Arsene Wenger: The Sorry Story of the Man Who Had It All

It’s incredible how things can change in this life. Nothing personifies that more than Arsenal at the moment. Once upon a time, Arsenal were near unbeatable. “Invincibles” was the term coined back then. Arsene cemented himself as one of the greats of the game. Then that fateful loss came against Manchester United which prevented the milestone of fifty. Now back to the present, who would have guessed things would get so derailed.

Rightly or wrongly, reasons why this arsenal team has failed to hit previous highs are well documented.

One thing that I shall add to this is that people do overlook the near-misses. Champions League runners up and been involved in title races many times. But failure has no brother.

My problem with modern-day football is that impatience has taken over. Gone are the days of building up a team, going through the trials and tribulations, and getting to the mountain top. Obviously though there are exceptions that prove the rule, Blackpool is one of those teams before they got relegated, but they had many managers during that period.

Sir Alex Ferguson, one of the best managers to have ever lived, pulled Manchester United from the grave of failure and turned them back into world beaters. But even he had periods of turbulence. The turn of the 21^st century was a big challenge just after winning the treble. But the fans, and more importantly the board, gave him time. That time was justly earned during the glory days. Now, they’re reaping the rewards of their patience.

Back to Mr. Wenger. That time is running out and patience is in short supply. I must admit though, there’s a subtle but very significant difference between the two.

Adaptation.

Wenger has not adjusted to modern football the way that his counterpart has. Players like Ryan Giggs are a dying breed (but personal life antics are more frequently exposed today).  Patience went out the window, and instantaneous success replaced it. In this current climate, Arsene Wenger has got the rub of the green. Many other managers don’t or didn’t have his luxury.

Football is a different animal nowadays. The mid-table teams have caught up. This is shown even more in the international environment where the thrashings of minnows in the World Cup have become less frequent. In the English premier league, away games at stoke have bigger impact on where the title is going. Money is everywhere and can, but not always, change the fortunes of a club quickly aka Manchester City.

 Arsene decided to keep his rose-tinted glasses on and kept looking back at how things used to be and possibly convincing himself nothing has changed.

More importantly, he repeatedly makes the same mistakes without admitting failure. It’s got so bad that now some fans are calling for his head. I never thought I would see the day. All great teams, people and organizations have their day, and few retire at the top. It happens time and again. Maybe Arsene should accept this and bow out with whatever reputation he has left. However, if he had that sort of attitude he would have never hit the heights that he did.

It would be a great shame to see Wenger forced out or, dare I say, relieved of his duties. Even though PR teams at Arsenal are saying otherwise, his time is nearing to a close at an alarmingly quickening pace.