'Here's to greatness and new beginnings'! The much anticipated toast from Arsenal fans to their fellow compatriots around the world on the 30th of September 1996, after the dismissal of 'then' Gunners manager Bruce Rioch and the famous appointment of Arsene Wenger. This period was definitely the beginning of the road to the 'Invincibles', a stalwart image that has now faded into distant memory of what once was. During the 1996 to 2004 period, football bore witness to some of the most magnificent players to have ever graced the football field such as: Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Tony Adams, the ill tempered but rock solid Patrick Vieira, the controversial but talented Nicolas Anelka, the iceman Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires and of course Mr. Arsenal himself, Thierry Henry. Iconic images of pure greatness under Wenger rewarded the happy gooners fans with coveted titles such as the English Premier League (now the Barclays Premier League) 1997-98, 2001-02 & 2003-04 and the FA Cup in 1998, 2002, 2003 & 2005!
Let's fast-forward to now! Since 2005, Arsenal FC has won approximately 0 (ZERO) trophies to date! If this isn't a heck of a reversal, I don't know what is. Their collapse, believe it or not, began at the end of the Invincibles era, in 2003-2004. At the end of that dream team season, the nightmare began! Yes oh yes, our worst fears came to life, and that was relayed the moment Arsene Wenger lost sight of why he was brought to the club in the first place! Lovely that the manager chose to seek out new ways and means to develop his team, but quite simply, he's failed to accept that his attacking tactics that back in the good ole' days, would simply leave his opponents in awe of Arsenal's tremendous display, has now proved to the the cause of their failure! Wenger over the years grew with the club, but somehow, not mentally. His philosophy has often left the much committed fans on the verge of oblivion and total anger with a side order of frustration to add to the mix. Wenger today, simply has no tactics nor an answer to his team's decline! To put it quite frankly, he's lost his cutting edge. Since the departure of David Dein, then the inevitable tragic acquisition of Arsenal FC by the 'great' Stan Kroenke, the club's woes got worse, plummeting to the verge of obscurity!
Track back to the January transfer window of this current season (2013-14), since Theo Walcott's injury back in January vs Spurs in the FA Cup tie, Wenger was urged numerous times to sign sign sign! Let's not get carried away by my implications, we don't expect him to make a City or Chelsea shopping list, just the necessary signings to bolster the cracks in the squad. Arsenal urgently needed a striker, yes! a striker! Who did they opt for you might ask? Kim Kallstrom?! Who is he might you ask? A Swedish international who was once valuable back in his days at Olympique Lyon in France 2006-2012 when French Ligue 1 was once exciting before PSG purchased it (obviously). Kallstrom is nearing 32, and is currently on loan, is this the answer to the Gunners' attacking problem? Maybe Wenger surely knows something we aren't aware of because the last time I checked, talent wins games and proper direction wins trophies! Wenger hasn't provided this since 2005, thanks to his lack of the obvious regarding making major signings. Arsenal's current top strikers are as follows: Olivier Giroud, and Yaya Sanogo, and I still can't figure out how Gunners have barely managed to score goals as of late?! Maybe because the Higuain summer deal was botched? Or did Arsene spend too much time trying to put together that extra £1 in the audacious £40,000,001 Luis Suarez summer bid that he put together from his car wash savings that would eventually prove a big joke and failure for the North London club? In the words of Andy Hunter from the Guardian, he described it as "the most insulting pound thrown at Liverpool by Arsenal since Jamie Carragher was struck by a coin at Highbury in 2002." OUCH! The audacity of Arsenal and Wenger to take advantage of Liverpool during their seemingly fragile period leading up to the start of their 2013-14 season, the moment that Luis Suarez was dying for a move away from Anfield to feature in Champions League football! Arsene Wenger was defended by the fact that Liverpool were unwilling to sell Suarez, but the truth is, no one truly knows what the outcome would've been had Wenger made a serious bid for the man who has now proven to be the best striker in England today. This incident has somehow brought Liverpool and Suarez closer to a realized dream, while Wenger and Arsenal have been brought closer to a trophy cabinet that may require dusting for a ninth straight year.
Make no mistake about it, yes Arsenal signed Mesut Ozil, that proved positive leading up to January-February where the German maestro maybe finally realized he's no longer at Real Madrid, and the guy up front is actually Giroud not Cristiano Ronaldo! No one can blame Ozil for his decline in his attitude, after all, a champion only desires to play in a team of champions, and sadly, Arsenal currently don't fit this bill. Wenger has once again failed to uplift his team, employ new tactics, and has now fallen to the bottom of the top four, and maybe at the end of this 2013-14 season, he'll take his place at the bottom of the top five. A team can't be successful if they've allowed for all their top players to keep on leaving (Nasri, RVP,Fabregas, Kolo Toure, etc.) and have failed time and time again to sign the proper reinforcements!
Wenger, you will be greatly appreciated for your past achievements, but you wont be missed... When you finally decide it's time to leave, your bags would have already been packed and a first class plane ticket would have been booked by nearly every single Arsenal fan alive... Your time's up gaffer, and you know it!
Part 2 coming soon!
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