As the pressure continues to mount on Arsene Wenger after yet another frustrating season that even the Frenchman admitted to being his toughest season in his 15 year reign in charge of the Gunners, there have emerged two camps of Arsenal fans.
This set of Arsenal fans has opposing views about Wenger’s 6 trophyless seasons at the helm of London’s most prestigious club. One group believes that Arsene Wenger has done the best he could under the stringent financial situation while the other group believes the French holder of a Bachelors Degree in Economics and a Masters in Electrical Engineering has dug his own and Arsenal’s grave by constistently refusing to spend on proven players and his stubbornness in sticking to his footballing philosophy that has not served him well (Wenger believes a team is created and not bought and that you can only play soccer in its purest form).
The first camp of the Gunners faithfuls worships Wenger’s methods and what the Frenchman stands for. They idolise his ideologies and believe he is the best for the job. These are the same fans who, as the Gunners’ season faded away painfully, kept attending the matches and cheering their team on. It’s the same fans who through all the pain kept on carrying banners boldly proclaiming ‘IN ARSENE WE TRUST’ and ‘KEEP THE FAITH’ at the Emirates. These are the fans who believe the Gunners’ move away from Highbury everest to the Emirates depleted the club’s resources meaning the club had to adjust its spending to avoid going down the same path that Leeds and Portsmouth went. And it’s easy to see their point. No other manager could have taken Arsenal through this period without either bankrupting the club or leading it to relegation.
Wenger has consistently guided the North London outfit to successive Champions League Football while also ensuring that the Gunners challenge for the title each season. All this has been achieved on a meagre budget as compared to his rivals. You can’t imagine Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Harry Redknapp or Kenny Daglish managing such a feat. And to top it up all, he has ensured Arsenal continued churning out top academy products and attracting top players. Considering all this, it’s absurd to criticize the 59-year-old.
The second group of Arsenal fans consists of bitter fans who believe its all Wenger’s fault that Arsenal haven’t won anything. They point out his transfer policy and call for his sacking. They are the same fans who leave the stadium at half-time as Bolton extinguish our title hopes. They believe that Wenger’s decisions and his buying of unproven talents and converting them into world class players is the main hindrance to Arsenal’s ambitions. They are the same ones who called for his neck when he signed Thomas Vermaelen (a virtually unknown player). And to them, they would rather win with route-one football than play attractive soccer. They see Wenger as an old dog who has lost all the tricks… he’s gone senile… his time is up… he’s past his sell by date.
Unfortunately this group has found vocal support from some former Arsenal players whose careers Wenger helped to rejuvenate. Paul Merson, Ian Wright and even the legendary Mr. Arsenal, Tony Adams think that ‘le prof’ has lost the plot. And they have provided the media with enough vitriol to attack Wenger and the Arsenal and unbelievably the Arsenal board havent been strong in their support for Wenger.
Will the true Arsenal fans please stand up!
Which group do you belong to?
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I believe in arsene wenger and want him to stay but am still urging him to take a critical and positive advice from fans into considerations to sign some established and experience player for us to have a big squad i beg of him
There is no option for a supporter of the glorious Arsenal that I support. On one hand I love Arsene and the magnificent achievements he has done for the club as you said with a meagre budget on which he has done all this and on the other hand I’m gutted we haven’t won anything in so long. Each year we lose players that are first teamers and so have to fill them with new (all be it either unknown or from the reserves) players. To still be in the champions league is a fantastic feat. So with that said there should be a “on the fence”. That said In cant vote but it does drive me wrong the way fans act when things aren’t goping right for The Arsenal in the Emirates, being from Ireland I only get a chance here and there to see them live and to walk out or boo would be unheard of from me.
Arsene isn’t Arsenal?!?
IF WENGER SIGNED A PLAYER SIX SEASONS
AGO WHO WAS ON A GOOD SALARY BUT DIDN’T TURN OUT AS EXPECTED,HE WOULD
HAVE THE RIGHT TO SACK HIM,SURELEY
THIS APPLIES TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS
WITH MANAGERS.
i Believe in AW but i dont believe in him in the markets. i think Stan should take over in the buying and selling department, tell AW this is who you have to coach now go get us trophies. That way there is less pressure in on AW. I know most wont like is because Chelsea run their camp that way but AW just cant buy or sell dead weight like he use to. He’s become to soft, Deni, Bendtner, Eboue, Rosiscky, Squalaci etc would never have been in The Arsenal squad a decade ago. Aw would have paid clubs to take them, but not anymore!!
