Arsenal: Arsene Wenger is becoming his own contradiction

Arsene Wenger has stated that his personal uncertainty did affect Arsenal, something that he had previously rejected. He is becoming his own contradiction.

It was, undoubtedly, a frustrating end of the season for Arsenal. While they were impressive in overcoming Everton to close the year with some well-worked goals, some free-flowing, sweeping attacking football, and doing so with 10 men for the majority of the match, the damage to their campaign was handed out far before a rosy May.

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No, Arsenal’s season came crashing down around them through the dark days of February, March and April. Losses at home to Watford and away to West Brom and Crystal Palace sealed the Gunners’ fate as Champions League pretenders by the end of the year.

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And with the Premier League season not at end, the dissection of why begins. The most prominent theory as to why the struggles were so significant and long-lasting in the latter half of the season was because of the uncertainty regarding the future of many key members of the club, including highly influential players, board members and Arsene Wenger himself. Wenger, though, at the time, rejected the notion that the ambiguity about his own future was causing an uncomfortable, stifling atmosphere in the dressing room.

But now that the season has ended, Wenger is suddenly reversing his statement. Asked in his post-match press conference on Sunday as to whether the lack of clarity of his future affected the mentality of the squad, Wenger conceded that that is likely:

"“I believe since January we have played in a very difficult environment for different reasons. Some you know about and that’s very difficult for a group of players to cope with that – and some other reasons we will talk about on another day. Psychologically the atmosphere was absolutely horrendous. It has been difficult, yes, and certainly, my personal situation has contributed to that but you can never question my professionalism or commitment.”"

It is impossible to know if Wenger, in private, admitted to the players that the murkiness of the future of the club was affecting them, and saying the complete opposite in public, to protect the dressing room. However, from an external perspective, Wenger is very quickly unravelled by contradiction.

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He is saying one thing, meaning another, only to then publicly declare his meaning at a later time. He is privately acting, speaking and managing in one way and then putting on a front publicly to hide his private dealings. As a fan, the lack of transparency is becoming increasingly frustrating. It is time for Wenger to be more open and honest, though I doubt that will happen anytime soon.