Two ways that Wenger has let down the Arsenal players this season

2 ways Arsene Wenger has let the players down. by Max Moon

Over the past week, many pundits and fans have jumped to the defense of Wenger, about how the players have let him down and though they have showed little to no backbone over the past few games, they are simply not to blame.

Santi Cazorla

Santi, Santiago, little magician, call the man whatever you want, but the point is that he is the most important piece in our formation, take him out and the team lacks that link which connects defense-midfield-attack. Though his injury did halt our progression in this title campaign, his injury was in October ffs. Oddly enough, after his injury the players (surprisingly) rallied together and started getting results. However, losing such a pivotal component will have its effects and the signs were already showing towards the end of November, where we somehow managed to secure points, against both PSG and Manchester United, who dominated us heavily in both games. Though the players were somehow managing it, they were starting to fade rapidly and come to mid-December we lost back to back games, the sad thing is not once did we try something new and fast forward now to March, we still haven’t attempted anything new. The fact is that the Manager didn’t do them any favor and in all honesty we look lost in our play and confused, (duh) since we don’t have a like for like replacement for Santi in the squad, (another problem) yet still persisted with the same 4-2-3-1 formation…

Tactics

This season, we’ve had one of the most diverse attacking setups we’ve had in a long time, yet for some reason we seem to not deploy these setups effectively, for example against Chelsea away, we had seen in their game against Tottenham that they were poor at defending aerial threats, yet we didn’t play Giroud. Whilst against Liverpool, we knew that they would leave spaces to run into, yet didn’t play a more fluid attacking front line. Even against West Brom, who sit back for large amounts of the game we played a player (Theo), who’s strongest asset is his runs in behind… Though World Class players can make anything happen regardless of the opposition, our strongest asset was our Squad not our starting 11 and we simply haven’t used it enough.

Also, the biggest question I have for Wenger is if this squad was good enough last season (where we bought 0 outfield players) and failed, after we spent 100 million+ why are we even worse?

Max

15 Comments

  1. Regularly I checked the news hoping that the board will announce wenger departure, even-though deep down I almost sure he will not leave … Old stubborn enough to stay …

    1. Similar to being in a transfer window as an AFC supporter then!

      Browser – refresh, still no-one signed,
      Browser – refresh, …

  2. He will let down the fans and players if he doesn’t leave. Only men that would be happy would be the board:

    No ambition to be the best means no investment and only
    AW is gonna wanna continue to manage a club shooting for
    2nd, 3rd, 4th,5th,6th or perhaps 7th best.

  3. And how many times that the players have let Wenger down? You’re talking about Cazorla, yet you don’t talk about Ramsey, Ox, and Xhaka who should have stepped up and fill Santi’s shoes. They all failed miserably with the exception of a couple of decent performance from Ox. You talk about tactics, yet without players performing consistently at their highest level tactics mean absolutely jack $h!te. Look, Wenger is not a saint, and has plenty of faults, but it’s time that XI guys on the pitch came out and took some responsibility as well.

    1. @Vlad

      I am sorry, but the players are blameless. Don’t get me wrong, they have been very poor, especially of late, but overall, it’s because of Wenger!

      A lot of them are simply not good enough, but yet they don’t get sold? In fact, Wenger is so delusional, he’s kept some rubbish players at the club for a decade! Wenger has not inherited a single one them, it’s his squad. I don’t complain if Ramsey, or Jenkinson, play rubbish, because I expect that from them, being rubbish players. So why does Wenger keep playing them? You talk about them performing consistently at their highest levels, but you have to realise that their highest levels, are not that of a quality player, and never will be.

      Tactics, and mentality, play a HUGE role in a successful team. Just look at Atletico Madrid, or better still, Leicester. Do they have the best players, the best squad, the most money, no they do not. But what they do have: is a starting XI that is suited to the tactics, and formation. They have got the balance right. They also have that fighting spirit, which is the mentality needed to win the big prizes. I have no doubt we’d be challenging for the title with someone like Simeone in charge. Even with the same squad, that contains lots of average players, he would get the best out them, and have them fighting for every point. If they didn’t, then Simeone wouldn’t play them, unlike Wenger.

      My overall point, is that even if Wenger had the best starting XI in the world, and unlimited funds, he would still struggle, because of not having the correct tactics, and not instilling a winning mentality. How do you expect the players to perform when they’re not given any direction pre match whatsoever? And those poor players are completely on their own once a game starts, because Wenger just sits there and plays with his zipper. You might see him get up once or twice to complain to the forth official, and he may say a few words to Bould, but that’s about it. There’s no in game management at all!

