Arsenal Vs Chelsea: Arsene Wenger criticism a bit rich

Arsene Wenger has slammed his former Arsenal team for collapsing in the Europa League final. While his assessment is correct, it is a tad rich.

Wednesday night’s Europa League final against Chelsea was a unique chance for Unai Emery to begin his Arsenal tenure in the best way possible: reclaim Champions League qualification and put the club on a positive trajectory as he attempts to rebuild it.

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The importance of the match only makes the second-half capitulation all the more infuriating. Mental incompetency should never be tolerated on a football pitch, whether it be complacency, apathy or fragility, but to be so lacking in such a significant match is absolutely criminal, just as the Gunners were in the second half, conceding four goals and folding under the pressure.

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There has been plenty of discussion surrounding the fate of the team, the role that certain individuals played, and the future of many of the players, and even Emery in some cases. But most of the debated has centred on the same old flaws of this Arsenal team rearing their ugly head, namely lapse and utterly absent defending, a lack of intensity, desire and commitment, and the inability to stand firm under pressure.

This criticism has come from all over, so much so that even former manager Arsene Wenger has had his say. Speaking with BEIN Sports, Wenger said:

"“I felt that in the first half we did quite alright but as soon as Chelsea scored the first goal we collapsed completely. In the second half we didn’t exist. It was a sad night for us.”"

Now, Wenger’s assessment is absolutely correct. It was sad to see Arsenal completely collapse after the break with Olivier Giroud notching the first and the game being over just minutes later. But is also a little rich to hear it coming from the man who is primarily responsible for many of these flaws.

He may not be the manager anymore, resigning a little over a year ago, but the culture of the club was very much instilled by him, and these shortcomings are very much borne out of that culture. It may not be Emery in charge, but the atmosphere at the club is still Wengerian in its nature. It takes far more than one season to change a culture.

This does not completely absolve Emery of the blame, of course. He and his players made mistakes, both on Wednesday and throughout the season. But Wenger’s criticism does fall slightly foul, I must admit, and I am a huge admirer of his managerial qualities and leading character.

The collapse in the final a perfect representation of the Wenger flaws, even if Wenger was no longer stood on the sidelines. He was a part of the problem, just not a present one. Criticising too harshly, therefore, does seem a little rich to me.