On
the back of seven straight league wins few expected Everton’s European charge
to falter so badly against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night, but now that it
has Arsene Wenger has reason to be optimistic going into the final four games
of the league campaign.
A
penalty shootout win over serial overachievers Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup on
Saturday was followed by victory at home to West Ham on Tuesday, and Palace’s
heroic performance capped off what could be a hugely significant week in Arsenal
and their manager’s future. On the face of it, the week’s achievements are
hardly ground-breaking, but coming off the back of yet another disastrous away
defeat to a league rival last weekend the players must be given due credit. Not
for the first time in recent years, Wenger’s side grit their collective teeth
and got the results they needed to avert disaster.
At
this point I can almost hear the howls of frustration as Arsenal’s army of
keyboard warriors struggle to articulate the severity of their disagreement
within the character limit, having already used up 10 on #wengerout. Yes, it
has been 9 (nine) long years for Arsenal fans to endure the ridicule of their
neighbours, rivals and just about anyone else au fait with English football.
And yes, Wenger has sometimes appeared to prioritise the riches of European
football over the glory of lifting a domestic trophy. Disillusioned by another
season of promise embarrassingly spurned at the hands of their title rivals, it
is true that many of their supporters have reached breaking point.
There
are probably even some who would have preferred not to have seen three such
pivotal results go in their favour this week if it meant the end of Wenger’s
time in charge. I sympathise, but they should endure a little longer. There is
much about their club to be envious of, and the manager’s ideology is at the
heart of it all.
Wenger
has never failed to supply Champions League football despite having to show an
unparalleled restraint in the transfer market. In contrast, David Moyes – an
excellent manager despite his painful first season as United boss – may not
even finish in the top 6 despite adding expensive signings to the championship
winning side he inherited. Wenger’s consistency, while no match for the
devastating form of the Invincibles, is a remarkable feat. His endurance in the
face of such ardent criticism is perhaps even more remarkable.
It
might not seem like it, as they try to fend off a late charge from Everton
coming up on the rails, but this season wasn’t far from being one of Arsenal’s
greatest. Despite long-term injuries to the majority of their key (and mostly
British) players at one point or another, Arsenal held onto top spot until a
red-hot Liverpool dispatched them in February and were still well in the
title-race before Chelsea ran riot at Stanford Bridge the following month.
Unacceptable and embarrassing defeats, yes, but none of their rivals’
plentiful, expensive squads have had to cope with so many players in the physio
room.
I
find it hard to fathom how Arsene Wenger continues to operate, seemingly
resolute and personally unaffected, after his depleted young side suffered those
defeats at Anfield, Goodison Park and Stanford Bridge - and the football world
declares it his fault with a gleeful vitriol. That’s what you get, Arsene.
That’s what you get for trying to win the league without throwing money at it.
The
philosopher Thomas Nagel wrote that there is something what it is like to be a
bat; a consciousness is always experienced. Sometimes it is easy to forget that
there is actually a consciousness that we call Arsene Wenger, reading a paper
in his office, listening to a radio phone-in in his car, overhearing the
opinions of laymen everywhere - and the laymen all think he should be sacked
from his job. “Why can’t we be like Chelsea?” they cry to Alan Green. “Why
can’t we be like Manchester City and have all the expensive players?”
That
hardly seems fair, he must think to himself in his car, because for years this football
club has asked me to nurture young talent into world class performers who
actually give a toss about the club they play for, and not just buy ready-made
stars because generally that’s a poor business model and it makes football all
a bit soulless and depressing. And even now I have done that, a lot of my best
players have been injured for long parts of the season and I don’t have a £30m
foreign replacement in the reserves who we signed on a whim on the last day of
the transfer window. And even after that we spent most of the season at the top
of the league. Yes, it does seem rather harsh to blame me for our falling away
in the latter stages of the title race, but I take Tim from Bournemouth’s
point.
How
many points’ difference would Walcott have made? Or Ramsey, if his astonishing
season wasn’t curtailed? Oxlade-Chamberlain? Wilshere, a player who is in
desperate need of 18 months injury free, was hurt playing in an England
friendly. It’s wholly unsurprising that Wenger’s side couldn’t keep up the pace,
although of course the manner of their defeats in the springtime made it harder
for their supporters to take.
Clouded
by that disappointment and embarrassment it may be harder to see, but progress
is being made and were Arsenal to beat Hull to win the FA Cup next month there
will be something of a redemptive element for Wenger. Stoically, he takes the
abuse, he avoids disaster and he rebuilds. Hopefully he’s seen the last of that
pattern. If he indulges himself a few calculated forays into the transfer
market this summer and keeps his key players in good shape, Arsenal’s fans
might just see something altogether more worthy than the free-spending overhaul
they pine for.
