Should Wenger leave Arsenal? / Image via metro.co.uk
These are difficult times to be an Arsenal fan.
The Gunners were sent crashing out of the Champions league at the Last-16 stage for a seventh straight season as Bayern Munich once again eliminated the Premier League club 10-2 on aggregate.
The 5-1 defeat at the Emirates was Arsenal’s biggest defeat at the stadium and the heaviest home loss since November 1998. At the same time, it is Arsenal’s third defeat in last four matches across all competitions which is to serve as a clear indicator of Arsenal’s lost season.
Sitting out of the top four in the Premier League and on the outskirts of Europe as of last night, Arsenal and their troubled manager are at the crossroads. It is hardly an unfamiliar territory for Arsene Wenger and the Gunners who are reliving the chronic scenario that keeps repeating itself over and over for the last couple of years.
But is enough finally enough?
The current season pushed a heavy burden on Arsenal’s shoulders.
Starting from a couple of new problems with injuries which ruled out the likes of Santi Cazorla until the rest of the season, as well as defender Per Mertesacker and Aaron Ramsey for the good part of the campaign, all the way to Arsene Wenger’s continuing lack of transfer activities, Arsenal are currently backed against the wall and really look a broken team.
The fans are demanding changes – once again – as they stack in numbers against Arsene Wenger. The French tactician himself is pondering the future, but states that Arsenal remain his top priority as contract extension remain as open topic.
Following 20 long years at the helm, somewhat delusional Arsene Wenger still enjoys great reputation at the club he helped (re)build and make one of England’s finest, but the calls for his head are getting louder every day.
What is to be done?
Arsene Wenger’s legacy at Arsenal is huge.
Three-time Premier League winner, six-time FA Cup winner and bearer of six FA Community Shields, the Professor entered the English Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
He remains remembered as a man who revolutionized Arsenal and their style of play, transforming them into a unique outfit which boasts eye-pleasing brand of football and an attack-oriented style with lots of possession and passing.
Wenger had had great effect on building financially stable foundations in the North London club with his astute business dealings which he was, on the other end, criticized for on many occasions. The Frenchman never really gave too much thought on what people made of him, working his way through thick and thin, presenting the results that spoke in his behalf.
Still, as his team goes crashing out of the Champions League’s last-16 in a humiliating fashion once again, it is beginning to feel as if something great and big is coming to its inevitable end. Arsenal will need incredible determination and mental strength to turn things around – which seems like a gargantuan task at the moment – most of all as Arsene Wenger seems like he is refusing to get in touch with reality.
Changes are required
It goes without saying that something needs to be done.
A shock therapy of some sort is much needed to shake things up at Arsenal and one would have thought that a man of Wenger’s stature, experience and knowledge would be smart enough to realise it on its own and to accept responsability. Arsenal boss, however, seems like he is losing the touch with reality as he refuses to openly carry the burden of repeating disappointments.
Arsenal are in desperate need of a new pair of eyes that would take a fresh approach and exert changes.
Arsenal board have been more than patient with the Frenchman, and in modern-game times when managers are considered collaterals and goods with a rather short expiry date, Wenger has been an exception to what has become a rule, but it is about time Gunners’ management stopped celebrating profits more than prizes and made a radical step to shake things up at the Emirates.
A mere glance at the Arsenal players offers a worrying insight into their mindset, as it appears that Gunners are not playing for their manager anymore and it is something that speaks volumes.
As Arsenal prepare for the FA Cup quarter-final against Lincoln City, for which they are given 8/13 betting odds to win to Nil and which will be a fine chance to make at least some amends to the latest disappointment, rumours continue to fly around.
Massimilliano Allegri is the hot favoruite to take over at the end of the season, although the Italian is also seen as the next Barcelona boss.
Thierry Henry’s arrival would be a romantic twist to the story, but a highly unlikely one at this point as – I am afraid – it would not bring needed improvement to the club, but rather mere peace to restless minds.
What, in your opinion, needs to be done at Arsenal?
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