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Arsenal: Arsene Wenger challenges one key vice
Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger has been criticised for lacking the desperation to win, happy to settle for mediocrity. His latest comments challenge that vice.
Arsenal’s recent run might well be the worst throughout Arsene Wenger’s 21-year tenure. Starting Sunday, February 12th, the day after a 2-0 home win against Hull City, the Gunners have won just three Premier League games.
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Those three wins are at home to a struggling West Ham, away to an all-but-relegated Middlesbrough, and then an undeserved 1-0 victory over Leicester City thanks to a deflected Robert Huth own goal. In the same period, they have won just three more games: two against non-league opposition and the other against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final.
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It has led many to argue for Wenger to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season. There are many issues that people hold with his management, from his hesitancy in the transfer window to his apparent tactical ineptness. One vice that has always hung over him, though, has been the suggestion that he is happy to settle for mediocrity.
Wenger is seen as an economical man, someone who holds the top four as a trophy because of the revenue and the status that it brings, rather than ever being desperate to lift actual trophies. However, when asked about his own feelings regarding the historical struggles of his side, Wenger revealed that he hates himself, such is his desire to win:
"“I am like everybody – I prefer to be loved than hated but I can take a distance with that. I know as well it is not the person itself, it is the fact the manager does not win the games. They want to win and I can make a difference in that. I don’t take it too personally. In fact, I personally hate myself – the manager – more than anybody when I don’t win the games. I am a very bad loser.”"
They are not the comments who is willing to settle for mediocrity, as long as the club’s turnover is healthy. Wenger has many shortcomings; he is far from the perfect manager; he has made many many mistakes and will make many more. But to suggest that he does not want to win is, simply, disrespectful to all that he has done for the club and for all that he works towards.
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To criticise his managerial ability or the way in which he handles the baying fan base or his media savviness or his hesitancy in the transfer window or his tactical naivety is acceptable, and, in some cases, justified. But questioning his desire is not.