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5) Stubbornness of the manager
Arsene Wenger
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Arsene Wenger cannot run away from the blame. He deserves great credit for the way he transformed Arsenal when he first arrived and went on to win 3 Premier League titles and 4 F.A Cups. But the problem arises when you fail to adapt with time. Wenger still seems to be stuck in a time warp. The days of securing the services of a world-class player for £10-15 million are long gone. With the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, PSG and A.S Monaco showing off their financial superiority in recent years, Arsenal have fallen behind.
Wenger’s is a classic case of dogmatism over pragmatism. The first question that arises is why the manager doesn’t evaluate a player’s worth and reject it. Shouldn’t it be the job of the board to sort out the financial details of the transfer while the manager’s job should be to request the board to sign the player he desires? One reason Tottehnam, Arsenal’s fierce rivals, have been so successful in bringing several world-class players this summer, like Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela, Paulinho and Christian Eriksen, is due to the presence of a technical director of football who sorts out the financial details of every transfer with the parties involved, while the coach just asks the director to get the required player. That Wenger has publicly stated his displeasure in working with a technical director of football is a testament to the fact that he refuses to budge from his dogmatic stand. What have Arsenal exactly gained in the last 8 years by saving a few million pounds on each transfer?
While Ozil’s arrival will definitely lift the sagging mood at the Emirates, expecting it to end the trophy drought is nothing but wishful thinking. The signing seems more of a move to appease Arsenal fans who were furious with the criminal inactivity throughout the transfer window than anything else. The rot inside the Emirates is still very deep and is under no signing of any ending. Until these burning questions are answered, Arsenal Football Club cannot expect sunny days ahead.
