3 min readMar 24, 2014 06:47 PM IST
First published on: Mar 24, 2014 at 03:43 AM IST
Arsene Wenger sat with his head in his hands, the creases on his face clearly visible in the bright, spring sunlight. All around, a stadium reverberated with taunts. On an occasion that most managers would like to spend with their head in the clouds, Chelsea were on their way to mauling his Arsenal 6-0 in his 1,000th game in charge, making him plumb the depths of despair.
Its time for Wenger to buy some grit.
6-3 at the Etihad, 5-1 at Anfield (4-0 down in 20 minutes) and now, 6-0 at Stamford Bridge (tralling 3-0 after 17 minutes). Of the 34 goals Arsenal have conceded in the league this season, 17 have been shipped in a flood against their direct competitors in the top four. Where is the new-found resiliency Wenger is talking about?
After 30 matches last season, Arsenal had conceded 32 and had a goal difference of 23. While their current goal difference is 19, they are twelve points better off as of now — the goals having come in torrents.
Evidence suggests that while Arsenal’s concentration levels have held better this season, a lack of strong-willed characters, who can drag the team up from the bottom of the barrel they seem to scrape in big matches, has let them down. They cannot, and have not, been able to grind out results consistently against the biggest beasts in their dens.
This must grate a manager whose team, then dubbed ‘the invincibles’, went a whole season unbeaten a decade ago. The irony of the name will not be lost on him. Wenger knows almost every method and philosophy related to the game but has to master one all over again — the art of buying when funds are available for the positions that most demand a purchase. Arsenal have the cash to make a splash. His first-choice eleven is closing in on sustained excellence but the store-room is bare, bereft of providing backups who can fill in seamlessly.
While the Arsenal board will, rightly, not say ‘buy Wenger or bye Wenger’, he has to face this challenge — as real as it is philosophical — and chart his course into his second millenium with Arsenal.
Hormazd is a senior sub editor based in New Delhi
hormazd@expressindia.com
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