The natives are restless. As I have been told repeatedly by many an Arsenal fan over the past few years, unlike my team Manchester City, Arsenal football club do things “the right way”. Prudent ownership, spending what they earn. Bringing through youth, football that’s so easy on the eye. Arsene Wenger was “the professor”, he always knew best, this was a club to aspire to. And yes, they hadn’t won a trophy for six years, but there were more important things than silverware, which is a fortunate opinion to hold when your team isn’t winning silverware.
But as the crowd howled as a cramped 18-year-old signed in the summer with little fanfare or enthusiasm from the Emirates faithful (due to Wenger not buying experience rather than him not being any good!) was substituted for another big signing with oceans of experience who has fallen foul of the boo boys due to an apparent apathy about having to run around a football field, the cry from the stands was to spend some money. And the anger at the substitution from the home crowd suggested they no longer believe Wenger “knows”, and that their unswerving support for him is definitely on the wane.
There have always been a minority that have seen through the angelic profile Wenger possesses, because they realise that a team like Arsenal should be competing for trophies, and occasionally winning them too. The stature he possesses was undoubtedly initially deserved, as he brought huge amounts of success to Highbury, a classic team, a mean defence, and the “invincibles”. That unbeaten team could well be a curse though. It just makes the fall all the more spectacular after you lead a team to a whole season without defeat (in the league at least). He also appreciated modern methods, such as a balanced diet, building up the club from bottom to top, and delivering an ethos to the team. But times change, teams need to adapt, to be rebuilt, and managers need to follow – Wenger’s stubbornness has prevented this, and the old methods are no longer working. Sitting on the bench looking glum in an oversized coat, kicking water bottles and moaning at the fourth official for ninety minutes are not going to solve anything.
The pressure on the fans for results has come from various directions, meaning that they are struggling to accept anymore pretty passing football that ultimately ends in failure. The purchase of potential has not brought enough players through to the first team to mix it with the best. There is only one true star player left at the club right now, and his future at the club is far from certain – and who could blame him? For all the tearful Gooners throwing the tired accusations at Nasri of moving to Manchester City for the money, he wanted to leave anyway. If it hadn’t been City, it would have been United – and then what excuse would they have had?
Arsenal fans can moan about how financial doping has curtailed their success all they want, but City’s wealth has put over £75m into their coffers, and there is no evidence that without City or Chelsea that we’d be looking at six years of success. City didn’t cause Arsenal to lose to Birmingham in a Carling Cup final, or lose to Swansea recently or draw at home to Fulham, or concede eight goals at Old Trafford, or constantly shoot themselves in the foot on the football field, or constantly fail to strengthen the weakest areas of the squad.
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The fans can see what’s happening around them. Neighbours Spurs have the best team for many a year, and are threatening to become the top team in London. Manchester City’s wealthy backers have pushed them straight into the battles for titles and trophies. Chelsea are stuttering, but all the signs suggest they will spend big to rebuild their team. Manchester United march on as always, and Liverpool are not performing either but are investing in players to try and break the Champions League cartel. The prudent Arsenal model relies on full houses and Champions League football – both will be under threat if results do not improve.
Of course, once a manager loses the fans, his time is invariably coming to an end. The board lost support last season once the season ticket prices were increased, and the already ridiculous prices become even more unpalatable if there is not a standard of football to justify the cost. The team needs inspirational players, and it needs a leader.
Whilst there are always fans that come under the bracket of glory-hunters, who support a team to see them win trophies, that’s not why most of us follow a team. We always hope for success, but it can never be taken for granted. But Arsenal’s performances are not good enough for a team that generates more on a match day then any other team in the world, that regularly has Champions League income to support it and that has regularly battled for honours for decades. Every successful team has a dip, has to rebuild, has its time out of the limelight – but Arsenal are in danger of being frozen out for good, unless Wenger revisits his principles and adapts to different times. The patience of the fans is wearing very thin, and that’s ominous news for one of Arsenal’s greatest ever managers. The question is, do the glory years give Wenger a job for life, or will at some point a difficult decision have to be made if better times don’t return soon?
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