Not all fans that want Wenger to go are so bitter and angry at him. Theres another group of fans you will find such as myself, that are thankful of Wengers service and what he has done for the club, but also feel its time for a new manager as he has nothing else to give
Wait a sec, there must be something wrong here. By your judgment, some people are not Arsenal fans even though they do support and follow the club. You mention two kinds of fans, one who are derisively termed AKBs (or sometimes just curse words), the other being those who came up with the term (Untold Arsenal dubs them “the under-10s”). Well, in fact there’s also the 3rd group – people who are concerned by the club’s recent failures, express some reservations about the management style and decisions, but at the same time continue to support the management by not opposing every move that they make. Frankly, I think neither of the sides you talk about is right. Wenger’s record is not impeccable and some decisions or statements can easily be taken to task. The club’s future is nowhere near certain and it’s good to talk about it from time to time. But, on the other hand, to hold wenger accountable for supposed failures in the transfer market or to denounce him for not spending the club’s transfer money haphazardly is simply stupid. Both positions are to an extent riddled by myopia. Let’s finally start being realist! Even just for the next month!
@zdzis fair point. Maybe a a dunno option in your pole would have ,ade it clearer
Wot wenger n the whole Arsenal board are doing is only 4 their own benefit.they need to maintain their own finances while the fans nid trophies,so plz sign up some xperiencd players n maybe we can bring a trophy or more
the problem is not that wenger is not a good coach who have not done alot for this club.the problem is that even after going to the emirates,stabilizing economic resources and making so much profits as claimed by the board.wenger still continues to be so difficult when it comes to buying and when he buys a first team player,its mostly an unexperienced french player or an old dog.now you will agree with me that if he had used 15,000 each season for a decent defender we wont be having this problem.he has done his bits for a.f.c. So before he finally sinks the ship,i’d like to ask a question.it’s it worth it to support a man when his own protege’s no longer believe in his principles.
Anyway…
Arsenal is not going to win anything under wenger again.
Arsenal is not going to win anything if they keep their approach like this if they change manager. No manager can do anything in this club now.
At least wenger can give CL birth for the club.
We know where you stand… hardly an impartial article. What about Wenger’s insistence on one style of play even when it’s not working. What about his useless signings e.g Cygan, Stepenovs to name just two and then more recently Squillachi. What about letting Flamini go because his contract expired or letting Gallas and Toure go and then having to buy two inferior centre backs i.e. Squillacchi and Koschelny. That’s good management? What about consistently being unable to see the teams shortcomings and his parsimonious transfer policy, even though we are told he has the money to spend. What about keeping average players, i.e Denilson, Bentdner, Flapinhandski on long lucrative contracts and then being unable to transfer them out of the club. And why keep Nasri for another season when he’ll be off next year for free, thereby losing 20 million in the process? Wenger is stubborn, arrogant and unfortunately past his sell by date. All you AKB fans out there, have you never read The Emperors New Clothes?
It’s called football not fucking soccer
I believe the policy of not signing 30 yrs old players for longer than 1 year has cost us greatly. Namely the loss of Gilberto, which I believe is the main reason we have not won for the 6 years. This rule should be abandoned for Players who have given great service to Arsenal, and are still fit going strong.
Our pay structure should change to enable more from winning than fixed rates. i.e. A lower set wage, with bonus payments on playing and winning.
I would like to see Arsenal win the premiership every year, but billionaires prevented that as Cole was tapped up by Chelsea to make sure we lost that season. It unsettled the team and hence we lost the Champions Final.
Let’s talk about who would make a good manager for Arsenal after Wenger. For those who want Arsene to be sacked, who would you have to replace him?
stole my comments philf….very well said!
in my opinion wenger is an average manager, was extremely fortunate he inherited a brilliant set of tough experienced and spirited winners and also he had a close association with top french players. He applied his intelligence rather than any motivational influence and the great teams virtually ran themselves. He is hiding behind his philosophy of buying cheap,young players as there is no exposure to his own failings when the team fails. He can just keep excusing the fact that “we are a young team” Mourinho reasoned this a few years back.
As its a pro-wenger blog, i will appease those supporters by concurring that wengers’ achievements in the new infrastructure of our magnificent club should never be underestimated. His stubbornness and obsession with the detail of the design of the emirates is to be admired particularly when you visit the emirates.
