Arsenal have lost SIX of their last nine games and are arguably going through their worst run of form since Wenger took over. Wenger secured another two year contract extension last summer, despite huge protests from significant numbers of Arsenal fans.. Wenger has had complete rule over Arsenal throughout his reign at Arsenal, overseeing the first team, player development and transfers like no other manager in the league.

 

Wenger has transformed the landscape of English football with a new focus on diet and fitness as well as creating a scouting system that is active throughout the world. Arsenal, alongside Manchester United, dominated English football for a decade after Wenger took charge, while Arsenal played some of the best football ever seen in the English game. They had the ability to dominate possession whilst also being lightning quick on the counter attack, using the speed and craft of Thierry Henry. Eventually the Invincibles all left and Wenger started to develop a new group of young players centred around Cesc Fabregas. The next few years saw Arsenal’s inexperienced but talented group, repeatedly fall short on the biggest stage. Year after year Arsenal would be challenging for trophies whilst playing beautiful football, but would always seem to implode in January. It meant a nine year trophy drought for Wenger and Arsenal between 2005 and 2014, until Arsenal eventually won the FA Cup again.

 

During the drought there were rumblings from Arsenal fans about Wenger leaving; but they were always respectful and fans wanted Wenger to go out on his own terms. There was still great respect from fans and the media about Wenger’s legacy and his impressive contribution to the club. In 2013 Arsenal fans actually fought one supporter who unveiled a ‘Wenger Out’ banner during a win against Brighton. Fast forward a few years and Arsenal have got back to winning ways claiming three FA cups in four years. Yet the last two years have seen Wenger under more pressure than ever.

 

Looking at the squad now it certainly isn’t the worst Arsenal have had in recent times. That would have to go to the 2011/12 team where Arsenal failed to replace the talent of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri and yet were still carried to Champions League qualification by the lethal talents of Robin Van Persie. Arsenal have at last begun to invest large sums of money particularly on a centre forward to replace the gap left by Van Persie. Two proven international stars in Laccazette and Aubameyang have been signed. They also have two proven playmakers in Ozil and Mkhitaryan; both of whom have topped the European assists leaders board in recent years.

Wenger no longer seems to know how to get the best out of his creative players. He tried to implement all four of them in the team and it did not work, albeit for a limited number of games. Laccazette then got injured, with Aubameyang becoming the lone striker being supported by a three of Iwobi, Ozil and Henrik. Although I am not Iwobi’s biggest fan it is clear that this is a talented group of players supporting one of the most deadly strikers in Europe. Yet Arsenal look pedestrian when they have the ball. There is no longer the same one touch football we saw even a few years ago with Giroud at the focal point.

Arsenal’s defence has been atrocious again this year and Petr Cech is no longer the goalkeeper he was. While Granit Xhaka is the not the steely central midfielder player Arsenal were hoping to get when they gave thirty five million pounds to Borussia Mönchengladbach for his services. These are problems that Arsenal have been faced with for years and are issues that Wenger and the board seem unable to address. However Arsenal were always brilliant going forward and this would carry them to victories over the league’s bottom clubs. They were always great to watch and although they infuriated you as a fan because of their lack of mental strength and experience, they were probably the favoured team of most neutral football supporters.

 

Unfortunately we no longer see this from Arsenal; there is a distinct lack of ideas when Arsenal have the ball. Ozil looks uninterested and he does not have the runners in behind to feed the ball, like he had at Madrid. Aubameyang looks ineffective in teams that play a deep defensive line. While Both Bellerin or Koalsnic do not provide the attacking ability to do damage from the wing and provide Arsenal with width. Wenger has flicked between the 3 5 2 and his usual 4 2 3 1 this season and it seems he has not figured out which fits this squad best.

For Years I was a frustrated Wenger supporter because I felt we were so close the Premier League title. From 2006 to 2012 Arsenal played the best football in the league and were on the cusp of challenging for major honours. We lacked a world-class goalkeeper, a commanding central defender and a powerful defensive midfielder. I genuinely felt that we were this close to winning trophies, yet Wenger did not spend or did not have the money to purchase these players. He coasted at Arsenal and showed too much faith in players that let him down for too many years.

 

And now it’s too late. Arsenal are not close to challenging and don’t look like they will be anytime soon, especially not in the next year and a half. The club has gone stale and it seems that everyone involved is just waiting for Wenger to eventually decide to pack his bags and leave. Wenger’s achievements in this league cannot be forgotten but his reputation has been damaged and will continue to be the longer he is at Arsenal. There is nothing left for him at Arsenal and it looks like they will miss out on the Champions League again. The best thing for all parties would be for Wenger to announce he is leaving before the end of the season. This way we would get a chance to celebrate Wenger’s achievements and the fans will no longer be on his back. They would have got their wish and would be able to appreciate his achievements for the club. If he does not make this decision then the board finally need to speak up and make the right decision for the club. As a famous Arsenal fan once said “its time to go”.