Arsene Wenger Must Mastermind Arsenal Win over Man United to Relieve Pressure

The big Premier League game of the weekend sees Arsenal host Manchester United, a fixture which at the turn of the century might have been billed as a titanic title tussle but this year amounts to more of a shoving match in the queue for the top four.

Even with the likely reduced honours on offer, two of the country's biggest sides will still attract attention and headlines, not least because their respective managers remain big draws with plenty of trophies to their names. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, however, has not tasted such success with anything approaching consistency of late, which has led to some previously unthinkable numbers of fans hoping for change.

The match against United is the time for Wenger to take a stand and look not just to avoid defeat and prevent a rival gaining ground, but to find the answers and balance in his team to take the victory and quieten the voices against him.

"Wenger Out"

It is not an uncommon sight to hit certain social media networks after weekend matches and see "Manager X Out" as a trending topic, but the frequent appearance of Wenger's name is an interesting case. Certainly, few men have done more for the club (and the league) than the Frenchman, but past achievements are never an indication of success to come.

"

Never been 'Wenger Out' before, but enough is enough. Will always respect and admire him, but we need someone new to lead this club forward.

— Arsenal News (@__arsenal_news_) November 10, 2014"

It has been many years since Wenger has been able to put together a team which can do anything like consistently challenge for the league title, let alone win it, and many fans have reached their limit in that regard.

The "Highbury Library" might have been the butt of jokes from visiting fans throughout initial Premier League years, but social networking and fan-produced content means the modern Emirates fans have any number of outlets to be anything but silent—after matches, at least—and vent their frustrations.

"

Arsenal Fan TV's Claude doesn't seem particularly happy after today.... https://t.co/XzqqOmCuBu

— Absolute Disgrace (@PainInTheArse) November 9, 2014"

It can't be ignored, even if it isn't yet a majority opinion: Arsene Wenger is under pressure from his own supporters to deliver the goods.

Arsenal-United, 13-14

Turn back the clocks to last season, and this fixture was played out at the Emirates to a drab 0-0 draw.

Wenger took it as something of a victory after the game; directly previous to the United match, the Gunners had been torn apart by Liverpool and shellacked by Manchester City not long beforehand, so maintaining a tighter defensive unit was paramount in Wenger's thoughts to avoid another heavy defeat to a rival.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Of course, this draw at home came against a United side floundering down the table under the doomed leadership of David Moyes, so it was hardly a resounding message that Arsenal were "back" anyway.

If it was meant to be the starting point of something new, that also didn't work; the north London derby was won a couple of games later, but then Chelsea wrecked Wenger's 1,000th matchday in charge with a 6-0 win at Stamford Bridge. Lessons hadn't been learned then, and looking at the Gunners' campaign so far, they still haven't now.

"

Arsene Wenger explains this season like only Arsene Wenger can, fans don’t take it very well. http://t.co/ADtroeHjKs pic.twitter.com/Z9wmPsVUW0

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) October 24, 2014"

Weakness

A top-four finish is Wenger's bread and butter, something he has achieved with unfailing accuracy and consistency during his tenure at Arsenal. He deserves an amount of credit for that, for sure, but with such stability and longevity should also come the aptitude for growth and success. That's where Wenger has fallen down and why the top four is no achievement this season.

Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Last year it was scraped, just ahead of Everton. This year, both halves of Merseyside have struggled, while Spurs have similarly flopped. Manchester United are rebuilding and will have their own reasons for wanting to win the game.

All told, it's a pretty substandard year for the "top" Premier League teams, and as a result Wenger and Arsenal should be acting in opportunistic fashion, not just to seal another top-four spot early on but to really push on and trouble the top two. It's almost certainly going to be Chelsea's title, but there is much to be said for finishing as runners-up, not least of all which is avoiding the Champions League play-offs next season.

Arsenal have no excuse to not finish high up the table this year. Fourth place isn't really a marker; not this year, and certainly not if an "outsider" club suddenly jumps up and overtakes them.

Wins, consistency, performances: Wenger needs all three of them if he is realistically to be looked at as the man who will not just keep Arsenal rolling along but become a winner with them once more. It's got to start with Manchester United at the weekend, and it's got to continue thereafter.

If not, he can only expect his name to continue trending after Saturday's match, and not in a positive way.

Follow @karlmatchett