U re a shit face for writing such one-sided article as this didnt u watch arsenal 10yrs ago, if u did, didnt u observe what the club was like or do u just scream after each goal? i joined arsenal bcos of wenger but am man enough to say he is not getting it right anymore and that does not make me a judas like u tried to point out
Reading through 99% of the blogs that write stuff about my darling club and manager leaves me with more pain than the pain of not winning a major trophy in six years. These so-called passionate Arsenal fans write stuffs that are at best half-truths and personal conjectures. They lack depth, facts, objectivity, research, honesty, fairness, reason and common sense. They twist headlines, misquote the manager, players, board and just about anything Arsene and Arsenal. They write with an air of omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience and finality. They make us believe they have access to the club than the rest of us, including the manager, the players, the media and the board themselves. They know the players that Arsenal must buy at all cost, the tactical formation we must adopt and what player we must play in what position.
From the way they write, they want to deceive us into believing know the game of football better the manager, the main actors themselves (players) and the custodians of the game.
These bloggers are doom prophets who spit nothing helpful to the supporters, but hatred against the board, manager and players. They are on a mission to discredit everything Arsenal and Arsene. Their contribution to the club is to spread negativism. They want Arsenal fans all over the world to be like them-perpetual and insatiable whiners, complainers, goners, acidic critics.
I don’t like these crop of fans. Unfortunately, they are there and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
On Arsene, the manager, it baffles me that the world of football voted him the best coach of the decade (even though he has not won a trophy in six years) ahead of the trophy winning duo of Ferguson and Mourinho and yet Arsenal fans rather than celebrate their own describe him in a most disrespectful manner. Indeed, a revered manager all over the world and yet despised by fans of his club. The language fans shoot at the man who has brought more dignity, success, respect and popularity to Arsenal because he has won nothing in six years shows how shallow our attachment to the club is.
I am not saying that Arsene has done everything right. For one, I would like him to buy established players and add them to the youths. He has not and that does not mean I should condemn him. He has his views, perspectives, aims and the way he wants things done that are different from the way I want them done. Respect means I allow him to do it his way, not my way.
What we fail to admit is that Arsene is as imperfect as the rest of us and were some of us placed in his position, we would fare no better. We talk about the man with an air of perfection. Tell me what manager does not have imperfections. Ferguson? Gurdiola? Mourinho? Villas Boas? Mancini? Only Arsenal fans are perfect.
If we think that Arsene is no longer good, why do most clubs wait for Arsenal to make a move for a player before they start bidding for the same player?
I’m afraid to say that our attitude is part of what is affecting the output of our players on the field of play. What player will be at his best for a club whose fans write vitriolic stuff like Arsenal fans write about their players? Do we know the effect of slamming Fabregas for the back heel that gifted Barca their first goal at the Nou Camp-that it was because his mind was at Bercelona?
Trophies or not, Arsenal is a great club. In my opinion the best managed football club on planet earth. I want to believe that contrary to what most us believe, Arsene was awarded the best coach of the decade on account of the trophies he had won. That should have gone Ferguson and Mourinho. He won ability to manage a club that has continued to groom super stars every year.
Let ask those who want Arsenal to stop buying kids, could Barca, Real, MU, Chelsea, Liverpool, Inter, AC Milan, Bayern and all the clubs that buy established and experienced players provided the platform for the likes of Fab, Walcot, Wilshere, Ramsey etc to emerge? I am proud to say that ARSENAL IS THE CLUB WHERE FUTURE FOOTBALL STARS ARE MADE. The day this stops, we would have failed millions of future stars.
Let us be proud of and stand with our darling club in this difficult transition period. This is the club that would rule world football few years from now. We need to be patient with everything Arsenal. Let’s cheer the team and stop castigating them. Lets be true fans that follow their club up or down.
I’ve so much believe mr prof. Is not new in couching, he has win trophies 4 the club, i can only advice the players to increase there skill & ve more faith in themself & even in there manager.
Great article. Probably the best I have read this summer. Thumbs up to the real Arsenal fans.
we will win somthing this yea, AW is d man but most of u forgot that
I vote Wenger to stay ONLY if Arsenal wins the Premier League and/or Champions League title next season. Even lifting the FA Cup will not cut it anymore after six trophyless seasons. It’s gotta be Premier League and/or Champions League title next season. Period.
Woah rejoice you sure said a lot. Anyway, i’d think the way Arsene do things is correct, and have obviously reduced a significant amount of our debt. However, i don’t see the point of not buying top players at all and instead buy cheap players. Say if Arsene paid 15m for a top defender and 10m for a good holding midfielder, we would almost certainly have won a trophy, and wouldn’t that bring more financial benefits to the club? Arsene needs to think long term and in terms of other financial possibilities, not just about reducing our debt and buying shit players like Koscielny and Squillaci(Don’t defend them, you know they are shit, and together they cost a whopping 15m). Say if the money that bought these two unproven players was used to bring in one top 15m defender, we could all have rejoiced by the end of last season. That’s the kind of financial possibility i’m talking about.
