Arsène Wenger: Same Old Class

[James Bond]

Dropped points at the start of the season due to lack of preparation over the summer. Left business late, window closed, but again we're 2-3 players short. 21m profit on transfers this summer.

 

[say yes]

My hot take: reckon Wenger might not be a top manager anymore and should be sacked in the most brutal manner possible.

Preferably marched off by Usmanov's secret police mid-game.

 

[Majora]

Always try to avoid emotional posting but it really could get to the point where we aren't even salvageable by the time he finally decides to call it a day. Love the guy but the damage he is doing is continuing to stack.

 

[Axel9090]

Wenger will probably take a 20 percent cut out of that 27m profit.

 

[Dokaka]

£20m profit from transfers this summer. At this point it's beyond anything resembling reason. From club hero to a fascinating case study of a man taking a chainsaw to his legacy.

Will you guys still regard him as a club legend if he stays for two more years and keeps doing this? He's in danger of have more bad years than good years on his Arsenal resume, with the last 5+ years of his reign basically being utter misery for fans.

 

[Axel9090]

£20m profit from transfers this summer. At this point it's beyond anything resembling reason. From club hero to a fascinating case study of a man taking a chainsaw to his legacy.

Will you guys still regard him as a club legend if he stays for two more years and keeps doing this? He's in danger of have more bad years than good years on his Arsenal resume, with the last 5+ years of his reign basically being utter misery for fans.

He is already there. People dont regard him as anything more than an enemy now.

 

[RandomHero84]

He's seriously damaged his legacy. He appears complicit in a club damaged management policy, and his team selections appear needlessly contrarian.

Even his most loyal ex players have switched sides in this frankly tiresome debate. His departure isn't going to be pretty.

 

[Nemo_on_acid]

If that were true then I'd agree. But the truth is @Gooner Zig 's post was one, amidst dozens trying to rewrite history.

AM is virtually 100 % behind Wenger leaving and a club shake up. Why can't people leave it at that.

Who is trying to rewrite history? No one has said Wenger DIDN'T win 3 League titles in his first 8 years at the club. People are just wondering why he hasn't won the league even once in the last 13 years.

 

[Macho]

It's gotten to the point where he's made more mistakes/done more things badly than good.

The repeated mistakes and glaring deficiencies that have lasted well over a decade now would drive anyone mad.

My thing is though is it all his fault? Is he the only one to blame? That bit I'm not sure about it's hard to tell.

His nonsense is so baffling and it's gone on for so long now you'd like to think there's other people/factors behind it.

 

[IslingtonBornandbred]

Yeah you're probably right, I don't think this has relevance to Wenger's decline though does it? I don't understand the push back against Wenger's managerial style either, it worked for us for quite a while.

IMO it worked because we had world class players with leadership qualities and motivation to win things. We had world class "men". When you are working with a majority of players who are below the level of your expectations/season aims and are mentally weak you can't apply the same style.

Quite simple in my opinion. If you are managing the Invincibles side or Real Madrid you can manage the "Wenger way" because you are putting a team on the field who have world class players and have the mentality to win things. When you are working with a lesser squad both footballing and mentally you need more structure, motivation and other ideas.

In essence, you allow more responsibility to Adams, Campbell, Vieira, Henry to run the dressing room and do what needs to be done because of their character and personality. If you bring players to the club and create an environment like we have, you need it to come from elsewhere.

It's the old Laissez-Faire style which only works with those types of characters:

Downsides of Laissez-Faire Leadership
Laissez-faire leadership is not ideal in situations where group members lack the knowledge or experience they need to complete tasks and make decisions. This style of leadership has been linked to negative outcomes including poor job performance, low leader effectiveness, and less group satisfaction.

Lack of role awareness. In some situations, the laissez-faire style leads to poorly defined roles within the group. Since team members receive little to no guidance, they might not really be sure about their role within the group and what they are supposed to be doing with their time.

Poor involvement with the group. Laissez-faire leaders are often seen as uninvolved and withdrawn, which can lead to a lack of cohesiveness within the group. Since the leader seems unconcerned with what is happening, followers sometimes pick up on this and express less care and concern for the project.

Low accountability. Some leaders might even take advantage of this style as a way to avoid personal responsibility for the group's failures. When goals are not met, the leader can then blame members of the team for not completing tasks or living up to expectations.

Passivity and avoidance. At its worst, laissez-faire leadership represents passivity or even an outright avoidance of true leadership. In such cases, these leaders do nothing to try to motivate followers, do not recognize the efforts of team members, and make no attempts at involvement with the group.

