IAIN MACINTOSH: No-one else to blame but Wenger for Arsenal failings
His voice remained steady, but the speed with which he delivered his answers to the assembled press pack gave away his mood. Usually, Wenger chews over the questions, relishing them, slowly constructing his responses. On Saturday, those responses were rapid-fire, instantly and tetchily shot back out into the auditorium.
âWe had 11 internationals on the pitch at the start,â he snarled to one inquisitor who had questioned his team selection. He didnât. Neither Francis Coquelin nor Mikel Arteta have been capped at international level. Not that it really matters. The suggestion that Blackburn beat Arsenal because of Wengerâs weakened side is a distraction from the real issue.
We are at least a decade past the era of a designated âbest elevenâ. Arsenal are not mid-table chancers, they are supposed to be one of the biggest clubs in Europe. They should be capable of a war on more than one front. Even a âweakenedâ side should be capable of beating Blackburn. With Bayern Munich on Tuesday, Wenger had every right to rest the likes of Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla. If anything, given that Thomas Vermaelen is the only man who can play at left-back on Tuesday, his starting line-up looked stronger than it needed to be. The real issue is that this squad, well paid and pampered, is repeatedly falling short of expectations. One cup exit to a lower league side is careless. Two is indicative of wider institutional failings.
Blackburn were excellent on Saturday. They flew in tight formation all afternoon, squeezing the space and preventing Arsenal from cutting through the middle. Forced out wide, the Gunners hurled crosses, high and low, into the box. They were almost all eaten up by Grant Hanley and Scott Dann. On the odd occasion that Michael Appletonâs backline was breached, Arsenal found Jake Kean in uncompromising form. But Blackburn didnât reinvent the wheel. They didnât do anything other than defend superbly. Arsenal should be able to cope with that. But they are not. This isnât a blip, this isnât poor form. This keeps happening.
Questions about finance are distractions as well. No, Arsenal canât be expected to match the free-spending of Chelsea and Manchester City, or the natural resources of Manchester United. But theyâre hardly paupers. Every weekend there are shouts of, âSpend some f**king money!â but approximately ÂŁ53m (âŹ61.5m) has left the coffers this season alone on Cazorla, Olivier Giroud, Lukas Podolski and Nacho Monreal. The club is reported to spend ÂŁ143m (âŹ166m) every year on wages, the fourth highest bill in the league. Perhaps, if we were to look for excuses and conveniently ignore the many clubs who outperform their spending, that might excuse Arsenal from expectations of a title challenge. But it shouldnât excuse some of the performances that weâve seen this season.
Arsenal are fifth in the Premier League, four points behind Tottenham and five behind Chelsea. They are out of the FA Cup and the League Cup and, unless the bookies are very much mistaken, they are unlikely to get past Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Ordinarily, it might be possible to spread the blame for this around, but Wenger has been in charge for so long that it simply isnât an option. The players are his players, scouted by his scouts and coached by his coaches. This, in short, is his fault. The reason that Wenger is so tetchy is that he knows it too.
Unless something extraordinary happens in Europe, Wengerâs future will be decided by a race for fourth place, an indignity for a club of this size. If Arsenal fall short, there will be no other option for the board. They will have to put together a dignified exit strategy. It would be a great shame for such an influential, intelligent and likeable man to leave the club in that manner, but for all the questions of finance and transfers, this is a team consistently failing to meet basic expectations. And for that, there is no-one else to blame but the manager.