@Mark
Then again, nobody gives a damn about if you vote yes or not. I for one would be excited as hell to win the FA cup. With the pressure off, challenging for trophies in the next few seasons would be significantly easier. Think, man, think.
You fools. You really think we would have won something with another manager in these six years? You fools we would be lucky if we were even in the CL. Although it looks sometimes that Wenger has lost his marbles and yes he should have bought a goalie and a defender in January. But who gives you the right to demand a trophy. To expect that we must win a trophy. We’re not Man united. Get a grip. Arsenal are not a great team who win back to back premier leagues every year> We have some good seasons and some crap ones. Fortunately we have never really had a crap[ season under Wenger contrary to your beliefs. Honestly you make me sick and get on my nerves. Just shut up about he’s taken us as far as we can go. How far have we ever gone before. God you make me sick. Really I never thought the day would come where I would be ashamed of my fellow gooners. Crying like babies because we haven’t won a trophy. So what? and so what if people want to leave for Barcelona or Man United. They are better teams who have a massive history. We’re not better than them in terms of history. Alex Ferguson had a bad spell now look at him. Get with the programme you sellouts
Im actually some where in the middle of the two, although the fact the wenger is not moving squilacci on shows he’s losing it. Still think he could be the man for the job, but must stop being so stubborn and take the fans seriously aswell as gettin the cheque-book out.
Wenger is the best man to be at Arsenal. There are a few reasons, among the most important is that he actually has a style to his game of football and its one that could have us on par with Barcelona if the players came through at the right time. The passing game we play is only really matched by Barca who are the best team in the world and with more time and foundations we could be as good/better then them. Our problem is losing players at the wrong times.
Which brings me onto my second point. Arsenal is not Man Utd. Unlike Man Utd we do not have virtually limitless funds to gamble on players. We don’t naturally attract the very top players because they know we will win something every 2 years. We are not Chelsea or Man City where you literally just buy your time by giving ridiculous wages and not giving a crap about players. We are a team that can challenge without breaking the bank or without disrespecting players. WENGER is the reason for that. Out of the top half of the premiership we spend FAR less then most teams and thats because of the change of stadium. Its called building a foundation in the new wave of football clubs. Money is more a part of the game then ever and we are trying to find our way without relying on it. No other manager could do it quite as well by utilising FANTASTIC youth.
That brings me to the third point. We are bringing through stunning youth players. I refer to Toure, Flamini and Clichy as 3 examples of players who’ve left us and moved on but are all very excellent players. One of our worst problems is holding such players. Wenger may be at fault for some of this but mostly its down to the constant pressure of fans and media for Arsenal to just come out and win things. If like Man Utd we kept our star players (the likes of Scholes and Giggs for example) we’d have an outstanding team. Its losing our youth players when they’ve developed that is half our issue. The only way to keep them is to get some winning ways back.
Which is where everyone slags Wenger. Because we’re not winning, we’re not keeping players. Well that is why now after years of not spending like crazy he is finally opening the wallet. Our foundations are set and he’s ready to go get Arsenal from underdog to champions! Last season we sat on the edge of a 4 trophy haul and then threw it away. An unlucky goal against Birmingham (albeit during a bad performance) and some controversial decisions against Barcelona changed our season. If things had fallen slightly differently we could all be talking about a double, triple or quadruple cup winning season. So what can I say to doubters? Give him this season with the team he’s built and see what happens.
AND finally – anyone insulting the likes of Squillaci should realise not every player is there to be a first team starter. In fact, older players like squillaci could be teaching the youngsters things we don’t even know about. Granted I don’t think thats the case with him, but morale, leadership and role models are all key to the game too. Don’t imagine you understand everything that Wenger sets up because I imagine not even the close staff understand it all.
All in all – trust in Arsene. If we start losing our champions league slot maybe it’ll be time to question him but until we do have a little bit more faith in the team and alot more respect for them. I know I was disgusted to be an Arsenal fan at the last game of the season thanks to the booing fans among the crowd. We didn’t play well, but the response was horrible and I have never been more ashamed to stand next to a group of people in my life. The team deserves better then a fanbase who only want to win trophies and who do not realise the effort their team go through. We were close last season and lost it. Do not hate the team or the manage because of that!