PREMIERSHIP FOOTBALL
I'm always amazed by the reaction of some people to the name 'Arsene Wenger'!
Many almost bless themselves when they hear the Arsenal gurus name, others just shake their head and say 'What a man'.
However the lavish praise bestowed on the French purist seems once again to be a little on the OTT side as the Gunners finish their third consecutive season without silverware.
Dumped out of the Champion's League by a Liverpool side who showed more cuteness and resilience their last lingering hopes of getting something from their season were shattered on Sunday by Owen Hargreaves. His exquisite free handing Manchester United a 2-1 win.
Wenger will blame referees, lady luck, the direction of the wind, the texture of the football and the width of the posts but at the end of the day he has to hold his hands up and say he deserves criticism for not strengthening his squad when he could have.
The view that Arsenal are well behind the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool in terms of financial health is now simply untrue.
In last season's Uefa rich list (which takes into account expenditure as well) Arsenal were the fifth richest side in the world, ahead of Liverpool who were in eighth. Manchester United and Chelsea may sit in second and fourth place respectively but the gap between them and Arsenal is minimal.
The Emirates Stadium is now a gold mine with millions of pounds in revenue being generated at the 60,432 all seater stadium on a weekly basis.
It's expected that Arsenal's board is willing to give the manager £35 million to spend this summer but according to those in the know Wenger is unlikely to go for big names preferring to seek out young players who he believes can be the next big thing.
Its this policy which cost him this season in particular.
It's true to say that Wegner has managed to unearth some excellent talent over the years but the likes of Eboue (left), Niklas Bendter, Phillippe Senderos, Alexandre Song and Armand Traore are hardly setting the world alight!
If Arsenal football club want to remain a nursery in football terms then fair play to them. But theres no way that they and their supporters can be suprised when sides with more established players waltz past them as the season progresses.
Wenger fans will argue that at the moment Arsenal are a team in re-building mode but why was there a need to rebuild?
Are they saying that just because Thierry Henry departed the side the entire squad had to be restructured?
Also you will hear that the transition to the Emirates takes some getting used to. However many of the players now at Arsenal never kicked a ball in anger at Highbury.
Wenger's inability to admit to failure may ultimately prove to be his downfall.
His excuses for Arsenal's poor run is especially pitiful. He said " For seven or eight weeks now we have had to swallow things (referee decisions) you would rather not swallow. Everything is going against us in every game at the moment."
With just one win in eight Premiership games Wenger can hardly blame the referees. They've dopped 16 points since the end of February and though Arsenal continue to excite on the field of play they are weak mentally and weak on the bench.
Brazilian style football is all well and good but unless Wenger can lead the Gunners to glory on some front next season the purist may be returning to France wondering where it all went so wrong.
