What has changed about Arsene and Arsenal by KickAssFan
Arsenal won the Premier League last in 2004, that’s about eleven years ago; pretty much a long time. Ever since, we only came close in the 2004/2005 season when we finished second, behind Chelsea. I do know we’ve been through a lot as a club since then, but one thing that’s not changed is THE MANAGER: Arsene Wenger.
You can argue we had a very great team those days, when we won the league. We had the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, Sol Campbell, Patrick Viera, Freddie Lunjberg, Antonio Reyes, etc. Fantastic players. But the basic truth is that those players became very fantastic simply because of the FANTASTIC coach we had: Monsieur Arsene Wenger. It was Arsene who made those players world beaters. Sincerely, we did not win games just because we had world-class players at our disposal, but mainly because we had a coach who proved himself to be world-class tactically and otherwise, after many had doubted him when he was newly appointed as manager in 1996.
Well, like I said, we do not have those players anymore, but we have the same manager: Monsieur Arsene Wenger, who has won just one trophy in ten (10) years. Ten years? Yes, ten years!!! Sorry, but that’s not an accomplishment, if you ask me. Well, why haven’t we been doing well particularly in the English Premier League (please do not even mention the UEFA Champions League)??? Different people with different opinions, but I will say it’s been because of Arsene. TIMES HAVE CHANGED, BUT ARSENE HAS NOT!!!
The kind of players we buy is determined by Arsene. Which player stays and which one gets sold is determined by Arsene. In fact, I could dare say that Arsene even dictates how much a player should earn at the club, I would premise this thought of mine on that comment made by Sir Chips Keswick, that Arsene is the one who “calls the shot” at Arsenal. But let’s not go into all that, ok? The basic thing here is that Arsene Wenger is mainly responsible for just how badly we’ve faired in the Premier League thus far.
So, what has actually changed about Wenger? Well, I’d say he’s lost his wand. The man is now overly soft (not as motivated as before), very sentimental and biased with some players, and TACTICALLY VERY POOR AND RIGID. We had a very good coach once, one who could really motivate his players, one who guaranteed trophies, irrespective of the kind of players at his disposal (because he could basically transform them), one who was very motivated and tactical genius. This is not the coach we used to have, this is not today’s Arsene Wenger.
KickAssFan