It is now official, Arsenal of England FC longest serving manager, Arsene Wenger, will be leaving the team at the end of the current season.
The French born tactician, who joined the club in 1996, is no doubt, the most successful manager in the club’s history. He introduced a fascinating pattern of playing that quickly relegated the hitherto boring and highly physical English ‘kick and follow’ style into oblivion.
Under his watch, Arsenal won the Premier League title in 1998, 2002, and 2004 as well as seven FA Cups, including three in the past four years. In the 1998 and 2002 seasons respectively, Arsenal won the league and FA Cup Double. One of the major highlights of Wenger’s coaching career in Arsenal was recorded in the 2003-2004 season when the team was nicknamed “The Invincibles” after it went through the Premier League season undefeated with 26 wins and 12 draws. For 22 consecutive seasons, Arsenal under Wenger finished in the top four bracket of the Premier League log. In the 2005/2006 season, Wenger’s Arsenal played out the UEFA Champions League final but was edged out 2-1 by Barcelona.
For his innovative approach to the game, Wenger was nicknamed the “Professor”. With a degree in economics, the “Professor” was not only interested in bringing laurels to the team. He was equally keenly concerned about its financial stability. One of his most enduring legacies at Arsenal was his role in the construction of the team’s new playing ground, the £390m Emirates Stadium which they moved into in 2006.
But then, in the past few seasons, there has been a gradual decline in the club’s performance. Currently sixth in the 20-team Premier League, for the first time in 22 seasons, the team failed to qualify for the lucrative European Champions League competition. Since its loss to Barcelona in 2006 Champions League final, Arsenal has struggled endlessly in the Europe elite football championship. They were eliminated at the last-16 stage for the seventh successive season on their last appearance in the competition in 2017, losing 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich.
Thus, fans have become plausibly disillusioned and Wenger had been under increasing pressure to step down from some fans, having failed to win the league for 14 years and with the club set to miss out on Champions League qualification for the second consecutive season. Of late, fans have been boycotting the team’s home matches.
What actually went wrong with Wenger? Why did the man in whom the fans used to say: “In Arsene we Trust” suddenly lose his goodwill with the fans? According to soccer pundits, Wenger lost it when he started recruiting skillful but tiny and feeble players. In the years when Arsenal was dominant, its players were chiefly physically strong. In-spite of recent revolution, the English league is still chiefly physical. Hence, Wenger’ frail boys, though skillfully endowed, always lose out when it comes to the gritty end of the game.
Aside this, Wenger’s penchant for spending less on players’ recruitment is equally one of his Achill heels. His notoriety for helping the Club management make and save so much money earns him the appellation of “Baba- Ijebu (the miserly one) among Nigerian fans. Today, money is a major determinant success factor in football. Wenger ignored this fact and he paid dearly for it.
Wenger has also been chided by many for his predictable tactical approach to games. As an attack minded manager, Wenger cares less about other aspects of the game and his team is often punished by more tactically suave managers. The outgoing Arsenal manager has also been accused of being too loyal and soft on his players. He simply lacks the no-nonsense trait of managers such as Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson who ensure that only players who are overtly committed to their respective teams are fielded. Rather than chide his players for poor performance, Wenger usually jump into their defence.
In-spite of all his shortcomings as a manager, Wenger will, no doubt, remain a legend at Arsenal. Many fans and former Arsenal players are already clamouring for the immortalization of the Frenchman. For instance, former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has urged the club’s board to rename the Emirates Stadium Arsene Wenger Emirates Stadium.
As a long standing and longsuffering Arsenal fan, my feeling on Wenger’s impending exit is a mixed one. Like every Arsenal fan that has clamoured for a change in the team’s managerial hierarchy, I am elated about the latest development. Ironically, however, I am already missing Wenger, almost to the point of wanting him to remain as manager. But then, that is human emotion which can sometimes be unreliable. The truth about life is that there is time for everything and for Monsieur Wenger this, indeed, is the right time to bow out.
Tayo Ogunbiyi
Ogunbiyi is of the Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos
