5 reasons why Arsenal would be better off without Arsène Wenger

On the occasion of Arsène Wenger’s 1,000th game in charge, Arsenal faced rivals Chelsea in the Premier League. But it turned out to be a day to forget for Wenger as his side were thrashed 6-0. A day of celebration for the manager turned out to be a day that exposed his biggest problems in a brutal way.After taking charge in 1996, Wenger went on to establish Arsenal as a giant of European football but his last 10 years in charge have been less than impressive and they have been in a continual state of decline.All good things come to an end and his time at the club has run its course. He's the most important manager in Arsenal's history but it looks like he has done all he can to take the club forward, and has now reached his limit.Here are 5 reasons why Arsenal would be better off without Wenger:

#1 Lack of trophies

From managing a team that was invincible to winning just 1 trophy in the last 10 years, Wenger has suffered a huge fall from grace. That is simply unacceptable for a club of Arsenal’s stature.

His time at Arsenal has been a tale of two halves. The first 9 years were full of success and silverware while the next 9 years were anything but. Arsenal fans are blinded by his initial success and thus tend to over look his considerable flaws.

While Arsenal were facing a trophy drought, 23 ex-Arsenal players have gone on to win 56 major trophies at other clubs.

Just ask yourselves this, would any other manager at a top club still be in the job if he went without a trophy for 9 consecutive years? In a day and age where Roberto Di Matteo gets sacked in spite of winning the FA Cup and Champions League, it’s still a mystery how Arsène Wenger is still the Arsenal manager.

#2 Failure against big teams

In the last 3 seasons, Arsenal have won just 3 matches against their top 4 rivals. That includes 11 defeats, which is a pathetic record by any stretch of the imagination and has arguably cost Arsenal the league title.

It is a pattern that we’ve seen all too often. Take last season for instance where Arsenal lost with an aggregate score of 17-4 on the road against fellow top-four teams.

Arsenal are just too predictable and easy to defeat in the big games. This is because Wenger has shown himself to be tactically naive and has repeated the same mistakes time and time again.

Sir Alex Ferguson once said this about Wenger, "Arsène had a template of how he sees his players and the way they play. We didn't need to win the ball against Arsenal, we needed to intercept it." It was that simple, defend in numbers and hit them on the counter.

You have to win the big games if you want to win the league and Arsenal haven’t done that enough.

#3 Acceptance of mediocrity

Looking at the above picture, one can be fooled in to thinking that the Arsenal players are celebrating after winning a trophy. They are not. They are instead celebrating securing 4th place and in turn Champions League qualification for the 17th consecutive season under Arsène Wenger.

It was laughable. Finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League is by no means enough for a club with the highest ticket prices in Europe and with one of the highest paid managers in Europe.

Arsenal were "The Invincibles"; the only team in the modern era to go through an entire season undefeated. There was a time when even 2nd place wasn’t good enough. That winning mentality seems to have disappeared.

Now, Wenger seems to be satisfied as long as they finish 4th. There is no ambition. It’s almost as if he has accepted that Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City are better and that he’ll settle for 4th.

Arsène Wenger seems to be stuck in the muck of mediocrity and it has rubbed off on his players. The time for change has come.

#4 Outdated tactics and training methods

ArsneWengeris now the longest serving manager in thePremier League. But while football is quickly changing and developing, Wengers tactics are not.

Under him Arsenal have been known for their excellentpassing gamebut he has also been very stubborn with his tactics.He sets his team up a certain way and refuses to adapt to counter the tactics of the opposition, which isa trait that has made it easy for teams to prepare against Arsenal.

His tactics arent the only things that should be reviewed. Wengers questionabletraining methods should also come under the scanner.It was reported that Arsenalhave suffered an astounding 889 injuries since August 2002, which is at least 100 more than any other Premier League team.

The Frenchmanis known to train his players like they are marines rather than football players. This takes a toll on the players body and has led to the teams best players being out injured during crucial stages of the season.

When he first arrived in England,Wenger wasknown for his revolutionary training methords but allthat seems to be in the distant past now.

#5 Failure in the transfer market

Arsenal’s dealings in the transfer market since the time of "The Invincibles" have been disastrous. It is easy to place the blame for that on Wenger because no other manager has the amount of influence on a club as he does. He almost unilaterally decides which players to buy and sell.

Under him, Arsenal have become a selling club who constantly sell their best players without adequately replacing them. The most telling example of this was when he sold captain Robin van Persie to rivals United, gifting them the title in the very next season.

Do you think Sir Alex Ferguson would’ve sold his best player to a direct rival?

During the 2013-14 season, Arsenal were top of the table for 113 days, but as injuries mounted, it was baffling to see Wenger not sign a top class defensive midfielder and striker that they lacked. He instead chose to sign 31 year old Kim Kallstrom on loan and Arsenal surrendered the title to Man City.

This season, Arsenal have Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny as the only senior centre-backs in the squad and they still haven’t replaced Van Persie by signing that top class forward.

The list goes on and on. With transfer dealings like this, it’s not surprising that they haven’t won the league in 10 years. Still unconvinced Arsenal fans?