Has Wenger ‘lost it’? Former Arsenal star claims he has…

Paul Merson has claimed that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has lost his tactical edge,and can no longer see him as the man to get them back challenging for the Premier League title. The Gunners finished outside the top four for the first time in 21 years, the first time under the French manager that the scenario has occurred.

Wenger has come under increased pressure this season, with protests going on and off throughout the entire campaign, calling for him to quit the club, with some simply calling for change.

The 67 year-old’s contract is set to expire in the coming weeks, but he is believed to have a new two-year deal sat on the table awaiting his signature, and he is set to announce his decision following the FA Cup final on Saturday.

Paul Merson is amongst those who thinks he should call time on his career as Gunners manager, whilst stating he thinks the boss has ‘lost it’.

‘If they keep Wenger, I don’t see them getting close to the top,’ Merson said. ‘I just think tactically Wenger has lost it.

‘Sometimes you’ve got to play games like horses for courses. (Jose) Mourinho goes to places, sets up and makes sure they don’t get beat, Wenger does not play that game. He opens the game up and says: “You have a shot, we have a shot, best team wins.”

‘That doesn’t work anymore. It’s alright when you’ve got Henry, Bergkamp, Pires, Ljungberg, Overmars, Petit, Sol Campbell, Vieira, Lauren… saying: “You have a shot, we have a shot” is alright then, they’ll rip anybody to shreds! But not this team.’

Has Wenger lost his tactical edge? Is it more likely that the players have either let him down mentally or simply failed to meet their potential over the years?

Pat J

Tags Arsenal Wenger

7 Comments

  1. Whether Wenger has lost his edge or not it’s not fair that Ranieri will lose his job while Wenger keeps his.

    1. With a team which won the PL last year (OK, without Kante this year), Ranieri managed to get 9 defeats by end december. Wenger lost 9 games for the whole season.
      Firing Ranieri was a shame considering what he has done for Leicester, but this is just non sense to compare his situation to Wenger’s.

  2. Average first team signings, an academy losing its charm, bad scouting team, and average manager who does not cope with demands of modern day football. A self sustaining premier club that became a case study is going to become part of history soon if the same mentality and staff stay.

  3. Wenger lost it long time ago, just that his fans made him look like a messiah, now even them have started to wake up and discover how he got away with everything for so long

  4. When he joined he inherited an excellent back-four, and with the help of David Dein, he signed some world-class players. Using the most fashionable style of football at the time (IE. Copying Barcelona) he enjoyed success in his first 10 years.

    However, Wenger never had a brilliant tactical edge in the first place.

    His original contribution was to change the player’s diets and introduce healthier lifestyles that were more in keeping with being professional athletes. He also did a great job of buying relatively inexpensive/youth players and making them good enough to be a top-four side.

    But nowadays even what used to be considered “Small clubs”” have some serious spending money, and shopping in the bargain basement for top-four won’t work anymore.

    Those days are gone, and times have moved on. Unfortunately Wenger has not.

    1. Barca looked nothing like the old Arsenal, it was when Pep came along and Fabregas for us that he played similar to them. He created the style the Invincibles played in, no other team on the planet looked like us. They coined it Wenger-ball.

  5. I don’t know if it’s that he’s lost it, I think he’s just stubborn and set in his beliefs. I think Wenger knows how to play that game Merson is talking about, but he just doesn’t believe in it unless his back is right against the wall. He likes to try entertain, thinks he has a responsibility towards entertaining. Even players in the team that make us weak, the ones that can be both good but also a liability. I think he knows himself that those players hold us back, but the man is either too stubborn or too attached to do anything about it. I think allot of frustration comes from people knowing Wenger could do much better, if he sorted out tactics and gave players less time to prove themselves he could do much better.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors