Three Premier League titles, one of them unbeaten. Seven FA Cup, the most won by a single manager. Three times Premier League manager of the season, a Champions League final appearance and one of the man responsible for bringing the English football to another level. It’s a high profile CV, no doubt about that. What Arsene Wenger has done for both Arsenal and football is remarkable, and he will be forever marked for this.
However, if you want to destroy a legacy you’ve taken 22 years to build, just ask Arsene Wenger on how to do it.
It may be a bold statement to make but, in my view, this is totally the case. The ending for Arsene’s history at Arsenal is inevitable: He is going to leave with a bad atmosphere. Since the unbeaten season, Arsenal was never able to compete with the big guns for the title. Yes, they came close in some ocasions, but they were never able to get over the finishing line.
There are a couple of reasons for this. Of course, as everybody knows, the board at the Emirates are often criticised and are under pressure most of the time. The decisions made by Ivan Gazidis and owner Stan Kroenke are usually not taken well by the fans and they are absolutely right.
Since the likes of Patrick Viera and Thierry Henry left Arsenal, the story was always repeated. When you lose important players, it takes time to rebuild, not just in football, but in any team sports. Of course, selling a big player gives the club funds to move forward. And this is the biggest story for Arsenal’s recent fortunes: Every time they had taken a step forward, at some point, they would take two steps back.
No one can delete what Arsene has done to Arsenal. He brought the club back to the top level. However, what he has done in recent times can also not be deleted and in football, what really matters is what the club is doing at the moment. It has been 14 years since Arsenal won the title. Since then, the club left for a new home, a new generation of players came in and Arsenal are still stuck in the same place.
Sure that all this is not entirely Wenger’s fault. If anything, the job he has done considering the funds and players available to him in the past is remarkable. He managed to keep the club playing Champions League football every season. However, the Premier League became the richest league in the world and Arsenal had the funds to get players, so they could move forward.
This was the intention when they bought Mesut Ozil for a record fee in 2013, and Alexis Sanchez in 2014. With both, that are arguably world-class players, Arsene had a core to move forward and build his team around. And, despite the investment, Arsenal were still not able to compete.
Every time Arsenal came close of mounting a serious title challenge, they collapsed. Every year they had an excuse: Injuries, playing multiple times a week, bad refereeing. However, the main problem was the manager who run out of ideas to keep the team going. It happened in 2013/14, when Manchester City won the league, and in 2015/16 when Arsenal were the only team competing with Leicester at the top.
A playing style that was once effective and capable of destroying teams is now old-fashioned and retrograde. In football, refreshement in terms of tactical system is totally required. You can’t win with the same tactical system played 15 years ago. It’s true that the philosophy can be the same, but that are certain areas that needs innovation and improvement.
We are now in an era that fast-paced football is what win things. Think about Chelsea last season and how they were able to catch teams off guard with a quick counter-attack, pressuring the opponent to give the ball back. This season is Manchester City, a team that keeps the ball most of the time, but are still effective due to the quick exchanging of passes between the players and their ability to recognize where the teammates are.
We can use examples of a quick paced attacking football in other leagues too. In Italy, Napoli are the team of the moment, playing a high pressing, offensive minded football that at the same time is solid and effective. In Germany, Bayern are a side that has an extraordinary controlling ability, most of that due to their ability of winning the ball and playing fast in the right moments.
Wenger’s stubbornness is the main answer on why Arsenal can’t move on. He keeps playing the same style of football that got him nowhere in 14 years. The comfort zone holds him back, as well as the men in control at Arsenal. However, the argument of playing regular Champions League football cannot be used anymore.
If we compare to the other Top 5 sides in the Premier League, the gap between them and Arsenal is enourmous. They have seen other teams progressing and getting to a point where they can compete for silverware, while they are unable to grow themselves.
Three years ago, if we said that Liverpool could be able to win the Premier League, we would probably sound ridiculous. However, they made a remarkable progress under Jurgen Klopp and they are moving towards the right direction. All of this because they came out of the comfort zone and made themselves open for a challenge.
In a short space of time, Arsene Wenger was able to destroy a legacy that he took years to build. He should have left years ago and leave the club in a good situation for his successor to continue building around his legacy. While Wenger brought back the winning mentality to Arsenal, he was also able to destroy it after a long period without big trophies.
The fans have turned against him, protests are now frequent and don’t matter how well the team play, if Wenger’s still the manager, the fans will be unhappy. Everyone has realised that Wenger’s time to leave has arrived long ago, the only person who doesn’t see this is Arsene.
His stubbornness is dragging the club down, going from a big force in England, to a mediocre side that can fight for European qualification. It’s crazy to think that two years ago, the Champions League was something that Arsenal took for granted, we all knew that they would be in it. Right now, it would be a miracle if they could get into it.
If Arsenal are to change, despite being late, it’s totally necessary. The days of stability under Wenger are long over. It’s downfall from here.
A few names are being mentioned, with the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Thierry Henry, Paulo Fonseca and Brendan Rodgers linked with Arsenal. They need a young mentality and fresh ideas to take the club forward after years of going back. Right now, they can’t attract the big names of the managerial scenario, something that would be completely different some years ago.
As I said before, no one can erase what Wenger has done to Arsenal. Whatever way this saga ends, Wenger will still be regarded as one the greatest characters in English football’s history. However, he could have left as a hero. But, at this moment, he will leave as a villain.
Gabriel Coelho
Follow me on Twitter: @gabrielcoelhof_
The Final Whistle 