Invincibles to Vulnerables - What is going on?

The fans seem to have lost faith. The players seem to have lost faith. Once upon a time they yelled – “In Wenger We Trust” , now they yell – “Enough is Enough, Wenger out”. What has gone wrong with Arsenal? What is going through Arsene Wenger’s mind?

The club which once had produced greats like Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira etc. is now being termed by many as a mediocre English club. A feared team which had inspiration, leadership, skill and belief is now only left with blind faith which is now fading. Arsenal’s greatest weapon was its inspiration from within. Warriors like Tony Adams, Vieira, Henry, van Persie had it. Even if the game was slipping away from Arsenal, they always led the team fearlessly, but now, the captain Vermaelen has been really inconsistent and completely lacks those leadership and inspirational qualities. Those days are gone when the brilliance of Henry and Bergkamp opened up any stubborn defense and put the ball past the goalkeeper. Now Arsenal find it so difficult to find a solution to those defenses which sit back and defend deep. Arsenal no longer has the talents of Fabregas, Pires, Henry to find the solution. Replacements like Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta aimlessly pass the ball, thereby allowing the defense to settle down easily. For example, Arsenal had 71% of the ball possession against Blackburn. Arsenal had 28 shots of which only 7 were on target. That shows the quality of the strikers that Arsenal have, a team that once enjoyed the services of players like Henry and van Persie.

Wenger’s Role

Is Wenger the one to blame? There are loyalists who still believe that Wenger is not the one to blame. The sad truth is Wenger’s poor decision making and tactical blunders repeat itself like an infinite loop. Wenger should realise that Thierry Henry is a rare talent and versatile. Wenger successful converted a winger to a striker with Henry and that conversion proved to be successful. But Wenger must understand that not all the players are of the same mould. Podolski is a brilliant centre forward and his explosiveness fades when he is on the wings and Wenger always plays him on the left wing/flank. A brilliant central midfielder in the form of Aaron Ramsey is deployed on the wings with blind faith that he can find the target with his crossing ability. Gervinho (left winger) is played centrally with a belief that he can finish. No matter who the opponent is, Wenger always plays his favourite 4-3-3 formation and his players are made to sacrifice their favourable positions in order to fill the formation. His substitutions are always similar for every game regardless of the match situation. For example, bringing on Gervinho for Podolski after 60 minutes in most of the matches.

This approach and the lack of options has cost his team dearly. The manager’s lack of motivation and creative ideas will surely degrade the “European quality” of the team and will hurt the team’s quest to win the Champions League.

Eight years and still waiting for a trophy has made Arsenal and Arsene Wenger a joke. Such has been the condition of the Gunners so far for eight years. Once invincible, now vulnerable, Arsenal are no more a lethal threat to the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.

qu’avez-vous fait, Wenger? (What have you done, Wenger?)