  4. The players are blameless?! Put that sigaweed down, and slowly walk away. EVERYONE is to blame for the mess we find ourselves in at the moment. I repeat, EVERYONE. From the owner to the manager to the players.

      1. Of course the owners are to blame as well, but please tell me that you actually understand that they have no input in what happens on a match day, and during a match. That is the manager’s job. He’s paid over £8 million a year, to make the right decisions for Arsenal. Which he almost NEVER DOES! For example, how often can say that Wenger has picked his best starting XI over the last four years?

        You also have to realise, that unlike ANY other club in the world, Wenger’s responsibilities go beyond coaching. He’s involved in all aspects of the club. Hence, he should be held EVEN MORE accountable than your average manager. When you’ve got rival fans singing how much they want Wenger to stay, doesn’t that say everything you need to know?

        A simple way of explaining why the players are almost blameless, is that our problems have been going on for at least a good 8/9 years. In that time, a lot of players have come, and gone. We’ve gone from a very average squad, to a very good squad. Wenger’s gone from hardly any money, to having huge funds. Yet despite this, our problems remain, in fact, they’re worse than they have ever been!

        So changing players, and improving the squad, hasn’t made any difference at all! All the problems persist, and are actually worse. So how is it the players fault? What we haven’t done, is change our manager. That’s where the problems steam from.

        An extremely simplistic example, that even a neanderthal could understand is Ramsey. He’s consistently one of our worst performers, and injury prone. Very rarely does he play well. Yet somehow he’s a regular, and he’s been at our club for almost a decade. So should we blame him for playing badly, or would it be more constructive to ask: why is he even playing, and why is he still an Arsenal player? Ramsey is a CM, not a winger, yet Wenger has mostly used him on the RW. Should we blame Ramsey for not performing as winger, or should we question Wenger as to why he’s regularly playing Ramsey out of position?

        Blame – Wenger 80% Board 15% Players 5%

        People who suffer as a consequence – Fans 100%

        1. Before you said the players are blameless, now you say that they are 5% responsible. So which is it? Here’s my take on it: Kroenke/Gazidis/Board – 60% at fault; Wenger – 20%; Players – 20%. You know what the biggest problem with the club is? Complacency… Everyone is just happy to collect their paychecks. There’s no accountability for underperforming as long as the money keeps rolling in. If the owner told the manager: “Get the title in 2 years, or you’re fired”, trust me, we’d see different Wenger, and different players’ attitude. So stop making Wenger a scapegoat, because he’s not the biggest culprit. If he was, he’d be gone from the club years ago. But I repeat, the problem is way BIGGER and sits way HIGHER than Wenger.

          1. I meant to say “almost blameless” in the first paragraph, of the my first reply, but I think I have more than subsequently made up for it with my detailed
            explanation.

            I get what you’re saying about the board, and they need to be more involved, and more decisive. But doesn’t their lack of involvement just prove my point? Wenger is the one calling the shots, so shouldn’t he be held more accountable than anyone else? And as I also keep saying, our major problems are on match days. We could have the greatest board in the world, that gave Wenger £200 million every summer, but they still would have ZERO involvement on a match day. They can give Wenger the best tools to work with, but they do not have a say in how Wenger uses those tools. Also, even if the board are not that bothered about results, it doesn’t mean Wenger has to have the same approach does it. Why doesn’t he push himself? Change tactics, formation, sell players?

            How can I be making Wenger a scapegoat, when he’s had so much time, and money to get it right. My opinion is based only facts. You’re just making excuses for him. Every year, our failings never seem to be Wenger’s fault, even though he’s the most powerful manger in the world. Are you saying a manager should NEVER be held accountable for results? If nothing bad is the manager’s fault, then I guess nothing good that happens is anything to do with him. Works both ways!

            The ONLY reason he hasn’t been sacked is Champions League qualification. He’s not been kept around because he’s a top manager.

