Adrian Durham Exclusive: Arsenal smell of underachievement and it’s one hell of a rotten stink that’s been festering for 13 years… Arsene Wenger’s credibility is in pieces
Gunners have simply been going through the motions for the past 13 years, pretending a top four place equals real glory
ARSENAL Football Club smell of underachievement right now, and it’s one hell of a rotten stink that’s been festering for a long time.
For 13 years they’ve been going through the motions, bottling the big games, bullied by the big boys, moaning about money when they’ve millions in the bank, and choosing to be pathetic instead of professional.
I feel sorry for their fans, especially the ones who still believe in Arsene Wenger. They haven’t got a clue.
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He used to be brilliant, but not anymore.
In August 2010 he signed a new contract and declared of his squad: “Trust me they are ready to deliver.”
He was spectacularly wrong. Six months later they lost the League Cup final to Birmingham.
A week later they were knocked out of both the FA Cup and the Champions League, and won only two of their final 11 league games, finishing fourth.
We know the story, season after season.
Francis Coquelin falling off Eden Hazard as the Belgian waltzed through to score a cracker on Saturday was a reflection of Arsenal since 2004 – weak, embarrassing and simply not good enough.
But while other clubs try different things to bring success, Arsenal just plough on, pretending a top four place equals glory.
13 years without the title is bad enough, but to have never won the Champions League in all his time at Arsenal, is poor.
It’s unacceptable from Wenger. No other top club would put up with repeated failure like that, but somehow Arsenal let it happen.
Wenger’s credibility is in pieces right now.
How can it be anything else when his so-called stars refuse to even run for him in games at Chelsea and Manchester City, when an opponent accused one of Wenger’s players of “bottling it” against Watford and when the French boss himself reveals his players were not mentally ready for a challenge?
And the money excuse no longer works - Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi all cost big money.
But he still can’t compete successfully for the title.
The only way Wenger can rescue his reputation is to win the Champions League.
And so next Wednesday they head to Munich knowing their season depends on getting past
Bayern, and going all the way to victory in Cardiff in the final.
It’ll be a miracle if it happens – the Gunners haven’t reached the Quarter Final stage since 2009-10. Hardly the “sustained excellence” Stan Kroenke praised Wenger for in 2014, when the manager signed yet another lucrative contract.
It’s a joke really, unless you’re an Arsenal fan.
If they come away from Munich defeated and as good as out of Europe, Wenger surely can’t have the audacity to carry on picking up his huge salary can he?
