Arsenal Shareholder’s Criticism of Arsene Wenger Spot-On

Everybody and their sister has something to criticize about Arsenal these days, and they have every right to. After a horrific 2-1 defeat against Manchester United, everyone is on the hook (except Olivier Giroud). But all the “Wenger must go” or “We must sign more” criticism get’s a little redundant.

However, one Arsenal shareholder, Alishair Usmanov, has hit the nail on the head in his criticism of our dearly beloved Arsene Wenger.

Usmanov told CNBC as reported by Goal.com:

"“As for Arsene Wenger, he is one of the greatest coaches, not just of European, but of world football. But we have a Russian proverb which goes: ‘Even an old lady can have a roof falling on her’. Everybody makes mistakes. He can make mistakes. And I know as you age it is more difficult, more challenging, to accept one’s mistakes.“Maybe it’s a problem today. He’s a great man, a great coach, he had great victories and he has to have an opportunity to secure the place which he and he team ought to have. I think men who create winners have to be winners themselves, and I wish him this.“Another question is how to make this possible, and there are conditions for this. I think club leadership relies on Wenger. So it is his responsibility, so I wish him all kinds of success.”Usmanov has been unhappy with Arsenal’s lack of progress and urges Wenger to recognise his errors.“I can say that Arsenal is a dream that sometimes becomes a mirage. And sometimes a pain, as every dream.“The potential of the team is there but there is no critical evaluation of mistakes. And we need to acknowledge them because no genius can retain the same level of genius if they do not acknowledge mistakes.“It’s only when you admit your mistakes that you can get rid of them. I wish this to my club. Nothing bad is happening apart from repeating the same result. If we were to keep being in the middle of the Champions League but we only lose the first play-off games, some may be happy with that, but as a shareholder I am not.”"

I for one, am in complete agreement with Usmanov. I’m tired of Wenger’s excuses, his blame game and his finger pointing. This team is a good team, fully capable of hanging with the best. It’s not a lack of talent that’s causing us to continue dropping games.

Unfortunately, I don’t see Wenger ever owning up to his own mistakes. It’s not his mantra. I believe that he has been at this club for so long that he believes that his way is the only way, and that’s a terrifying mindset for our manager to be in.

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