Whether you love or hate him it has been confirmed that Arsene Wenger will be staying in the Premier League at Arsenal for another two years.
The news will undoubtedly cause a mixed reaction amongst Arsenal fans and, regardless of whether it is the right or wrong decision, I'm going to get behind the team, the manager and the players and cheer them on next season.
I have been a long-term admirer of Wenger since he arrived at our club over 20 years ago and even when things have been tough I've stuck by him. However, even my normally very optimistic self started to question things this season. Although it ended on a high with lifting the FA Cup following a fine performance over Chelsea, our league campaign was simply not good enough. I began wondering whether his time was up and was actually thinking it was time for a change and would have backed any new manager that came in.
But he's staying and that is that and it is better to focus energy on getting behind him rather than throwing criticism at the man. Yes he has to accept a big portion of the blame and the league campaign really was disappointing, but the deal is done and dusted so criticism won't help and if anything will have a negative effect on the field. So we need to make sure we accept the news and get behind him, but he does need to make improvements and certainly make some signings. Regardless of how it pans out I think the club need to be looking at the potential successor for when Wenger does decide to call it a day.
I think what frustrated me the most this season was missing out on Champions League football and also how Jekyll and Hyde we were. I totally accept teams can't win every game and will suffer blips, but it felt more frustrating this season. Weirdly we finished fifth with a higher points tally than that which saw us finish second the season before, but the manner of some of the performances hurts more than the actual points tally or league position. How poor we were in defeats to Crystal Palace, West Brom and Tottenham was not good enough and at times we
didn't even seem to be showing any fight. The 3-0 loss at Crystal Palace was probably my lowest point of the season. Credit to Palace, who also beat Liverpool and Chelsea, but the performance from us was embarrassing.
Things started to get better when Wenger switched to a back three and yet again we finished strongly with five consecutive league wins and FA Cup glory, but this time it wasn't enough to sneak into the top four. Missing out on Champions League football is a huge loss, but even if we had finished fourth would that really have been good enough? I say no! Whilst being in the Champions League every year up until our recent failure is very impressive, we seem to make the same mistakes. Yes the opposition in the knock-out stages especially are superb and there is no shame in being knocked out against top sides, but the manner in which we keep doing so is beyond frustrating.
We need to learn from our mistakes and sign some players. Wenger in some ways is right to back the players at his disposal as we do have some great talent, but when we keep making the same mistakes over and over again we need to see some action now. My number one priority if I was Wenger would be to sign a top class striker - one that will get us 25-30 goals a season. I feel we also need a midfielder and for Santi Cazorla to get back on the pitch as soon as possible as we really struggled without him. Equally as important would be to tie down several players including Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to new contracts.
He doesn't necessarily have to spend massively, but the thing for me is for Wenger to be proactive to counter the mistakes. Yes, you can't always help the fact that the opposition is amazing, but maybe we need to be better at adapting our tactics for certain games. As well as a top class striker we are also missing a Patrick Vieira type player. In some games we have fallen apart too easily and, although one player doesn't make a team, we need some extra experience in the middle especially with the news that Cazorla looks like he could be out until at least November.
Losing 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich was embarrassing and the score flatters them to an extent, but it also shows that huge mistakes were made. We actually played well in the first half of both games, but crumbled in the two second halves. We love playing our attractive attacking football, but we need to be ultra careful when we concede because too often European ties have gone from looking decent to over far too quickly. On the flip side we've then managed performances such as the 3-0 league demolition of Chelsea, an impressive dominant 2-0 home win over Manchester United and FA Cup glory. How can we be so inconsistent!?
For me next season is about proving we can learn from our mistakes. Per Mertesacker isn't the greatest defender around, but put in a heroic performance in the FA Cup final. Mesut Ozil, who disappeared at times during the season, suddenly looked alive and full of energy. There was a real winning mentality about us on that day and also in the semi-final and we need to make sure we do that again. We have proved we can match the big sides and perform well, but we've also shown that we can easily capitulate. Yes we've had bad luck with injuries, but if Per Mertesacker can step up to the plate in a huge game, there's no reason why other players can't. That isn't to be disrespectful to the World Cup winner, but illustrates things are possible.
Hopefully finishing outside the top four will be the kick up the backside we need. Wenger and the players will not want that feeling again and it is up to them to make sure we do much better next season. Can we? Definitely. Will we? I'm not so sure. In some ways we are predictable, but in other ways you never truly know what Arsenal side is going to turn up from one game to the next. Let's hope next year is one to remember!
The readers probably aren't used to me being this critical, but we can't hide behind that poor league campaign. I really do wish Wenger well in the next two years and will get behind him and the lads. Whether he stays for two more years or more we need to show unity now and focus on supporting the team. When he does eventually step down I will look back on his reign fondly and remember the good times, but who knows, maybe, just maybe this two years is the chance for him to right some wrongs!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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