Arsene Wenger may have been the best thing to ever happen to Arsenal , or maybe David Dein and Dennis Berkamp were. I’m still not sure. But one thing I feel very sure about is that this is a watershed period for the future of Arsenal Football Club and I would feel happier entering it without Arsene Wenger! Scandalous? Maybe.
As many “Wengerites” reach for their twitter accounts or worse, their baseball bats, let me at least explain why I feel the way I do. I honestly believe Wenger has become deluded and narcissistic in the way he manages the club. His stubborn hypocrisy on player valuations often leaves me and many other Gooners enraged and frustrated as he dithers his way to losing potential signings like Juan Mata , and maybe now even Fellaini .
Is it the money or has Wenger just totally lost confidence in his own judgement without Dein’s comforting arm around him? I mean who in their right mind thought Squillaci, Santos, Park, Sendeross, Djourou, Traore or Chamakh were worthy of pulling on an ARSENAL shirt? Who in any sort of sane mind thought Gervinho was worth £10m or Arshavin £80k a week ? We all make mistakes, even the great Fergie bought Djemba Djemba (so bad they named him twice), but how after compounding bad signings with Bendtner, Diaby and Dennilson do you make statements like, “This is the strongest squad I’ve ever had “ . Seriously, it’s deluded. It shows scant regard for anyone remotely involved with Arsenal football Club.
Now it’s easy to dismiss an owner who comes from a country where football is played with their hands, and have a world Series confined to teams from the same country. It’s even easier to be dismissive of a Board who hand you a remit to just make money whatever else happens on the pitch. But Gooners know football! We have a history of it, and we know when we’ve been conned (well, most of the lot), and for the last 5 years that, my friends is what we’ve been!
Arsene Wenger is one of the highest paid managers in world football- top 4 I believe. Yet when he sold Van Persie to Man Utd, RvP was not in the top 20 highest paid players. How does Wenger justify to his top players or even his board that he earns doubles what they do? How does a manager who has not won a trophy going into our ninth season on the spin, justify a salary in excess of what Both Fergie and Mancini earn, yet claim that top premiership players are overpriced?
Okay, forget about our failings on the pitch for a minute. How do you explain to your board and indeed your supporters that the wage demands of the likes of Mata, Hazard and now Fellaini are excessive, when 8 of your own signings are wasting over £400k a week to play Nintendo? Wenger has bought maybe 3/4 players from the Premiership in the last 12 years – why ? Why is the premiership not a good enough pool for players for Wenger? Why is he rarely seen at other Premiership grounds looking at perspective signings or even future opponents – that might have helped us against Bradford or Blackburn!
My biggest reason for wanting Wenger to move on is that his relationship with the fans has become too distant. He never feels he needs to answer questions about Arsenal transfers or signings, and if he does his answers are ambiguous or misleading, and filled with riddles. It leaves Gooners frustrated and often let down . If I was earning over £7m a year to finish trophy-less and in fourth more times than not, I would be trying to embrace fans who suffer the highest ticket prices in the country yet have to feast on mediocrity and failure.
No Gooner will ever forget what Wenger has done for Arsenal, but if he stays I fear no one will ever forget what he has now done to Arsenal! If Wenger is worth what he earns on his current return of no trophies in 8 years to go with the stench of bad signings, whilst selling our very best players, than why does he rate Fellaini, Williams and even Rooney to be overpriced?
I am also very suspicious as to why Adams was never considered for a coaching role at Arsenal. Surely he would have been a perfect fit, having completed his badges, especially as Arsenal’s defence and defensive signings have been our most obvious weakness ! My personal opinion is that Wenger didn’t want a Tony Adams-like personality at Arsenal as he has become stubborn, bordering on narcissistic, in the controlling way he now runs Arsenal. He does not seem answerable to anyone and will not tolerate criticism from subordinates!
With the way other clubs seem to be already spending , the gap between us and them cannot afford to grow any wider, and signing the likes of Higuain, Fellaini, Richards and Williams, will stop Arsenal stagnating , and maybe even offer up some hope of a trophy that’s not the Emirates Cup . I really hope I am wrong and have to eat my words.
Arsene please prove me wrong. I once revered you. Allow me and many others to at least respect you again , or admit you have taken the club as far as you can, and start talks with Laudrop or Klopp as your replacements
Richie Rich
El Presidente
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