Has Arsene Survived For Too Long?

The term ‘legend’ is used too loosely in this modern era. For example, I was called a legend the other day for doing a couple of kick ups in front of my year 10 class. However, you wouldn’t be wrong in identifying Arsene Wenger as a legend, or would you?
The Frenchman, who is notoriously talented for never seeing his own team’s red cards, has been at the helm for sixteen years. He is the longest serving Arsenal manager of all time and has led the club to eleven trophies during his tenure. He has often been praised for playing football the way it should be and has been labelled a master when it comes to finding hidden gems for cheap prices. Arsene has compiled quite a CV and therefore, surely people are right to mention him within the ‘legend’ category.
However, Wenger has proved to be his own downfall. He has outstayed his welcome and now that ever so talented CV has become tainted. That CV now shows that although he has won eleven trophies, Wenger has not won any silverware since the 2004/05 season. Arsenal still pay football the way it should be but now they are no longer the masters, that title has been well and truly engulfed by Barcelona. They do not even seem to hold the crown within England when it comes to attractive football; just ask Michael Laudrup. A few weeks ago, Arsenal were dominated at home by Swansea and were made to look inferior with The Swans having the majority of possession and more shots on target. This is something that Arsenal fans cannot stand nor will take for much longer.
As already mentioned, Arsenal have not been as successful in recent years but the saving grace for most fans is that they normally have the lion’s share of possession and are more aesthetically pleasing.  In addition, Wenger can still buy great players but they are now few and far between and the most successful ones of recent time have not come cheaply. When the pressure has been on Wenger in the past, he has known to work around the obvious questions and divert the media to Arsenal’s fantastic financial position.
When Arsenal were successful, Wenger would sign players for a cheap price, they would represent the Gunners and would normally then leave when Arsene had decided that the said player had progressed beyond his peak and could no longer play at the required standard. This was a fantastic structure that Wenger had in place; buy players for cheap and then sell them once they had gone ‘out of date’.
Sadly, this is no longer the case. Now, Arsenal have become a stepping stone and players are leaving before they’ve reached their peak. Once again, this is fantastic financially for Arsenal as they are selling players at a higher price but it is damaging them trophy-wise. Fans are now starting to question the point in being financially secure if you can no longer attract the more expensive world-class players. In recent years, the Gooners have seen the likes of Nasri, Flamini, Fabregas, Adebayor, Song, Clichy, Toure and Van Persie all leave earlier than the fans would have liked.
My father and grandfather who are both avid Arsenal fans have always stayed loyal and prior to the seven year trophy drought they would always mention that no players ever left Arsenal and progressed further.  I would often question the decision to sell a particular player and my grandfather would assure me that the player would regret the decision and he would not come back to haunt Arsenal. In Wenger they trusted. So often they were right; with examples such as: Edu, Nicolas Anelka and Aliaksandr Hleb. However, this is not the case anymore and players are now using Arsenal as a springboard for greater things.
Arsenal have sold some of their best players before but usually, Wenger replaces them with a cheaper but better alternative.  This dates back to when they signed Robert Pires who replaced Marc Overmars and Cesc Fabregas who eventually replaced Patrick Vieira. Wenger’s knack of finding cheap players has been one of the reasons he has been so adored and why he is still in his job. Although, notice how I used the past tense there as recently, this has not been the case. Arsenal’s fall within the Premier League table has coincided with their inability to replace their star players. The table below shows some of the players Wenger scouted and bought to the club for a bargain price in his earlier days.

As you can see, that list includes some significant signings that Arsenal have been able to make huge profits from. However, now look at the list below which contains Arsenal’s signings from the last five years. I have highlighted in bold which of these players has made a significant difference to the starting eleven. Interestingly, only five out of twenty-three players are highlighted. This is essentially the source of the problem that Wenger finds himself in now.
It is apparent that he no longer possesses the ability to be able to unearth ‘unknown gems’. I don’t know why this is – maybe players are more expensive now, maybe the scouting system has changed or maybe Wenger has stopped playing Football Manager on his laptop. Another noticeable fact is that with the players that are highlighted, none of them cost under ten million. Understandably, player’s prices have increased over the years but to put it into perspective, Wenger spent the same amount on Gervinho as he did on Thierry Henry. I won’t even waste your precious time in comparing stats between those two individuals.

Essentially, the fall of Arsenal’s stature within England is down to Wenger’s current lack of efficiency within the transfer market. Arsenal have had problems before but Wenger has always been able to discover another talent which would divert the attention away. However, the master has now become complacent and too much money is being wasted. Yes, they haven’t spent over twenty million on one player in the last five years but combined, they have spent forty-five million on Arshavin, Gervinho, Andre Santos and Giroud.  Other than that famous 4-4 draw against Liverpool where Arshavin scored all four, none of them have delivered and it has been money wasted. Twenty million has been spent on Mertesacker and Koscielny. Yes, they are quite good but they are too inconsistent and they won’t win the league with one of them starting. Five great players out of twenty-three is not acceptable anymore and unfortunately, something has to change.
Arsenal are now in an awkward position where they know they need a change of manager and a change of direction but it is difficult to sack someone that has brought so much success. Wenger will always be hugely respected for what he has done but for the good of the club, he needs to jump before he is reluctantly pushed. He is in danger of losing his ‘legendary’ status and Wenger will want to be remembered for the success he brought and not for being the manager that couldn’t deliver a trophy for over seven years.
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