When Patrick Vieira slotted his penalty past Roy Carroll to win the FA Cup in 2005, it would have been hard to believe that Arsenal were about to embark on an eight-year trophy drought.
The Champions League is the Gunners' only chance of ending that run this season and they come up against an in-form Bayern Munich in a very tough looking tie.
For years now many fans have been calling for the Frenchman's head, calling his recent record an 'abject failure', but in my view how the last few years can be viewed as failure is quite extraordinary.
In his time as manager Wenger has won the Premier League three times and the FA Cup four times. Twice his side did the double, and were unbeaten in the 2003/4 Premier League season as part of a streak without defeat only stopped from reaching 50 league games by a controversial defeat to Manchester United.
The majority of the clubs in the Football League would take those eight years of 'abject failure' or 'crisis'. Portsmouth, for example, would love to be in the Champions League every season rather than sitting on the brink of liquidation.
The trophies may have dried up since 2005 but in that time Arsenal have made the Champions League final, two League Cup finals as well as a couple of semi-finals in the three cups (Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup), as well as qualifying for the Champions League - and getting through the group stage - EVERY season.
A lot of Arsenal fans are spoilt; they are used to seeing the likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Viera, Dennis Bergkamp, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires grace the pitch.
Arsenal still play an attractive style of football and can attract top talents to the Emirates. That is down in large part to Wenger's philosophy. What many fans don't realise is a lot of the players came to the club simply because of him; whether the club will be able to attract the same talent when he leaves is questionable.
The likes of Piers Morgan have taken to Twitter to air their grievances at Wenger's management, but at the moment there isn't an available manager that could do a better job.
Arsenal went through a period of eight years without a trophy back in the 80s. No-one seems to remember that and some think Arsenal are 'entitled' to success.
That is simply not the case.
The modern game is very competitive and it isn't just Arsenal and Liverpool fighting it out for titles or Arsenal and Manchester United. The top four places are now fought over by seven teams - Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Spurs, Everton and Liverpool as well as the Gunners.
Wenger is still the man who should be in charge of Arsenal until he feels it is time to go. The fans should get behind him and the players in the bid to end the wait for a trophy.
Get £400 from your free £10 bet with Sky Bet if Arsenal win 3-0 tonight
Post Comment
