Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger rarely speaks out about his own. He is fiercely loyal to his club in every way. Now, however, he has expressed his frustration with sections of Arsenal’s supporters who he claims have failed to show his side sufficient support.
Booed
In keeping with the current trend in English football, Arsenal were booed off at the break at the Emirates on Saturday when they were 1-0 down. They went on to win the game 3-1.
Wenger expressed his anger and disappointment at Arsenal’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).
“I don’t feel that from the media or the supporters this team gets the support that it deserves. This team will deliver but the younger you are the more you need support.”
Since the latter part of last season when Arsenal’s challenge for the Premier League and Champions League faded away, Wenger has come in for some criticism from the fans. In his long career at Arsenal he has looked as though he had a job for life, but for the first time, he has looked a little vulnerable.
Under pressure
With three trophy less seasons behind them, Wenger has found himself under some pressure. Last season first team players Emmanuel Eboue and Philippe Senderos were both given a hard time by Arsenal’s fans, while this season Kolo Toure and William Gallas, who are both out injured, have been heavily criticised for perceived aerial weakness. Arsenal’s lovely football seems to frustrate the fans rather than delight them, if it fails to produce an end product.
A statement issue by the Arsenal Supporters Trust seemed to agree with what Wenger had to say about the atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium.
“The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust shares Arsene Wenger’s view that the matchday atmosphere at the Emirates sometimes needs galvanising. Sometimes Arsenal’s fans forget just how young our players are given their quality and that they need encouragement on the pitch.”
Arsene Wenger is far from blameless in the current situation. At the club’s shareholders meeting in May, Wenger said that he was concerned over the way the team had defended high balls last season, recognising that crowd anxiety in that area at least was understandable. He made a promise to address that weakness in the summer transfer window.
Strange signing
The only arrival in the summer was Mikael Silvestre from Manchester United. This was a strange signing and certainly does little to address defensive weakness in the air. The winning goals for Fulham and Hull in Arsenal’s two Premier League defeats this season came from aerial deliveries.
Whilst it might sound as though there is a bit of a crisis at the Emirates, maybe the fans should realise that their team sit fourth in the Premier League and with an average age of twenty-two they have just recorded their biggest away win in Europe in five years.
Wenger asked the fans to be patient and to get behind his exciting young team.
“Last year we were very close to delivering the Championship and I can understand that in the end the supporters were disappointed because we did not win it after leading for so long. It was very disappointing. But this is such a young team and we have to be intelligent. Instead of showing a team of such strength and such quality resentment, we have to get behind the team, more than ever. I’m a great believer in the quality of these young players and in the quality of this team. But I ask you as well to be proud of them and to show them the support at a moment when it is vital. I think this team needs a stronger guide than ever and I want to be this guide. I want to get this team to deliver this year, not next year, this year.”
Following the enormous amount of criticism levelled at Wenger for bringing in young talent from overseas, rather than finding home-grown players, he also predicted that Arsenal’s side in the future could be predominantly of English players produced by the club’s youth academy.
“The structure of the team we have built is fantastic but very young. That means tomorrow we will be better than yesterday and also that nothing dramatic can happen to this club. I agree we had for years a large foreign influx but behind we now have young English talents who we have worked hard with and they will be ready in one or two years to produce results for the club.”
So is Wenger right? Should the fans be patient, enjoy the football, accept that young players will make errors and settle for second, third or fourth? Or have the fans got a right to demand some silverware this season?
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