Arsenal: Arsene Wenger setting up the post-Wenger argument

Arsene Wenger has stated that he did his best work during Arsenal’s worst period under his management. Here comes the post-Wenger argument: How much did he protect the board?

History judges us all. It is the bare fact of life that time will be our ultimate jury. And so it will be with Arsene Wenger and his Arsenal tenure.

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But it is not the period of his success that will be put on trial. It is not the trophies, the titles, the Invincibles, and the wonderment of the early years that is being put to the test.

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It is the job he did in the latter years, the one that saw a move to a new stadium coincide with a lack of investment, the one that saw the club drop out of the top four to grow commercially, the one that saw the Europa League, not the Champions League, become the norm, the one that saw Arsenal choose the long-term, not the short. Wenger, for instance, says that this period was the period in which he did his best job:

"“I would say personally from 2006 to 2015 it was certainly the period where I needed to be the strongest and [where] I did the best job. To accept to commit to five years when you build the stadium to work with restricted resources and keep the club in a position where we can pay our debts back, I personally feel I did my best job in that period. Not the most glamorous maybe, but the most difficult.”"

This, for me, will be the key debate surrounding Wenger’s time in north London and his legacy once he leaves. How much did he protect the board during these barren years, holding up a club that continually looked to make a profit and restricted spending in a competitive position?

If, in the next few years, Arsenal continue to toil in the wake of their domestic rivals, failing to spend the money that is necessary to challenge, not improving the players that already in the squad, unable to provide the tactics and the instruction and the system to flourish, then Wenger’s time will only be looked on more graciously.

But if, in the coming seasons, the club begins to be more adventurous in its spending, recruits a higher quality of player, plays a higher quality of football, and develops the raw yet mouldable talent that is already there, then suddenly, Wenger’s lingering years can only be called into question further.

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It is not a question that is answerable at this point. Certainly, there are intelligent, insightful, knowledgeable fans and pundits on either side of the debate. But, for now, we will have to wait and see. Time will judge Wenger, and I will be fascinated to see the verdict.