Wenger needs 2015 turnaround to sate grumbling Gunners

This was the year in which Arsene Wenger thought he had scaled the mountain, only to find an even larger peak standing in his path.

Finally, after nine long years, he led Arsenal to a trophy. His reward was a three-year contract, a transfer budget to compete with the best in Europe and a new sense of purpose.

But fast-forward seven months and the clouds are gathering around the Emirates again. Homemade banners are being held aloft, fans have become celebrities as they compete to say the most insulting things on camera and bickering between pro and anti-Wenger supporters is almost commonplace at away games.

It seems odd that we have come to this, or at least come back to it so soon. There were those who thought Wenger might have cracked it, that his and the club’s parsimonious ways would change after that FA Cup win back in May.

A poll by the influential Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) showed that 74% of fans agreed with Wenger being awarded a new deal, but their tone has changed significantly as the season has gone on.

The problems began in the summer after a title challenge that wilted following a series of heavy away defeats.

Arsenal bought well in Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers, Danny Welbeck and David Ospina, but the problems were that they did not address key issues, particularly in central defence and defensive midfield.

Arsenal’s scouts at the World Cup returned saying there was a dearth of talent in both key positions, something they feel has been underlined by the struggles of Manchester United and Barcelona in those key positions.

Chambers also settled better than Arsenal had anticipated, meaning he was immediately made third-choice centre-back and second-choice right-back. It was decided the club were looking for a fourth-choice centre-back, and as such they were unwilling to pay over the odds for an extra defender, missing out on Kostas Manolas for just this reason.

This policy was made to look extremely foolish when Laurent Koscielny suffered a recurrence of a long-standing Achilles tendon problem and Mathieu Debuchy damaged ankle ligaments. It meant that after just two injuries, Arsenal were down to just four front-line defenders, two of whom were left-backs.

They were problems that many saw coming.

“The AST estimates that the spare cash available for investment in the squad in January is approximately £42m,”said the AST in early October after studying the club’s finances.

“Further additional investment will be possible in the summer of 2015 as long as Arsenal qualify for the Champions League for the 2015-16 season.

“The AST remains very frustrated that with such resources available further additions weren’t made to the squad in key positions. It now remains to be seen whether running such a small squad in these positions will prove costly to Arsenal’s title ambitions this season.”

In fact, title ambitions were well wide of the mark.

“We find ourselves detached from the teams above us at the moment, with a bit of ground to make up,” said Wenger after the St Stephen’s Day win over QPR, which was a polite way of saying they are way off the pace.

In fact, Wenger has spent much of his time railing against public opinion as they won just nine of their first 19 league games of the season and were hammered at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

“Society is like it is today,” he said. “It’s a permanent tribunal from everybody. You have to cope with that.”

The Twitter generation means the #wengerout hashtag gains traction and comments from Alan Pardew that Arsenal should name the Emirates after Wenger immediately attracts scorn.

“I am very thankful for compliments but I don’t want anything,” said Wenger as he reverted to immediate defensive mode.

“I don’t deserve that one thing. The one thing is to do well in my job for this club, which is what I always try to do.

“I think what I want comes from inside of myself, that is just to do my job well. When I retire one day I want to feel I have given absolutely everything to do what I did, with honesty and total commitment.”

Unfortunately the fans are demanding rather more in exchange for the most expensive tickets in football. Yet there is an acknowledgement that the board are quite happy.

“It’s not my place to double-guess Arsene’s intentions,” said chairman Chips Keswick when asked about Arsenal’s transfer plans at the club’s AGM. “If Arsene has a plan, we back it, if he doesn’t, we keep quiet.”

It was an astonishing admission and summed up where the balance of power lies at the club. So Arsenal carry on, with Wenger unlikely to leave for another two seasons and the fans’ ire turning on him. If Wenger and Arsenal are to survive and thrive, it will have to be quite a 2015.