Burnwinterâ„¢ wrote:
There's no reluctance on my part to give him some credit, Rohit.
But giving him a lot of credit for a match in which we looked shellshocked from the kickoff (against Hull City, mind!) and went 2-0 behind after fifteen minutes seems a bit strange. We only ended up getting back in it because Cazorla scored a blinder. After that we gradually got a grip on affairs through the efforts of a few key players.
In my view Wenger is also being overpraised for his use of Sanogo - the only forward option we had - off the bench. The kid occupied a few defenders, he didn't turn the match around. To me it's an indictment of Wenger's squad management that we didn't have a superior forward option standing ready.
Like I said earlier, my stand in no way is aimed at encouraging overall support for Wenger, absolving him of the blame for his negligence in the transfer market or for that matter failure to prepare the team mentally for the big games.
I would just like a bit of objectivity though in the assessment of his performance during the Cup run. You can't look at one match in isolation and ignore 5 other wins, 3 of them coming against the top Premiership sides. We outplayed both Tottenham and Everton, the latter after the team was under great pressure post the loss against Bayern and showed real grit against Liverpool after having lost to them 5-1 just a week earlier. You have to look at the Cup run as a whole. The comeback in the Final may have been started by a great piece of individual skill from Cazorla but you can't only give credit to players for the comeback but ignore their fallibility at the beginning of big games and heap all the blame for the same on the manager.
Our mental preparedness for big games is a massive question but if Biggus' left testicle can get the best out of our internationals then they certainly can be switched on right from the off without needing any motivational speech.
I am completely with you in being critical of Wenger for us having only Sanogo as our striking option. While he only came on and put in a shift, it was really the tactical move of bringing on another big striker rather than say a Jack while moving Ozil closer to Giroud. It was the least obvious substitution. You can't curse him on one hand for poor tactics while not give him credit for a tactic which worked in that game. Sanogo is a poor footballer but he should have had a goal which was only stopped because of a handball and if Gibbs puts in the sitter, Sanogo also has a great assist through sheer will.
See, while I have been a vocal supporter of Wenger, I think having won the Cup he should have finished on a high and walked. He hasn't and he is still our manager. I don't mind his flaws being pointed out but at times the crusade is at another degree in my opinion. I just think there has to be more objectivity, nothing more and being on the other side I might be culpable of the lack of it too but really it is unfair to blame him for every defeat and credit players for every win.
Burnwinterâ„¢ wrote:
As for the broader scope of this thread:
What do you predict we'll get out of next season in terms of league and cup results?
What would represent a continuation of the trajectory of improvement that some believe we're on?
Would zero trophies and fourth place again mean we weren't actually improving?
What do we need from Wenger now circumstances have changed and we have money to spend?
We need Wenger to spend. I firmly believe we would have won the League if our best players were fit. We didn't have Ramsey, Ozil, Walcott and Wilshere fit for the run-in. It's like City not having Silva and Toure, or Liverpool being without Suarez and Sturridge. There really needs to be an inquest into why our players get injured so much.
We need way more quality in depth than we have. Finishing without a trophy next season will be deemed a failure in my head.
I would love to be confident after the window of us being contenders. I really hope Wenger does the job in the window. He just needs to be ruthless. If Sanogo isn't upto it, sell him, don't persist in the belief that he will come good at the cost of points.
