Arsene Wenger must look at the bigger picture

Arsenal 1 Liverpool 1


Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, is unlikely to admit it in public, but he must acknowledge that big is beautiful if he is to get his hands on the Barclays Premier League trophy again. Arsenal have played some of the best football in England this season, although they are likely to end it empty-handed for the third year in a row unless they can hit the jackpot by winning the Champions League for the first time.
Wenger was in no mood to conduct a post mortem after the draw that extinguished Arsenal’s flickering title hopes - with his extraordinary, fist-clenching dance on the sidelines revealing his true emotions – but a look at their recent results provides at least some clues. A dismal run of one win in their past seven league matches, including three successive draws at home, suggests that Arsenal have run out of steam, lacking the stamina and strength in depth to translate their potential into prizes.
The closest Wenger came to offering an explanation for his team’s alarming slump was a familiar lament regarding injuries to Eduardo da Silva, Robin van Persie and Tomas Rosicky, which although partially true also misses the point. It is the manager’s job to ensure that his squad is well enough equipped to cope with every eventuality and, judged by the harshest standards in this regard, he can be said to have failed. With the luxurious benefit of hindsight, Wenger’s decision not to strengthen his squad in January looks to be an oversight, particularly when coupled with the sale of Lassana Diarra to Portsmouth.
Wenger became used to coping with a smaller squad as the club were funding the new stadium, but it appears as if such pragmatism has given way to a dangerous point of principle. For all Arsenal’s rotten luck with injuries, particularly to Van Persie, it is not as if he they have been unduly unfortunate. Chelsea have had John Terry, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba and Petr Cech out for long periods, while Manchester United have had to do without Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney at various points.
Wenger does not have the funds available to Avram Grant or Sir Alex Ferguson, but with a £70 million cash surplus in Arsenal’s most recent half-year accounts, he could have brought in some reinforcements.
“We have a rich budget and a big potential when the stadium’s paid,” Wenger said. “I don’t know where it went wrong. At the moment that is not my worry – at the moment my worry is to prepare for [the Champions League quarter-final, second leg against Liverpool on] Tuesday night. At the moment I wouldn’t like to make conclusions. I know we can qualify on Tuesday because we have the quality. That is more important, but at the end of the season I will see what we can say about this year.
“We go until the end of the season and then see what it is like. It was difficult to predict that Eduardo, Van Persie and Rosicky would be out together and for such a long time. The turning point this year was very tight and we started when we lost Eduardo and also didn’t have Van Persie or Rosicky. I think if we’d got everybody back we’d still be up there.”
Eduardo’s horrific broken leg in the game away to Birmingham City may come to be seen as the turning point in Arsenal’s season for a whole raft of reasons, as the 2-2 draw gave them a six-point lead over United that over the course of the past six weeks has turned into a six-point deficit, but as much as the injuries, it is fatigue that has cost them.
Gaël Clichy’s 18-minute cameo against Liverpool on Saturday was his 43rd appearance of the season and it showed, while Cesc Fàbregas and Mathieu Flamini made their 41st and 40th appearances respectively, when one or both could have done with being rested before the trip to Anfield.
Given his age – 20 – Fàbregas in particular would benefit from greater protection, but Wenger lacks that luxury. To his credit, the manager refused to hide behind the age of his team, although he insisted that the season would still be regarded as a success even if it finished without silverware. The Frenchman is particularly enamoured of Nicklas Bendtner, who underlined his promise by scoring his seventh goal of the season after Peter Crouch had given Liverpool the lead.
“We’re making progress compared to last season,” Wenger said. “We’ve been going for the championship the whole season and still are, although now it’s become a little bit more difficult. I feel as well some young players have made a big progress and next year they will be better players. Players like Bendtner, next year you can consider him a real striker. The young players have done remarkably well and carried the team through.”
With a few more experienced players alongside them, however, Arsenal’s youngsters could have carried the team even farther.

.

utusanLFC :

So? After reading this shit... we all must feel sorry towards Arsene Wenger. We must whisper to him that he can go all the way that he can beat Liverpool. (hahaha... dream on baby..., dream on! And you will not gain anything in Anfield)... ARSENAL = ANFIELD = KAPUT