Arsenal 2-3 Olympiacos: Europa League is what we deserve
- Neil Nagwekar
- Sep 30, 2015
- 4 min read
Oh, Arsene. Why do you do this to us?
We know that qualifying for the Champions League knockout phases is part of a forgone conclusion, where we go out to any half-decent team we encounter. We know that regardless of how we exit from Europe’s elite, we’re hardly any closer to winning the competition from last season.
Yet, the almost convincing 3-2 defeat to one of the whopping boys of the Champions League – forget Group F alone – means that Arsene’s record of getting past the group-stage hurdle is in jeopardy. In addition, it’s a slap in the face to those who used this record as a fallback, when questioned about Wenger’s managerial abilities.
The group stage record, the top four record and the finishing-above-Tottenham streak are ones which garner huge credence for Wenger. I’ve always wondered why – Tottenham have been dire season upon season, while the Premier League has been equally inconsistent (if not shorn of) in quality.
But in a season where Arsenal should have been achieving much more than those paltry records, it seems we’re hell bent on even knocking those foundations apart. The loss to Olympiacos now means that Arsenal could conceivably enter Gameweek 5 with zero points, seeing as we have the Bavarian giants to play twice next.
A lot say it all started with the teamsheet. I disagree. If you can’t trust players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Olivier Giroud and even David Ospina against Olympiacos at home, there’s really no point of keeping them in the team. And I can even understand Wenger’s decision to start Ospina (to a degree), even though this was a must win and goalkeepers don’t need that much rotation.
However, it’s the laid-back mentality that really irked me. That, even though losing the game would mean catastrophe (as we know now), there was no sense of urgency or gumption in the team. Not for one second is it feasible to go all-out assault from the word go – but then again, even the antithesis is true.
Does it come from the players? I doubt that, and I have done so for a while. My firm opinion (like Wenger’s himself) is that players are a reflection of their manager. Look at David Moyes – he made a title-winning squad starkly average. Diego Simeone instilled passion and commitment in a moderately gifted Atletico side.
Now look at Arsenal. World beaters in Ozil, Sanchez and Cech –reliable lynchpins in Cazorla, Koscielny, Coquelin and Walcott and some promising legs in Bellerin, Chamberlain and Welbeck. The fact that they’re failing at Arsenal and won’t elsewhere is down to the manager and how he sets them, not much else.
To suggest that Ospina was 100% at fault for Arsenal’s defeat is 100% incorrect. Sure, his howler was one Troll Football will replay for weeks on end, but that was one goal. I was hardly the biggest fan of the Colombian even when others were, but he alone can’t be accountable for Arsenal’s layman approach to the game, the mental fragility when things go wrong and the self-destruct mode when the pressure hits.
How else would you explain our last three Champions League home matches? We’ve conceded three each against the majestic trio of Anderlecht, Monaco and Olympiacos. These aren’t one-offs, as everyone under the sun knows. If Arsene Wenger repeatedly struggles to defeat such minnows, I find it baffling he’s been given so much trust and resources to win the competition.
And he shouldn’t. His refusal to learn from his mistakes (which, as any fool would know, is a basic tonic to success) is apparent at his reply on the Ospina situation:
“I do not have to explain why. I do not have to sit here and give you an explanation about every decision that I make. I make the decisions and the selections for the team and I know many things that you don’t know and that maybe you ignore. I do not select the team by getting a poll before the game and getting everyone’s opinion.”
He has a right to be mad if the journalist was implying if Ospina was entirely at fault, which he wasn’t. However, his arrogant and dismissive “I don’t have to prove myself to you” lash is thoroughly unwarranted. He should care – because like it or not, the fanbase pay his salary. They invest in the club through tickets, jerseys and merchandise.
The day Wenger stops caring about the opinions of the fans, is the day dictatorship starts running its course.
If Arsene FC is given absolute power it would lead to absolute stagnation, as this prophetic quote from the 6-0 Chelsea defeat said.
“He built a wonderful legacy but is slowly destroying it, and I can see no way back now. I pray that other Arsenal supporters have realized that as well, so they can join the real Arsenal fanbase and show Wenger the door before 5th place starts to become the next trophy.”
Getting that right wasn’t dumb luck, as hardly anything is. Not for one second should Wenger be offered room for complacency. A highly glamorous job such as being the manager for Arsenal Football Club must bring about with it equal responsibilities, and equal pressures of expectation. The fact that the majority of Arsenal fans made excuses for Arsene meant that he, subconsciously, kept lowering the bar for himself, bringing us to this abyss.
If not sack, it’s imperative the club puts overdue pressure on him. It may not deliver results, but it would certainly mean that Wenger’s focus remains intact, and the squad switched on for the rest of the season, not least the group stages.
However, after the car crash opener we’ve had, even that may not be enough.
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
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