By Demola Olarenwaju
© CC BY-NC-ND 2014The Fugees song ‘Ready Or Not’ was topping the worldwide music charts when then little known Arsene Wenger became the coach of Arsenal FC in September of 1996. Introducing many innovations into the round leather game such as a disciplined player fitness regime and emphasis on playing beautifully, Wenger managed to make a name for himself in England and in the entire football world. His peak came several years after when his team went through the entire 2003/2004 season without losing a single match after winning both the FA Cup and the Premiership title in 2001. The Invincibles (as the unbeaten team were dubbed) won the FA Cup in 2005 and Arsene’s team went into a drought as the club won no further trophies for a period that would last nine years.
It wasn’t that Arsenal weren’t playing good football or getting just close enough – it was a combination of ill-luck, lack of commitment on the part of new players and so much else. Going into the Champions League final in 2006 then losing in Carling Cup finals to Chelsea and Birmingham some years later raised then dashed the hopes of many fans all over the world. The excuse initially was that Arsenal could not match the spending power of other big clubs as the club had managed to build a stadium at the time through a very complicated financial arrangement that saw Emirates Airline branding the stadium for a period and also endorsing the team with their brand on the jerseys. The problem was that the club managed to show profit for some years afterwards yet refused to splash the cash and buy big.
Here was where Wenger’s irritable character showed up – the man refused to spend even when management confirmed money had been made available to him, insisted on buying young and sometimes untested players who turned around to desert the team after a season or two of enjoying local glory. No longer was football about playing beautifully or showing consistency which Wenger’s team had in abundance, qualifying 18 times consecutively for the Champions League but it was now about trophies. With four or five trophies (including the Community Shield) available for any English club to clinch every season, Arsene’s failure to win any trophy became a glaring embarrassment to the fans and some club stakeholders like Alistair Usmanov. Some blamed management, others felt it was the manager’s fault; I was in the latter group as I once called for Wenger’s resignation in this piece titled FOR THE LOVE OF ARSENAL, WENGER NEEDS TO GO while also paying tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson in this piece. Piers Morgan was with me on this by the way so don’t call me a disloyal fan…every Arsenal loss hurt me too deeply and I’m a fan of Arsenal, not Arsene Wenger, I reasoned.
The insult added to the injury was Jose Mourinho’s jibe that Wenger was a ‘specialist in failure’ and unlike the early years when many of us would have slammed Chelsea fans furiously for the disrespect, some of us wondered at how this man who was declared the Coach of the Decade 2001 – 2010 could be comfortable without trophies. To be clear, trophies are not the only reason a fan supports his club – Chelsea went trophyless from 1905 to 1955 and are again trophyless this season. The problem comes when your team shows a certain lack of ambition other than qualifying for a Champions League spot.
All the criticism is now lost in the euphoria of victory – the entire media room gave Wenger a standing ovation at the post-match press conference after the game against Hull City. That game started out along a familiar route – I felt like it was 2006 with all the hopes dashed again but the boys rose up to the occasion and won the match in extra time. The early scare made the victory much sweeter to savour and cut off a few years from Wenger’s 64 years.
When everyone including your closest friends doubt your ability to deliver and your results prove them right time after time, it starts to look as though you are crazy especially when you refuse to do things differently. When even the most loyal Gooners doubted Wenger, the man stood firm in his convictions about his method of play, transfer activity and style of coaching. Take this lesson from Arsene Wenger and know that sometimes you just have to be radically stubborn and hold on to your own way of doing things…even when everyone doubts you. Nothing shuts people up as quickly as victory…especially when it’s so sweet.
Should Wenger resign after this? I thought so before the match but now, I think he should stay on. He has proved his point and now he can change the way he manages the players. Kieran Gibbs was shocked by the crowd that cheered the team on during the victory parade on Sunday (250,000 people) so I suspect the team will now understand better that many people are counting on them to provide a moment of happiness in a world that is increasingly ever bleak. For now and the foreseeable future, I think it’s safe to say that I will never doubt Wenger again.
Have a splendid week, no matter what.
