Genuine question. Not meant to stir up animosity between Wenger in / out supporters, but given where Arsenal are currently having won the FA cup in successive seasons and finished 3rd in automatic champions league qualification, having added real quality in Sanchez and ozil, do those who wanted Wenger out still want that to happen this summer ? If so, who realistically could we bring in (klopp has just said he is taking a break from management) and are there any parameters that those who wanted Wenger out would accept to change their minds and keep Wenger. Personally (and I've always been consistent with it) I don't see any reason to change the manager until we can be assured that we can replace him with somebody better. In my opinion there are only 2/3 managers in the world who could do as good as or better job.
Truthfully, I don't know. For me, I know we have won successive FA Cups, but I can't ignore the 8 years previous to that. Yes we got less money from the Highbury flats due to economic conditions and yes it was always going to be an arduous process, but I still think that quite a few problems we had were through our own doing and there are things we could and should have done better. In a time where the likes of Portsmouth, Wigan, Swansea etc were winning trophies, I just find it a bit difficult to comprehend that we couldn't win a single honour from 2005-06 to the 2013-14 season. We also still have a lot of issues in some regards. Our defending on some days can be absolutely brilliant and look amongst the best in the league, but then there are days where we look so far out of our depth, it is untrue. We still need to learn how to cope when there is the weight of expectation is on us and learn to rise to the occasion rather than falter. In some respects this has improved, as exemplified with us winning 2 trophies in the last 2 years, but in the league and in Europe, we still come up short for one reason or another. A lot of people pointed to the lack of finances, but the last two seasons would suggest our issues have run deeper than that. Despite seeing slight improvement, I still feel we are seeing some of the recurring issues we've had over the years. Lack of consistency, injury issues, tactical deficiencies in Europe, not getting enough points from the games against higher quality opposition and Wenger seemingly being reactive instead of proactive. With all that being said, Wenger surprised me with splashing the cash on Ozil and Sanchez, and he's shown a willingness to spend big when necessary when I thought he was still old-fashioned in his methods. He's also managed to get us around 4th and 3rd regularly which, although isn't a trophy as he once claimed, is still a respectable achievement. If I'm going to be honest, I think that Wenger has achieved par for the course in the eight years we went without a trophy. Now that isn't an easy thing to do, especially when you see plenty of managers underachieving, even the 'top' ones e.g. Ancelotti, van Gaal, Benitez etc, but the issue I had and to an extent I still have is that he can keep us in and around the level we're at, but lacks the conviction and innovation to take us to the level we truly aspire to be at. So in that regard, he has done a good job for us overall, but the notion that he has 'performed miracles' is not even remotely close to being true and it factually doesn't hold any weight, either. I still think there are other managers who could do a better job, but I don't think any of them would be realistic targets nor do I think they would come to us at this point so I would stick with him for the time being, in spite of my criticisms of him. I still have reservations about him, but hey, he's won back-to-back trophies and managed to lure the likes of Sanchez and Ozil to our club which I never envisaged in my wildest dreams. So he has bought himself more time anyway. EDIT: After reading this post back to myself, I guess I want him to stay for the time being.
'Where do you stand on Wenger' I'm a 6ft 4 brick ****house - I'm not sure Wenger would be too pleased with me standing on him! But until my size 12's cause him irreparable damage, then I'm happy with the improvements in the team in the last 2 years, and I get the feeling (and hope!) that the board are working quietly behind the scenes to wind down Wenger's era after next season, with a successor or two in mind to take over. As such I don't think there's any point even looking for a replacement now, particularly as there are few managers who could do better than him, or as consistently.
The question I have to ask myself is, do I belive that Wenger is good enough to give us a serious chance of winning the league and CL? And my honest answer is simply no, therefore I still want him to leave, but I know that until his contract ends that is not going to happen, so there is little point in talking about his future. It's just a waste of time, really.
I agree with Sanj here,Wenger still has two years left on his contract and he's not going to leave and the board aren't going to sack him. Personally I'm sick of this AKB v WOB argument,people should just get behind the club and by the club I mean players and officials
Wenger deserves another year, but we have to challenge for the title or CL properly next season. If we don't, then he should go imo.
