Arsenal's 2008-09: Redefining Success

Which is why this summer is Wenger's biggest of his Arsenal reign. Losing Flamini and Gilberto Silva last summer stank of a lack of forethought and insight by the manager, and indeed the paymasters up at boardroom level, the wrenching odour of which has been painfully dominant all season.

With every Tom, Dick and Harry acknowledging that our spine is just about as weak (if not weaker) as an old granny with brittle bones, the manager will surely, surely, have recognised the desperate need for quality in defence and central midfield.

This also comes on the back of the aforementioned Q & A session held on Thursday night, with an open floor greeting Le Boss with apparently muted applause, before, of course, Wenger was hit by missiles left, right and centre by clearly frustrated shareholders.

Talk of shipping Adebayor, players lacking fight, the "unreliable geriatric" that is Silvestre, and questioning the manager's tactical nous and transfer policy were all on a spicy menu, issues which involved heated exchanges between manager and fans.

Incidentally, the guy who said that about good (or not so good) old Mikaël deserves a medal, though Wenger was clearly upset by the comment, probably more a reflection of his own advancing years (without sounding too ageist), as I would struggle to think that Wenger still thinks much of Silvestre after having seen him "play" this season.

And, although Wenger is obviously an incredibly intelligent man, not just for what he has done for the club in yesteryear, but in the way he has deflected all current criticism of his players onto himself, knowing full well that experience and quality reinforcements are needed, his true test of what HE sees as success lie ahead in the summer, addressing the weaknesses that everybody up and down the country has talked about.

Now I do not personally know who his targets are, and indeed, I try to make a point of not mentioning any names, as they usually turn out to be fantasies, the kind of fantasies that any supporter embraces, but, if the figures quoted by the ever-so (un)reliable Daily Mail of a miserly £13 million war chest are true, I can only fear another summer of the arrival of unknown 17-year-old Afro-French "aces".

Not that there is anything wrong with that. Actually, there is everything wrong with that, as now is the time to redefine our targets, redefine our future, and redefine our success. The 0-0 draw at Manchester United will have only been an incredibly short-term pain relief, the sort of relief that Wenger had used to retreat to his comfort zone before.

But the fans have all woken up now, and Wenger must surely act on that and stop messing about with weak youngsters and fancy formations.

As the players trudged off the Theatre of Dreams pitch following the stalemate that ensured United's near-domination of this decade as well as the 1990s, I wonder what they were thinking. Well, since I cannot read their minds and indeed they looked happy enough embracing their United counterparts congratulating them for yet another title success, I can tell you what I thought—sickening.

Green with envy as I watched the screen, listening to anybody who is anybody pouring lavish praise onto Ferguson and his troops.

It was meant to be us who would take the 2000s by storm remember, after our "invincible" season? So, is dad right in taking this season's "failures" with a pinch of salt and looking ahead to the next? Possibly. And is Wenger the man to lead us out in August, despite four years of firing blanks? Probably.

Whatever happened this season, I just hope that my assessment inspired from "me old man" was not just Wenger pulling wool over our eyes with his Mohammed Said Al-Sahhaf-like spin, and that he will answer his critics with some proper business over the summer.

So, is there room for some real success next term? That is a most definite yes. And with that, I leave with you the modern-day Gooner's favourite term, a term of foolhardy optimism—next year for sure!

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