Disrespectful Arsenal fans have tarnished Wenger’s illustrious career

Whether you liked him or not, after Arsene Wenger’s announcement of resigning from Arsenal, an era will end. It has been twenty-two years in the making for Wenger, who’s time at Arsenal has changed the football club for the good. His achievements are only second to the great Sir Alex Ferguson in recent years in English football, and yet he leaves with a distinct cloud over his head. It has never seemed quite right why this is, with many Arsenal fans rejoicing today’s news. Is that any proper way to treat the expected departure of the biggest legend the football club might ever see?

For Wenger though, it hasn’t just been about success. It has been the changing of modern-day football. His move to Arsenal yielded changes that could never have been expected. His discipline of players, his philosophy to the game has never changed and he should always be commended for that. I see the frustration of the Arsenal fans recently, they are not quite living up to the standards they feel they should be hitting. However, what the fans forget is that Wenger was the man who created those high standards. He set the bar that every other Arsenal manager will now have to aspire to get to.

You could spend days trying to list off all the good things Arsene Wenger has done for Arsenal. However, his construction and use of his ‘invincibles’ team in the 2003-2004 season is something that could take decades to be repeated. Even the modern-day magician, Pep Guardiola, has found that out to be an extremely difficult task this year with Manchester City. How did Wenger do it then? Well firstly it was down to fantastically accurate and pinpoint recruitment. Initially brought into the club in 1996, Wenger quickly secured the services of two fellow frenchman, Patrick Vierra and Remi Garde. The spine of the team was already strong. However, it was the ability to maximise everything that a certain Theirry Henry had, that lifted Wenger to legendary. Henry scored 174 goals at the club under Wenger from just over 250 games. It was a dream team. It was a team worthy of the title. They were the invincibles.

Recent years have proved not to be so easy. With the whole cast of the invincibles all fading out of the team, the difficulty of trying to recreate anything approaching similar would always be nearly impossible. And so it has proved. In truth, he has never been able to fill the void in defence. There has never been a replacement for Tony Adams or Martin Keown. To add to that, the sheer spending power of other teams has led some of the greats away from the club. Cesc Fabregas went to Barcelona, Robin Van Persie up north to Manchester. It would be incorrect to say that Arsenal don’t have the spending capability of these teams also. Yet, that was never Wenger’s ethos, and he was never going to sink to that. Wenger never spent money for the sake of spending money, players needed to be the right fit for Arsenal, the right fit for the club he has created. The last few years haven’t quite delivered the success that Wenger would have hoped for. Yet, back-to-back FA Cup wins is something that many clubs would be more than satisfied with. However, that hasn’t satisfied Arsenal fans. Wenger’s methods perhaps are becoming slightly out of date but the courage he has shown to keep to what he knows best was something admirable.

Unfortunately, through social media and the internet, a lot of fans have seemingly ‘found their voice’. I don’t mind opinions and in fact opinion is what keeps sport always so interesting. Yet, there is a line between opinion and disrespect, a line that Arsenal fans have crossed. The development of Arsenal Fan TV, initially set-up to get candid views from fans after games has become no more than an embarrassment for the club. There is no logic to any person’s views on it, just angry, emotional middle-aged men shouting abuse. That helps nobody, that entertains nobody. These actions alongside other social media digs at Arsenal in the last few years have tarnished the reputation of a Premier League great. We didn’t see rejoicing from Manchester United fans when Ferguson decided to call it a day. For me, this is no different.

One must remember all of what Arsene Wenger has done for the club, not focus on the few things he hasn’t. As I alluded to earlier, I think Wenger’s time has probably come as his believes are becoming that slight bit outdated in modern football. Yet, I don’t envy the next manager and I certainly don’t believe it will be anywhere near as easy as slotting something into the jigsaw puzzle. This change could lead to years of transition for Arsenal Football Club, something they can find time to moan about on Arsenal Fan TV. The few proper Arsenal fans will see this news and feel slightly low, this is the end of an era. Arsene Wenger deserves every accreditation given to him.