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Is Arsene Wenger on his last straw?

By on May 8, 2015

The Premier League season simply wouldn’t be fit without at least one “Wenger out” campaign. This season came in late fall, when Arsenal fans once again whipped out their hashtags, banners, and even the occasional boo (gasp!), after the ship started to rock — again. It’s following another potential fourth place finish after the club squandered another twenty-some-million pounds on a diminutive player from La Liga.

Yet these campaigns have only come to model the football they’re protesting: an annual sludge through the motions, without anything fully and sustainably firing.  Yet when the ship begins to right itself, the protests will always make way for more Wenger love, until another disappointing fourth place finish. So what are Arsenal fans waiting for? Why not go big, perhaps hire an airplane banner — it’s par for the course these days — if they want Wenger out?

For the past decade, they’ve had the same hope: returning to the heights of the “Invincibles” Era. Wenger was the man to spearhead one of the most successful Premier League teams whilst playing beautiful “possession” football at the same time. Giving up on Wenger would be giving up on that dream. Every upturn in fortunes offers just enough hope, and thus Wenger stays.

But can Wenger actually deliver? That’s been the question for the past ten years, and time and time again he has fallen on the cusp of greatness.  In 2010, Arsenal boasted a brilliant team led by Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, only for their squad to be picked apart by Barcelona and Manchester United, respectively, after just missing out on silverware. Before that, Barcelona and Chelsea helped dismantle Arsenal’s 2006 Champions League runners-up side that just fell short. Wenger himself seems to hype the big occasions, whether it be a potential transfer target, pocket, or player, only to further the bitter taste once things don’t work out.  Arsenal aren’t bored of stability — in fact, that is one of the key reasons Wenger remains in charge — rather, false hope and promises.

Arsenal are on the same track again. With a team featuring Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla and more, they are set for their best league finish — second — since 2005. Again, it’s either glory or bust, and this may be Wenger’s last chance, considering the growing pressure to perform after spending big in the transfer market. An FA Cup trophy last season was a tease, a good Premier League finish this time around signaling genuine prospect; Arsenal have nowhere else to go bar delivering on the big stage next season. Anything else, or even just below, and Wenger would lose his chance. Sanchez and Ozil would be past the peak of their careers, and if not, surely would be plucked up by a title-winning club.  Another false dawn wouldn’t be taken too kindly.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.