A section of Arsenal fans, before the second leg pre-quarterfinal against Bayern Munich, held what represented some sort of a funeral procession from Highbury (the Gunners’ old ground) to Ashburton Grove (where the Emirates is located). Having had enough of Arsene Wenger, they conducted one for the Frenchman, demanding that he leave Arsenal. He is “killing the club,” most of them cried.
While that is excess, there is an inescapable feeling that Wenger’s time at the football club he ‘built’ — a word he used in last week’s press conference amid increasing pressure — is coming to an end. The club is trapped in an incredible vortex of poor results and an environment reeking of stasis.
Arsenal is a big entity. They are the seventh richest football side on the planet. But they are big only by name. Their actions on the pitch (and in the transfer market) resemble that of a drunken octogenarian who has lost the house keys after a drink too many on a Saturday night.
All big sides lose football matches. Very few lose so frequently and predictably like the North London giants. Forget losing, they have made losing spectacularly into an art form (2-8 against United, 1-5 three times against Munich, 0-6 against Chelsea and so on).
In league matches, they haven’t won at Old Trafford since 2006, they haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since 2011, they haven’t won at Anfield since 2012.
You want a set number on their perceived stage fright and lack of mental strength when it comes to facing the big sides? They have won a grand total of zero games in the last 11 matches against the other members of the current top six. They have not won the Premier League after 2003-04.
And most of that malaise should fall on the 67-year-old. He has, for long, refused to prepare his team based on the opponent’s strengths, a no-no in the 21st century. He also shows remarkable loyalty to most of his players, even under-performing or non performing ones.
That is an admirable trait but an infuriating one as well. Arsenal fans pay the highest tickets prices on the land and they do not do that to see half-hearted performances from never-will-bes.
Yes, people who are still keeping the faith might point to Wenger’s excellent record of getting the club to qualify for the Champions League on a year on year basis.
It certainly milks the cash cow but it does little apart from that. What happens after that is so predictable you can see it from a mile away. What is the point of playing in a competition if the end result is a morale-losing, existence-questioning loss at the hands of a European superpower? The associated fiscal rewards do not even go towards augmenting the team with necessary replacements.
There was a strange irony with respect to the mock ceremony on Wednesday night before the match. Wenger, more than anyone, was responsible for moving the club from Highbury to its current location. He transformed it, made it more modern, built a machine that went a season unbeaten and played football that frequently took the breath away.
Sadly for him, and everyone associated with the club, there is only a feeling of stench surrounding it these days. And one reckons the rut will stop only when the Frenchman decides to walk away from the project he started in September 1996.
swaroop@newindianexpress.com