague “! We are still driving a jaguar while the other big clubs are moving in Ferrari ‘s and Porsche’s! We need to upgrade as a club and stop settling for second best!

  4. What was the Question, again? ?
    Your not the only one that’s confused Bob.
    This Article was as confusing as they come! ?

  5. Great article here –> bergkampesque dot com/2013/04/05/same-back-five-gervinho-or-podolski-on-lw-cazorla-or-rosicky-in-hole-wba-pre-view/

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