            1. When did I say that I think the manager should not be held accountable? I said that the fault lies with everyone, including Wenger. But in my humble opinion, he shouldn’t be taking blame for everything. There’s a saying “fish rots from the head”. And if you think that Wenger is the “head”, then we should just end the conversation right here and now. It starts with the owner. He treats Arsenal as business, and not a football club. Anywhere else Wenger would get the sack by now, but not here. Because he’s actually doing his job, and he’s doing it WELL. If the objective from the owner and the board was winning trophies vs. getting top 4 every year, we’d have a different Arsenal, manager, and players. But we don’t, hence the complacency. Have you seen a show called “Moonlighting” with Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepard? She plays a former super model, who owns a bunch of businesses, including a private detective agency headed by Bruce Willis. She finds herself in a bit of a financial trouble, and decides to liquidate the place. When asked “Why” by Bruce Willis, she says because you’re losing money. His response was: “… because we were meant to lose money… tell us to make money, and we will”. You can make a very similar comparison with Arsenal here. I repeat, it’s been treated like business for years now, not a football club. That’s why we find ourselves in this mess, not because of Wenger. Do you honestly think that if Wenger is replaced by someone else things will change for the better? Think about it. The owner will stay the same, and so are the objectives. They’ll just get another “Yes” man, who will be tasked with the same old crap. Face it, AFC has been going backwards for a long time now. And if anything, Wenger did a helluva job covering it up. But you can only do it for so long until it gets exposed, and now finally when the $hite hit the fan, everyone is up in arms.

              1. You don’t seem to be listening at all. Of course the board are only interested in profits, I know that, all Arsenal fans know that. What you don’t seem to grasp, is that Wenger doesn’t have to go along with it, does he. If he was unhappy with the boards approach, then why hasn’t he left for a club that has genuine ambitions of success on the pitch? He hasn’t left because he’s in cahoots with the board, and he’d get found out at another club. In fact, he’s been found out over the last fours because the financial excuse has been well and truly buried! Wenger picks up one of the best wages in world football, and he’s under no pressure to succeed. What you need to realise, is that it’s Wenger’s decision to do this. No one forced him to become unambitious, complacent, and to always accept mediocrity.

                As I keep saying, even with this current board, lots of other manager’s would do a lot better. Is it really the boards fault that our players cannot zonal mark, or keep a clean sheet to save their lives? Was it the boards fault to keep Giroud as our main striker for four years? Was it the boards fault to play Arteta as a DM? And so on, and so on…

                1. And you’re not listening to what I’m saying. Why wouldn’t Wenger want to go along with it? He’s making 8mil per year, he would be a fool to turn it down. If you and I were in his shoes, we’d do the same thing. I said it before, and I’ll say it again. Wenger did and still does a great job. If he didn’t, he’d be fired a long time ago. As for who could do better than him, I’m gonna say not too many. Look at Klopp struggling at Pool. Look at Pep trying to adjust in EPL. Look at Mou who spent billions yet still to make a good impression with United. You think any one of those can do better at Arsenal? BULL-effin-$H!TE. You will never convince me that. In fact, I predict that as soon as Wenger is gone we’re gonna suffer the same as United did after Fergie stepped down. Remember Moyes? I knew several Arsenal fans who wanted him to replace Wenger. Hilarious doesn’t even begin to describe it. I hate to repeat myself, but until the owner and his objectives change, and until they stop treating Arsenal as business and start treating it as a football club, everything will stay the same, WITH or WITHOUT Wenger in charge.

                  1. Of course it’s hard to turn down £8 million plus a year, but how much does Wenger need to live on? He could have still easily gone to another club and earned a huge salary. But he decided to going along with the board, at the risk of damaging his reputation, and he’s now damaged it beyond repair.

                    Wenger has NOT done a great job. George Graham won three major trophies, just like Wenger, but did it in half the time, and he also won a European trophy. Wenger hasn’t won a major trophy for a whopping 13 years! Even when all of our rivals finish below us, he STILL cannot get anywhere near winning the league! He’s only won two domestic cups in 12 years, and went through a nine year dry spell. And you honestly think no other manager could have done any better? That is a joke, to even make such a claim.

                    You cannot compare Wenger’s current situation with the likes of Pep, Mourinho, and Klopp, because they have all just started at their respective clubs. It’s not their squads, and they’ll need time to build a team in their own image. They’ve inherited a lot of players they would never buy, whereas EVERY player at Arsenal is a Wenger signing. But if do want to do a comparison, then fine. Do you believe it’ll take anyone one of them 13 years, and counting, to win a major trophy?

                    Finally, can you, and many others, please stop comparing Wenger to Ferguson. It’s beyond embarrassing! It’s like comparing Murray with Federer! Go look at what Fergie has won, and also remember how much he won in Scotland on a limited budget.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors