Arsenal’s defeat to Nottingham Forest was arguably no surprise – our performances our all over the place and our best players want out. But the fact that Arsene Wenger is still manager baffles many fans and pundits.
Following a humiliating to Bayern Munich back in March 2017, a BBC article asked is Arsene Wenger’s time as boss of Arsenal up? But 10 months later the Frenchman is still at the Emirates.
After another poor performance – to a Championship side, no less – four out of five Gooners now want Wenger out. Is the Frenchman really now on borrowed time, or will he escape the chop once again?
Reasons for Arsenal to stay loyal to Wenger
He changed English football for the better
Before Wenger became Arsenal manager in 1996, football had a hardcore drinking culture, which often came at the expense of healthy diets and true athleticism. Tony Adams, Paul Merson et al were fans of the half-time Mars bar and copious amounts of post-match alcohol.
Wenger changed all that with protein-based nutrition and scientific-training methods. Back in the George Graham era and before, Arsenal were known for parking the bus and scraping 1-0 wins right, left and centre. Wenger introduced a sharp, energetic playing style that was great to watch and a long way from the “boring, boring Arsenal” of old.
Les Invincibles
The Gunners owe their modern-era success to Wenger. The pinnacle of this was the 2003-04 season, during which we never a league match. With the likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Ashley Cole in our team, no-one could touch us.
The FA Cup
No other team has won the FA Cup more often than Arsenal (13 times!) and Wenger has won 6 of those. To make it extra sweet, the last one was against Chelsea in 2017, when we stopped them from achieving the double.
The gunners have finished outside of the top four only once in 22 years
Despite not winning the league since 2004, we’ve only missed out on a top-four place (2016-17) – this is better going than every other team in the league.
Reasons Wenger needs to leave (or be sacked)
The good times are over
The days of the Invincibles are long gone. We haven’t won the league since 2004 – 14 years! While Wenger did wonders for us, he’s no longer producing the goods. If this was the case for one of players, he’d be out on his ear; that’s what’s supposed to happen in this results business. We’re rubbish and it’s just frustrating that he hasn’t paid the price.
Legends like Henry and Vieira left Arsenal because they felt the club had lost ambition – that deserted them years ago and is yet to come back! With Alexis Sanchez and (maybe) Mesut Ozil on their way out, where are our stars? Answer: There aren’t any!
Team selections
With no chance of winning the league, it was up to Arsene to try and salvage something from the season. But he picked a bizarre side to face Forest and paid the price. This suggests he no longer knows what’s he’s doing.
My message to the Arsenal board: It’s time to say “thanks Arsene, but please go!”
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