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Arsene Wenger’s latest comments show why he has to leave this summer

By on April 21, 2016

Arsene wenger

For years, Arsenal fans have argued over when is the right time for Arsene Wenger to leave the club but I think the bosses latest comments highlight why he should walk away this summer.

Fans are disillusioned following yet another title collapse with our disastrous 2016 form throwing away our best chance to win the Premier League in over a decade. And to rub salt in to the wound, Tottenham could still be the beneficiaries.

Our North London rivals currently hold an eight point advantage over us and while this could be cut to five if we beat West Brom tonight, with just four games remaining it would be a big ask to overturn that sort of deficit.

So it looks like there will be no St. Totteringham’s Day for the first time in 20 years. If that’s not bad enough, Spurs still have a chance of overtaking Leicester to win the title. They certainly have the momentum to do it.

It’s understandable then, that a growing number of supporters are calling for a change in management. Finishing fourth every year was one thing, but finishing behind Spurs is quite another – especially if they become Champions.

Despite the unrest in the stands, Arsene insists he’s not ready to walk away and will see-out the final year of his contract – at least. Many still feel he’s the right man for the job and can turn things around.

Ordinarily I’d agree and until now, I’ve thought he deserved one last chance to go out on a high by winning the title next season. However, his comments yesterday tell me it’s finally time the great man walked away.

Speaking at his press conference on Wednesday, Wenger tried to justify our poor form by telling us there is ‘no shame’ in coming third. The boss is quoted as saying by the Mirror:

“I would also like to remind you that if we win the game against West Brom, we are third in the league and, if you look at the history of the club over 140 years and its consistency, you will see there’s no shame in that — even if we are not happy with it.”

Our 140 year history is irrelevant. It’s modern day football that counts, so is there any ‘shame’ in finishing third….

In most other seasons I would agree. Finishing third last year behind mega-rich Chelsea and Manchester City was actually a decent achievement when you take in to account the spending power we were up against. Finishing third/fourth for the last ten years while paying off the stadium was also a fantastic achievement given the circumstances.

However, to finish third behind Leicester and Spurs this year is nothing short of a disaster. There is simply no excuse left to justify our failure to win the title this season.

Everything fell in to place for us with the usual suspects all enduring transition seasons, but we’ve failed to take advantage and the worst thing about it….Wenger doesn’t seem to care anymore.

If he honestly thinks there is no shame in finishing third this season, he needs to go. It seems clear to me that Arsene has lost his edge. That desire to be the best and not accept anything less. 15 years ago Wenger would never have told us there was no shame in coming third.

These days, all we hear are excuses and Wenger telling us to be thankful for being in the top four. I used to be thankful for coming fourth when we were battling United, City, Chelsea and Liverpool [occasionally Spurs], but this year has obviously been an exception and Wenger still doesn’t admit our failings.

I would much rather he sat there in his press conference and said “look, no excuses, we’ve f*cked up. This should have been our year but we’ve blown it. We need to assess why, strengthen in the summer and come back stronger next season”.

But no, we get told there will be no shame in finishing third. Behind Spurs. And Leicester f*cking City.

It’s this acceptance to be ‘also-rans’ that tells me Arsene no longer has the desire to make Arsenal great again. He’s happy to finish in the top four every year, no matter who we finish behind, keep the club in the red and expect the fans to be thankful, all while we have £200m in the bank.

Sorry, Arsene, thanks for the memories, but it’s time to say goodbye….

15 Comments

  1. deno

    April 21, 2016 at 11:03 am

    I disagree with the assertion that things fell into place for us. As early as November of last year, Arsenal had lost Sanchez, Cazorla and Coquelin to injury. That is a significant core of our side. I was surprised at how close we were to the top while depending on the aging Flamini and defensively inept Ramsey. That is not even our third best midfield combination. Furthermore, even when Sanchez came back, he did very little to improve us. This was never our year as much as fans would like to believe so!

    • Jim

      April 21, 2016 at 11:20 am

      so deno tell me whose at fault for not bringing in reinforcements last summer, every fan with half a brain cell could have predicted our annual injury crisis, and you talk about ageing flamini and inept ramsey, but wenger’s the one signed flamini twice, and he’s also the one whose deluded himself into believing ramsey is a good enough dm….and guess what its going to be the exact same this summer…and thats not even considering the three stooges we have up front…aka giroud, walcott and welbeck, its funny how between all three they barely outscore kane in the pl

    • Thierry

      April 21, 2016 at 3:24 pm

      Excellent perspective, right on every point

  2. Thierry

    April 21, 2016 at 11:22 am

    It is getting so tiresome to hear the ungrateful Arsenal fans continuous and disgraceful moaning about Arsene. Where would Arsenal be without him?

    What do they want? Look at Man U, they brought in a world renowned manager, and look at the result after 2 years. Who do you guys think will take over, and do better that 3rd right away?

    Sure, Arsene is stubborn, and could do with some change in approach, but then the fan’s critique needs to be channeled constructively, not in mob culture led by sensationalists like Piers Morgan, whose knowledge of football nobody knows the source of.

    The biggest problem at Arsenal is Stan Kroenke, not Arsene Wenger. We have the misfortune of being the only foreign-billionaire owned club in the world, whose owner does not want to invest in the club, has no knowledge or passion for football, and openly admits he does not put much weight in winning trophies.

    He has it great, Arsene has turned Arsenal into a mega profit business, and the silent man is abusing this situation.

    WHY DON’T THE MOANING FANS USE THE BANNER “WENGER IN, KROENKE OUT”?!

    • Jacko

      April 21, 2016 at 2:28 pm

      How about …..Wenger Out, Kronke Out, AKB’s Out!

      Any competent Manager could equal or better Wenger over the past decade. First decade great, second average at best. 8 Mil a year, do me a favour!

