Arsenal fans should appreciate Arsene more by Sam P
The section of the Arsenal fans that are fed up with Arsene Wenger and keep asking for the club to move on and get a new manager have gone a little bit quiet at the minute. They do make some good points and it will not take too much for the questions to come flying in again, but for now the manager appears to have a bit of leeway, even with the team still sitting outside the top four of the Premier League.
With a good looking draw in the Champions League and a home tie with Middlesborough in the fifth round of the FA cup, along with a return to form on the pitch and the signing of a quality central defender, things are looking quite rosy for us right now. This made me think it was a good time for a bit of Wenger appreciation.
And the curious case of Joel Campbell, in my opinion, just highlights how much the Prof does for the club and how hard his job is. We took for granted a place in the Champions League every year even when we knew there was little or no money to spend and we expect our manager to get everything right, all the time.
But look how complicated things have been with Campbell, just one player in a big squad. No work permit and then having to sort out loan deals to the right clubs, keeping an eye on him while considering whether to sign more strikers.
Even since Campbell returned to the squad last summer, there have been issues of whether to play him, loan him, sell him and his agent keeps popping up and having a moan. Wenger is trying to consider the squad, the present situation and need, the future of the club, the best for the player and of course the best for the club as a whole, not to mention the small matter of keeping us lot happy.
Campbell has now gone to Villarreal, more for his own sake and the future of his Arsenal career than for this season and that could come back to bite Wenger, but it was a decision that had to be made. At least Wenger made sure that he signed a new contract before letting him go, to avoid a Carlos Vela situation.
Only time will tell if Wenger has done the right thing. You can’t win em but how about some credit when he does win them and a bit of understanding when he doesn’t?