Arsene Wenger – a job well done, but not appreciated.

Recently I have been reading quite a few conversations on Social Media about Arsene Wenger that really amaze me. I can obviously understand the frustration at not winning anything for 8 years, I too am frustrated about it, but the abuse aimed at the club’s greatest manager is in one word . . . extraordinary.  It’s always difficult to decide whether or not to wade into said topic because it is so divisive right now.  However, upon further reflection I do feel the need to address a few points.

The first is the simple fact that some fans seem to forget what our stadium move entailed, especially when the club funds it through its own endeavours.  It is clear that the club would have to maintain a very strict budget during that time if it wanted to remain financially stable which made the task of remaining competitive a tough one.  It has been said that to secure Champion’s League football was made the minimum requirement for the team in order to finance the move and its one that Wenger has consistently achieved albeit without the perecieved talent and spend of other clubs.  More on the playing side later.

There have definitely been knock on effect from the tight budget imposed on the club.  The first issue is that of the wage budget, the problems of which all started when Wenger attempted to combat the financial constraints by building a squad primarily focused on young proimising talent that was meant to develop together in a similar way that Manchester have done in the past. This saved on big transfers initially which I think allowed him to divide the money out more generously through wage rises, loyalty and performance related clauses.  Many of the players most likely realised they were playing regularly for one of the biggest clubs in the world and therefore wanted a salary to reflect that which is why some players earned what they did.  I’m sure the gamble was that this would allow Wenger to keep the squad together for a few years and eventually build a honours winning side. 

He came mighty close on a few occasions, often derailed by injuries to key players, but the stumbling blocks quickly started to appear. These players that Wenger put his faith in often got ahead of themselves and frustrated at not winning things, in turn not buying into the long term strategy.  Not only did Wenger face this problem but he was unable to start paying the best players the top wages that they knew they could get elsewhere.  One might say Wenger paid the price for developing and/or improving the talents of players like Hleb, Nasri and RVP to name a few.  He made them targets for those that could part with huge amounts of cash while we could not match that.  Any attempts to remedy this by increasing the wages of the likes of RVP and Nasri would put serious strain on the operating budget (based on what is perceived to be financial restrictions based on the Emirates Stadium financing). We also couldn’t compete with those sniffing around these players and when you combine this with certain players’ desire to look elsewhere there is a big problem.  Granted certain players were on too high wages but this stemmed from the original long term product that failed for the reasons given.

The subsequent knock on effect with this is the need to replace top players but again the problems stem from the budget rather than Wenger. Yes Gervinho cost £10m but his wages were far far lower than the likes of a Hazard would have demanded. In this day and age, £10m is the price you pay for a punt and this is what Wenger has had to resort to till now.  Another example everyone throws about is that of Chamakh as a major flop.  However, although he tailed off hugely, his start was very impressive and he contributed well while RVP was out injured.  He was a free transfer and many raved how astute it had been.  Unfortunately for Chamakh, RVP then came back and stayed injury free for the first time which limited his chances.  He lacked the drive to fight for his place and very quickly fell out of love with playing for Arsenal.  How was Wenger meant to know that would happen?

Everyone remembers Chamakh, Santos and Gervinho as gambles that flopped but amongst those were the stand out successes of Koscielny, Per, Arteta and Santi.  Yes not every signing has worked out but that happens in football, especially when one has to shop amongst a lower level of player compared to who you’ve sold. He has still shown an ability to help players develop into top talents despite having his hands tied but people only seem to remember those that didn’t work out.  

I know we haven’t signed anyone yet but the fact we are clearly in for the likes of Higuain, Rooney and Fellaini shows the type of players Wenger really wants at Arsenal. Now the money is there for spending rather than steering us through tough financial times, he is clearly being ruthless with that lower class of player he had in favour of the players that have the required calibre to make Arsenal great again.

In recent years Arsenal has come good in the second half of the season. This is not a coincidence. If you are losing key players each year, the replacements are not going to immediately come in and fit into their place. It takes time to adapt to new players, new leagues etc. Add into this the transfer sagas that develop each year and Wenger is almost starting from scratch each year rather than being able to build on the previous season like the other teams have been able to do. This all stems from a revolving circle that has been a problem for the club and AW since the stadium move.

All that said, although 4th isn’t good enough for Arsenal, to achieve it every year since the stadium move is still an achievement, one that is too often dismissed.  While the teams around us spend millions to compete he has managed to get the best out of what has been poor level of squads. Every year the press say Wenger has done amazingly to “get this Arsenal team into the CL”. This shows that he still has it as a coach. If you don’t have the players you don’t have the players but unfortunately once you hit the heights of the Invincibles, fans will demand the same every year rather than realise what a good job has actually been done in recent years.  He has had too much to do within the club but still proves that he has the managerial abilities on the training pitch. Managing the side is his main job and he can still do that. Hopefully now the club is in a steady position to allow him to concentrate on that a bit more and give him players he needs.

Wenger most likely created problems for himself by embroiling himself in the different sectors of the club to try and navigate the stadium move. He sacrificed his own personal glory, turning down Madrid! Munich and PSG, to help the club he loves navigate what could have been a damaging decade.  Instead, he may have set Arsenal up for a great future with the work he has done and only now are fans starting to realise the implications that made his job so tough for so many years.  Some Arsenal fans have been spoilt under Wenger and don’t remember where the club was before he came.  He has not been perfect in the last 8 years but damn has he put his heart and soul in.  We have no right to win anything but Wenger may have set up Arsenal so we have a big chance of maintaining a challenge for decades to come.  I just hope that he gets the recognition for this when he has gone.