Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger said prior to the London derby with Chelsea that ‘our moment has come’ to determine if the time was right for another Gunners run to the championship but unfortunately for monsieur Wenger the answer was not the one he was hoping for as Arsenal lost 3-0 and now need to re-evaluate how to win more titles.

By Andrew Rogers

For much of Arsenal’s post war history they have had to carry monikers that reflected football fans reluctance to give them their due.  What started out as ‘lucky Arsenal’ in the sixties and seventies, evolved into ‘boring Arsenal’ through the eighties and nineties.

The fact that Arsenal were no luckier or more boring than most of the competitors was irrelevant, it was the perfect riposte for supporters that could not bring themselves to recognise the Gunners as champions and the best in the country.

Under Arsene Wenger Arsenal’s brand among fans rapidly changed. No longer could they be denied respect, the side played breath taking football, unseen in England before. Wenger put Sir Alex Ferguson’s nose out of joint drawing further support, and in Patrick Vieira they possessed a midfielder who embodied the very best of English fighting qualities with creative nous.

Arsenal are now widely respected across England for their attacking prowess, but the nation’s admiration has been traded for the tag of also-rans when it comes to the major competitions.

Chelsea’s demolition of Arsenal at the Emirates, represented a new low in the north London club growing statue as a runner up. When drawn on the importance of specific fixtures Wenger usually adopts a philosophical approach, claiming one game does not make a season, but in the lead up to yesterday’s clash the Frenchman admitted the derby would give a clear indication of their title credentials, “our moment has come.”

Sunday’s performance indicated Arsenal’s moment was to firmly establish they are no nearer the big titles, in their fifth season since winning their last trophy. Wenger groped for excuses, “I believe Chelsea had absolutely everything for them.” But then inadvertently arrived at the correct assessment, “They lost many balls and made many technical mistakes but we couldn't take advantage," i.e his side was not good enough.

Wenger typically finds fault with referees or excuses his side’s performance on the basis that they are a young team. The question is why does a manager as intelligent and talented as Wenger keep looking for excuses when his side fails to meet his expectations?

These protestations cannot be taken seriously any longer, referee decisions even themselves out over a season, and four years on from their F.A Cup triumph over Man. Utd, the side cannot still be ‘young.’ The biggest reason for Arsenal’s failings since 2005, are financial. The north London club currently carry a debt of £318 million.

This has impacted Arsenal’s salary structure, and stopped the club from buying the top talent in the world on a consistent basis. Arsenal’s salary structure has also forced out some of best players to have graced the Premiership:

Marc Overmars, Patrick Vieira, Edu, Freddie Ljungberg, Matheiu Flamini, Gilberto Silva, Ashley Cole, Emanuel Adebayor and Robert Pires are just some of the names who have been told the board’s position ‘neutral’ as to whether they stay with the club or depart. This attitude towards medal laden players with 1000’s of appearance between them, has cost Arsenal in terms of honours.

Arsenal no longer have any of the Invincibles side of 2003/04 in their squad. Where as Manchester United had four of their 2002/03 Premiership title winning side in their starting line up against Portsmouth on Saturday. The importance of retaining experience cannot be overstated in the case of United, Ryan Giggs has become by a distance their best player. Imagine the difference the likes of Cole, Vieira, Gilberto or Pires could make in passing on the tradition of winning to Wenger’s perpetually inexperienced side.

Another flaw in the Arsenal make up is their lack of English players. It is now apparent that some of technically expert players simply do not understand the demands of the Premiership. Against Chelsea at times it appeared to be men against boys.

The technical aspirations Wenger brought to the Premiership were and still are ground breaking, but increasingly fail to recognise the English league is firstly about winning the physical battle, while some in Europe scoff at this notion, in England, football is recognised as a contact sport therefore strength, agility and pace will always be paramount.

Chelsea simply bullied Arsenal out of their own stadium, in a London derby no less. Wenger rightly does not tolerate technically weak English players but at the same time, his team failed to match Chelsea in the most basic of areas (strength) and appeared not to comprehend the cultural and social significance of the losing to their West London rivals.

Wenger’s problem is that while his hands are tied financially, he has to keep defending his side’s inadequacies when in reality it is the board overambitious construction project that is the root of their current ills. The club is spending huge amounts on debt repayments that could have been invested in transfers and salaries. For the moment Wenger appears to have settled for stability at Arsenal, over trophies and the specter of dismissal at Europe’s other big clubs.

While the former Monaco manager accepts this compromise he runs the risks of damaging his credibility, football is notoriously fickle and struggles to remember what happened last week, riding off the back of events in 2004 will become more precarious at the start of the new decade.

Strangely the money required to turn Arsenal into true title contenders is not so far away. In Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov the Gunners have two of the world’s richest men ready to invest, but until the board is ready to dissolve its English heritage and give these foreign billionaires control, another league title will remain a pipe dream. 

Andrew Rogers can be reached at andrewrogers@optonline.net

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