Arsene Wenger has incredible faith in his players and while some Arsenal fans, the press at large and supporters of rival clubs slate Mr Wenger for his ‘stubbornness’, you’ve got to give him credit for what he’s achieved (through his faith in his players) at Arsenal over the last decade.
When Wenger says Arsenal can win titles with this squad, he’s probably right – given a couple of extra signings and time for the current crop to mature they’d be title contenders for sure. However, Arsene is a special case – he’s been given more time and room by the Arsenal board than any other contemporary manager at a club with similar ambitions (Houiller’s record in the league, barring a CL win, was similar to Rafa, United have been winning titles for fun and don’t even get me started on Chelsea).
Not everything, or everywhere in life, do you get this much time and space to make mistakes until you get it right.
Of course in some cases showing Arsene-like faith can be very detrimental to your health:
Studs Up by Chris Toy – original comic here, the crazy fish here.
I’m not always an Arsenal (or Arsene) fan, but given the crap Wenger has gotten over the past couple of years, I hope he wins something (you know, like the FA Cup or the UEFA Cup) that vindicates his stand. Better yet, he could buy the right players next summer and give United, Liverpool and Chelsea a genuine run for the title. Or he could get Arsenal to qualify for the Champions League next season. Anything’s possible if you believe it strongly enough, right?
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