An Arsene Whinge too far

Yet again on Sunday we were treated to the spectacle of Arsene Wenger throwing his toys out of the pram. Following Liverpool’s late, late equalising penalty, which had cancelled out Arsenal’s late, late, opener, also a penalty, Wenger succeeded in riling his counterpart on the Liverpool bench, Kenny Dalglish, remonstrated openly with the officials on the pitch, and drew a collective sigh of ‘not again Arsene’, from the football watching public and press.

Call it arrogance, call it a one-eyed view of the game being played out before him, but what cannot be denied is that Wenger’s fatal flaw is his inability to display any sort of humility, or take any responsibility for his own, or his team’s, shortcomings.

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve heard Wenger say, “I didn’t see it”, or that the referee, the linesmen, an opposition player, a streaker, the groundsman, the Earth’s gravitational pull, was to blame for an Arsenal defeat. This time, the referee added too much time, and Lucas, the Liverpool player fouled to win the penalty, played for it by stopping in the box. This apparently cost Arsenal the game.

Except it wasn’t that. What cost Arsenal the game was their inability to close out a game they were well in control of, and the inability of Emmanuel Eboue to master the instruction ‘STOP’, as he chased after Lucas, clumsily crashing into the grateful Brazilian. This has been a feature of Arsenal’s season. Too many games where teams have gained points against them have been through a combination of Arsenal’s slack defending, particularly from set-pieces, and profligacy in front of goal.

Part of this of course, is due to Wenger’s reluctance to invest in a goalkeeper of any renoun, in somebody to partner (or stand-by for when injured) the excellent Thomas Vermaelen, or to provide a genuine target man to replace Emanuel Adebayor, whose aerial threat was well displayed in Real Madrid’s demolition of Spurs in the Champions League. Games against Tottenham and West Brom at home and Newcastle away are evidence of Arsenal’s brittle backline; goalless draws at home against Sunderland and Blackburn evidence of the lack of a potent goal threat.

But back to Wenger’s ranting. Dalglish was right to tell him where to go, and to shun any post-match handshake, particularly in light of Wenger expressing ‘no regrets’ over the spat. It was a certain penalty in a classic away performance from Liverpool, who, it should be remembered, had two 18 year old defenders marshalling at the back, and who had lost both their inspirational rock Jamie Carragher, and new talisman, Andy Carroll, to injury. Wenger also had the temerity to criticise Liverpool for their defensive tactics during the game. Next time, perhaps Kenny Dalglish should tell his inexperienced rookies and cripplingly injured side to stand back and admire the Arsenal showboat.

Wenger has a history of making rash statements following games of course, who can forget his call for Birmingham’s Martin Taylor to be “banned for life” following the unfortunate incident in which Eduardo broke his leg (although granted this was a moment of high emotion)? Similarly, he seems to have a problem with opposition manager’s celebrating their own success. I recall the spat with Alan Pardew, who so raised Wenger’s ire by visibly cheering a West Ham (who Pardew was managing at the time) goal. It is almost as if sense momentarily leaves his otherwise sensible, measured thought process.

More than anything, it is disappointing to those of us who have defended Wenger for these transitions over the years in light of the fantastic football his teams play, and in his revolutionary ideas over diet, alcohol and training, which since his arrival have improved the English game infinitely for the better. As a Spurs fan, it pains me to say it, but aside from Sir Alex Ferguson, there really is only one manager whom, over the past 15 or so years, has been the envy of the rest of the League, and that is Wenger.

But in his stubbornness, he is losing the faith of adherents such as myself. With money to spend, it is so obvious to most football fans where his team needs to improve, improvements that would this season, almost certainly, have brought his talented young squad the title. Likewise, his continuous rants against officials and other teams, rather than accepting some responsibility for Arsenal’s defeats, are making a mockery of his obvious intelligence and almost scientific approach to the game. Ultimately, this defeat, like other defeats before it, occurred because of tactical and individual errors, not on the performance of the referee. It’s just a shame that Wenger ‘didn’t see it’.