Out come the pitchforks by Big Gun
First of all, I’d like to say I am shocked at the amount of verbal abuse being thrown around on this forum. We are all Arsenal supporters at end of the day with different opinions, that being said a certain amount of respect needs to be adhered to. Save it for the Spuds and Mancs please.
Yes we are all frustrated after yesterday’s game, in fact pretty much most of this season has been frustrating but I’d like to point out that many of the games we have drawn and even lost have simply been unlucky turn of events. Many of the goals conceded have really been against the run of play. It is a combination of that, lacklustre performances from certain players, injuries and managerial mistakes have ultimately been our undoing so far this season. Let’s just say the footballing gods have it in for us.
Wenger is once again in the hotseat and it seems the support and belief generated from winning two trophies not so long ago has all but been trampled to death by the angry mob waving torches and pitchforks as they call for his head. Yet only a few months ago, as Arteta lifted the cup, we were all united in celebration and in praise of Wenger and his team. I don’t think I read one negative article or comment about Wenger during that period. All I can say is that fans are quick to support our manager when things are going well, but when things go pear shaped, the same fans will do a 180 and call for his head and hop onto that bandwagon that lasts until we start winning again. It is pathetic.
But yesterday was a complete shambles and I will call a spade a spade – Wenger was ultimately to blame for our loss. Sure, they scored a sublime free kick enough to make David Beckham ask for a replay, which I think in turn spurred them on to get a second, but Wenger really should have done something about Chambers and for that he deserves a massive scolding. But please, let us not throw the baby out with the bath water. We have been robbed in so many games which have nothing to do with Wenger. For example, in the Anderlecht game, one of their goals was offside and because of that, they pushed on and on. To make things worse, our defense just kind of gave up. Is that Wenger’s fault? Surely the players need to also start taking some responsibility.
Those wanting Wenger to get sacked, I ask you one question. If you had the opportunity to go back in time 20 years and have the deciding vote of whether Wenger becomes the next manager or not (knowing the future up until now if he is), I guarantee that 99% of you will say yes. You know why? Because Wenger has brought far more success to this club than failure.
He has moulded and defined Arsenal as a successful brand, on and off the pitch and established solid foundations for future growth and success. He brought us The Invincibles and a long line of brilliant world class talent that were NOTHING before Wenger’s mentoring, not to mention a heap load of trophies. He carried this club during extremely dark times when we had limited funds building a massive new stadium and the unforeseen departure of our best players year after year, YET he still managed to keep us afloat in the Champions League whilst playing entertaining and beautiful football.
Take into account because of the valuable actions of this man, Arsenal are able to run a self sustainable business model with NO NEED of outside intervention to do well, like Chelsea, City, PSG, etc all rely on so heavily. The day will come when these clubs will implode because of the inevitable economic crisis this world is plunging into, but Arsenal will still be standing strong and remain a prestige club that our descendants can support with absolute pride and passion. Not many managers, if any, would have been able to accomplish this. Wenger has two years left on his contract, and statistically on the pitch, we are looking better than we have been for the last 5 years, maybe more.. He brought in players like Sanchez, an absolute joy to watch and Ozil who in his first season out performed all our other midfielders in terms of chances created and assists.
In light of the above, we owe it to Wenger to support him until his contract runs out. Hopping onto the ‘Wenger Out’ bandwagon really is intellectual suicide, because in terms of success, Wenger has done exceptionally well and I can think of hundreds of top clubs and their fans who would LOVE to be in our shoes. Needless to say, when we do well again, the fans wanting Wenger out will crawl back into the woodwork from whence they came. Yes Wenger has some big decisions to make in Jan, but until then let’s not act like a bunch of spoilt brats and crucify the very person who has built this club to be what it is today. When he does eventually pack it in, (will most likely be in 2 years, not long) we want the transitional phase to a new manager to be as smooth as possible and I think you would have to be an absolute idiot to not want Wenger to move up and handle the financial side of things at Arsenal. He was and still is a massive asset to this club and by being hostile towards him, especially by wanting to sport “Wenger Out” banners at the games will just show how ignorant and short sighted you are.
Big Gun