I just don't know anymore. I'm at odds with how Wenger sees the game, how he sets his team up, what he values in a player's game for different positions, how he goes about building his squad.
I used to agree with nearly everything he valued and in the way in which he saw football. People say he's a dinosaur, that he hasn't moved with the times and adapted his approach, but I don't recognise him or his team. For me, Wenger's Invincibles were everything a football team should be. It wasn't just that Wenger had brought together some incredible footballers, it was the balance he created right throughout the team. Every facet of the team worked with every other facet of the team and there were partnerships all over the pitch that made the team stronger. Every position tweaked and carefully thought out to work with other positions, every player complimenting and improving the player he played next to, all to make the team greater than it's parts.
Where are those values now? How can you build a team so different in style, so different in shape, so different in its physical make-up? it baffles me. I know there's more than one way to skin a cat, but even at our best in the last 10 years we haven't come close to having the same stability and balance in the team - and they're fundamental to winning. I don't understand the players that he signs or the players that he plays. How does he want us to play? How are we set up to hurt teams? How are we set up to stop teams hurting us? It all just doesn't make sense and it's infuriating.
I think he's been here too long, gone too long without winning and has now lost his way. I just don't think he can turn it around. He's still a great manager (don't insult the man with pathetic claims like he never was) and would probably do very well with a clean slate elsewhere if the last decade hasn't damaged him irreparably. Sadly, I don't think he has it in him to do it here anymore. 🙁
