Is Arsene Wenger's Approach to Running Arsenal As a Business Successful?

Since Arsene Wenger took over Arsenal in 1996 he has had a lot of success on and off the pitch, from the year of the Invincibles to the great money management of the club. Up until around 2004/2005, he had a squad full of creativity, strength and experience. Lately, they have the creativity, but they lack the strength and experience.

It is obvious that he expects perfect and beautiful soccer from his squad. He also expects Arsenal to create superstars instead of going out and splashing outrageous amounts of money. As he has really pushed this theory for the past years, he unfortunately has not been able to bring any silverware to the Emirates trophy case.

Now the question to ask is: how much longer can Arsenal fans wait? How far can this beautiful soccer take Arsenal without the strength and mental toughness? How much longer will the Arsenal board wait before they begin to question Arsene’s approach? A team that has been playing together now for three to five years, and have matured together, more is expected of them.

Would Arsenal fans rather have Wenger go out and break the bank for one or two guys, rattle the Gunners' finances, but in the end win titles? Could Arsenal make the effort to spend money on a higher profile player and still keep their approach regarding finances?

I do enjoy the fact that Arsenal isn't in mass amounts of debt like the majority of the teams around the world, but I don’t enjoy the fact that as an Arsenal fan, we don’t win titles. For a team like Arsenal to go five years without any title is just beyond me. Even a lowly Carling Cup would have made me feel a little better.

With the final of the Carling Cup approaching, Arsene has absolutely no margin for failure in this game. Although it is just the Carling Cup, any silverware for this “young” Arsenal team would be a huge boost. Building a winning mental toughness for this team is very important. Obviously the Carling Cup won’t make it that much better, but playing at Wembley, one of world football’s most historic grounds should help a little more.

If Arsenal is unable to win anything this year I believe questions will really begin to get asked of Wenger. Arsenal is still in every competition they are able to be in. The chances of winning the Champions League clearly isn’t the greatest considering they have to get past the dreaded Barcelona, but could elimination from the Champions League help the Gunners focus on more attainable trophies like the EPL and FA Cup?