I wish, it would be much easier getting clothes to fit and ppl wouldn't keep coming up to me asking me if I'm pregnant! I made a good keeper, coz I filled the goal - but I was always prone to grobbleraar-esque moments of madness...
I'm 5'9, so best I could do would be to stand on his toe. In for me. Think anyone over 35 will remember life before winger and agree that it is better now. Forget the trophies, we are set for the rest of my life. Financially strong, well run, and get to see cl every year.
I'm obviously far too young to remember life before Wenger but I read somewhere that before him Arsenal won trophies every season and certainly never went more than two without a trophy.
I'm in agreement with Brunel and a few others here, Wenger still has a two year deal so unless he steps down we can't do anything about it, and I will continue to support the club, the boss and the rest. But is Wenger good enough to actually challenge for the title or Europe? With our financial restrictions lifted, he has done well with two back to back FA cups, the second seeing us dominate, and beating City for the Charity shield. This points towards progression, but there is a big but. Our poor start to the season that saw our chances disappear (pointing to the lack of reinforcements in key areas like CB and DM in the summer), coupled with our loss at home to the less favoured European side Monaco, would suggest that Wenger continues to struggle to win the highest honours. I am starting to see patches of vintage Wenger this season, but we need a lot more than patches to challenge the likes of Maureen's Chelsea or those in Europe. I do have more faith in our team, not just because of all our great attacking threat (though it does help loads), but its the basic things like having a good DM and defending in numbers and with intensity. I think this season will tell us all we need to know about Wenger and if he's good enough to take Arsenal to higher honours. He has money, a very good squad, a great stadium and solid fanbase. He will also face one of the stiffest tests to date playing against a Maureen Chelsea, a powerful City, a resurgent manure and other tough teams like Pool, Spurs, Southampton etc. It won't be easy but he has all the tools available to him to do it. If he wins or gets close to winning the league then I'm happy for him to stay. If the usual familiar pattern occurs then its time to find someone new. Klopp will be available next year and I have no doubt that he would jump at the chance of managing us, and in my opinion, is a perfect fit for Arsenal.
In my opinion, since the financial restrictions have been lifted on the team, and since Chelsea and City have been slightly reigned in on their spending, we have seen a big improvement over the previous 8 years (although we did get to finals in those 8 years, we never looked complete). During the past 2 seasons, we've gotten rid of a lot of deadwood - Djournou, Bedtner (thank God!), Denilson, Gervinho, Arshavin, Podolski (will soon go no doubt) as will Diaby and a few others. And brought in some very good players - we've won 2 major cups and out played Man C in the Charity Shield, and during last season we had incredible form until Christmas/Jan, that was title winning, until poor form and injuries derailed us, and this season - once we got over our injuries we've shown title winning form since January. The big question though is - can Wenger improve the squad yet again, and keep enough players fit to sustain that form over a whole season? It's a big question, but he's shown enough in the last two seasons to say he's on an upward curve and deserves a shot. But either way he's not going anywhere until his contract is up, so I'll be behind him and the team (and pulling my hair out in frustration no doubt) until he eventually leaves.
Personally I think he can, if we add one or two players in key areas. What's killed us before is (1) Not having our first XI available at the first time (2) Not having sufficient quality in depth. The latter part of this season saw Wenger have his first choice XI fit and to chose from for the fist time since something like 2007. That is an unbelievably cruel injury record and coupled with lack of suitable replacements (Wenger was culpable for not buying a CB last summer) it has cost us dearly. We've shown that we can beat Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool and the teams around the top 6. This season we need to improve on that again and try and scalp Chelsea too, which we very nearly did at the Emirates but for some wayward finishing. We've also added real quality to the squad in Sanchez and Ozil and now most positions look like they have good quality in both no1 and no2 spots. If we can add a DM and possibly one more to the squad and ship out Pod, Flamini, Sanogo then I think we will have a squad who can challenge for the League IF they can all stay injury free.
Wenger is culpable for not buying a CB and he also got very lucky over Coquelin.We do have the money to spend on strengthening the squad and if the money isn't spent it is down to Wenger.