 

[IslingtonBornandbred]

The FA Cup Final was no different to the 3-0 drubbing we gave them in the league a few months before. Complete dominance.

If we can do it in some games, why not others? Football isn't simple.

The Liverpool game for whatever reason was a complete disaster and something definitely seems broken at the club. Whatever it is, it's time for Wenger to leave and for Arsenal to begin a new era.

[/QUOTE]

That's the problem. It's not whatever reason, it's the same reason team after team have been exposed in the same way. I have never ever seen any other top 4 club or European club concede the same goal time and time again - that Salah goal where he is running through with us chasing, we've seen that goal a stupid amount of times. It's always from a corner or counter where we are unnecessarily short at the back. And that's the point, if we can be a bit more structurally set up/solid in an FA Cup final or other examples then why do we constantly get ripped apart? I say the performances like Man City away where Cazorla got MOTM a couple of years ago are the exception.

Football isn't simple but you can get the simple things right. This isn't about Wenger selecting a genius formation or constructing a perfect attack, it's about the simple things i.e one full back goes forward the other stays deep, don't leave your defense exposed, don't bomb forward from central midfield in unsafe situations, chase the ball, head the ball, tackle, fight....it's the simple things we aren't doing.

The "Wenger goal" used to be flowing attacking football. Now the Wenger goal is having a corner or attack, having your last man midway in the opponent's half or defence all over the place, then two or three players chasing back and the opponent scoring -

See Ronaldo/Rooney in the UCL semi
See Michu vs Swansea at Home
See Monaco twice in UCL game at home
See Aston Villa at home in 2013
See Liverpool away this season and when they smashed us
See Chelsea away when they smashed us

Honestly, the list is endless. No other team concedes so many goals like this so often and over such a long period without change.

 

[Gooner n Proud]

Still Wenger in forever but Im baffled by some of his recent decisions relating to transfers.
I fully back the man but hes got to start bucking up his ideas otherwise the small percent of us supporters who still deem him as the right guy for the job will stop trusting him.

 

[Jury]

He stamped his hallmark of utter stupidity on every side he's had since the invincibles. Only another manager can change it. What we see us do, you do not see anywhere else. How you see us fail, you do not see in the championship. Different players coming and going... ALL doing the same stupid sh!t under the same manager. It's not a coincidence.

 

[bingobob]

The club has been in a crisis whether the club itself perceives that is irrelevant. The club including Wenger need to be aware of the perception of its brand. To be off holidaying on one of the perceived biggest days in the year is two fingers up to the fans. No other business would have this lack of awareness or contempt for its consumers.

 

[CaseUteinberger]

What I find most frustrating is the sheer monotony of the whole thing. Even though Sunday was brutal I am sure we will have some kind of bounce back and string together some good results. Maybe get close to 4th or even 3rd but then fall away again and then finish strong... again. Even the proper thrashings feel familiar, just as do the false dawns.

 

[BBF]

Dropped points at the start of the season due to lack of preparation over the summer. Left business late, window closed, but again we're 2-3 players short. 21m profit on transfers this summer.

We're 3-4 quality players short of challenging now. We'll be starting a CM who thinks he's a striker and a CM who can't tackle or pass further than 5 yards as it stands. Then we have a load of defenders who can't actually defend bar one, and a load of forwards who **** themselves at the sight of white goal posts. It's always one step forward, and two steps back at Arsenal.

 

[GDeep™]

Too many issues, there is no coming back now. Season is over and it's just started.

 

[Arsenal in Aus]

Too many issues, there is no coming back now. Season is over and it's just started.

This is true. I can't believe it's been reduced to this.

 

[Polar Bear]

I can't believe Wenger never brought a CB in the window, absoutley awful decision which is gonna come back to haunt us badly this season. The defense is nowhere near good enough to win the premiership. I know he was trying to sign Lemar but he is a midfielder, he didn't even try to get a CB, big mistake. People said about Evans, but I saw what Pulis said and he said they had only had contact from Man City and denied their offers.

Every window the same old mistakes. No world cup or euros or anything, he had the entire summer. No excuses. I'm sick and tired of it all.

 

[BBF]

You know what's one of the worst bits about this business? Bar Nelson, we don't have any young talents to gain experience. At least you can write off a season if you have talented youngsters knocking on the door but we've got **** all. Thanks Wenger.