      Forget the past and look to the future. If you want Sanogo type players playing against the likes of Munich then fill your boots.

      Next year will be worse if Wenger stays. A summer of utter frustration followed by tippi-tappi football that clearly doesn’t work…… But don’t worry cohesion will save us!

      SMH!

      What a fool!!

    • toennes berthelsen

      April 21, 2016 at 6:56 pm

      Ya where would we be. Not below Spurs and certaianly not under Leicester – right?

  3. PabloP83

    April 21, 2016 at 12:12 pm

    I can’t believe anyone can use injuries as an excuse for our abject second half of the season. Consider these points:

    1. We were top of the league in January having suffered the worst of our injury problems. We managed to weather the storm because our squad IS good enough to win the league…but here’s the caveat….with the right management.

    2. With Sanchez returning and most of our key players available we won about 4 out of 15 games. Did Wenger honestly get the most out of the talent available?

    3. There was a time where if Wenger had the current squad he would have easily finished above Spurs and Leicester but unfortunately Wenger is not at the cutting edge of modern football anymore.

    4. Expectations are critical. In recent seasons, whenever we have been talked up as title winners, we have flopped. But whenever the title is no longer a talking point, our form has always been good and we have always got top 4. This has happened too many times for it to be a coincidence. The players know that they can get top 4 as it has proved to be their level. But when we are top in January and the media are speculating on whether it could be our year and people predict we may flop all over again, Wenger whether you like it or not is part of that problem. The players don’t psychologically believe that they can do it. Until recently, this was just a theory but a few weeks ago Sanchez confirmed this theory to be true.

    In summary then, Wenger despite being consistently good, can never be excellent again. His presence at the club is so weighty that it lays too heavy on the players’ shoulders. They need the chance to have a clean break with a new manager who is unburdened by the weight of history and expectation.

    • f

      April 21, 2016 at 1:16 pm

      couldn’t agree more!!!

    • Thierry

      April 21, 2016 at 1:56 pm

      Could you please tell me which manager you would pick (who is reasonably available), that you are sure will do better than Wenger?

      Murinho has never developed players, and is a loose canon borderline to manic depressive.
      Guardiola made Barca and Bayern champions. As Yaya Toure’s agent said, his grandma could make those teams champions. Just look at last year’s UEFA coach of the year Louis Enrque! So perhaps you gentlemen would like Louis Enrique, and think he can do better?!

      Yes, Arsene is missing on many points. He should know that having STRONG characters is a must, not nice guys just playing football.
      His big mistake was entertaining the “English Core”, just think what a waste Walcott has been, and on 140 K/w, imagine if we had Griezman or Mahrez instead.

      PLEASE PUT AWAY THE ANGER, IF YOU HAVE IT, DIRECT IT TOWARDS KROENKE AND COMPANY, ABE MORE REALISTIC, AND KEEP SUPPORTING THE TEAM WITH BETTER MOJO 🙂

      • Jacko

        April 21, 2016 at 2:48 pm

        So were you sure Arsene Wenger could win the league when he joined from the illustrious Nagoya Grampus Eight? Of course not, so why is it impossible to believe there might just be someone else out there that can do well for Arsenal?

        I am sure Tuchel, Simione, Lowe or a plethora of other managers could at achieve Arsene’s coveted 4th spot and who knows maybe even improve on it.

        Some people would literally keep Wenger until he dies. Then close the Emirates gates for good.

        We are a football club not a cult!

        • Thierry

          April 21, 2016 at 3:16 pm

          You have a good point, but not many unproven managers have come to PL and straight into top 3, so the question is, are Arsenal fans prepared to take a huge gamble on guarantying playing in CL? Even the great Klopp (the only manager I’d have personally loved) could not get top 4 in the season when all stumbled.

          So if we bring in Tuchel and next year we are doing a “Moyes”,will everyone be thinking “oh well, it takes time”?

          And that, at the cost of disgracefully insulting or dispatching the man who made this club? Think how many “Arsenal” teams emerged around the world since AW shaped the new Arsenal, Ukraine, Argentina, South Africa…
          His statue is outside Emirates, which HE made possible, and yet he is being treated so appallingly. He was the first manager ever to turn down Real Madrid because of his love and total commitment to Arsenal.

          Now some fans don’t even want to give him his last year of contract, and if he does not succeed, we can always say thank you and goodbye, and bring in the new leader.

          Showing such disrespect to AW is beyond belief!

          • Lee

            April 21, 2016 at 6:28 pm

            Lol he turned down Real Madrid for he’s love for arsenal??? Behave he turned down Real Madrid cause he knew if he don’t win anything in a season he wod be sacked!!! Where at arsenal he can finish anywhere and still get 8million a season. Think before you write stupid comments and I say give Morino the job

  4. A.M.Barber

    April 21, 2016 at 3:27 pm

    Does anyone really think Wenger gives a monkeys toss, 8mill a year no pressure,an owner who doesn’t give a damn as long as he makes money.He knows his time is coming to an end sooner or later. Wenger came to the club with an already rock solid defence,he pulled in some midfield and front runners to play a stile he dreamed of and it worked,they were brilliant he played a game no body else could cope with, but slowly each club realized what he had got, now they all play it better than we do.Not many seasons ago we saw the faces of Gibbs,Walcott,Ramsey, Jenkinson,Wishere,Oxlade Chamberlin,the players to take Arsenal forward, where are they now?,add to that Giroud, Welbeck,Campbell. We need some world class players,but are they going to come to Emirates to play under Wenger, I don’t think so, so next year same ol same ol

  5. kenny

    April 21, 2016 at 10:36 pm

    The time is definitely up for wenger but should see out his contract. We cannot continue to dwell in the past. He has won his last title, he is not going to win another

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