Loyalty vs Winning

Arsenal's board of directors have a tough decision to make; do we go with loyalty and continued steadiness or do we look for winning? Arsenal have conceded 13 goals and only scored 3 in their last 3 games. Arsene Wenger has seemed sad over the last month, and looked completely lost when the team went 2-0 down against Liverpool. He has made some head scratching decisions like benching Sanchez against Liverpool and bringing in Ozil too late against Bayern. A lot of us will rush to say winning, but before you do consider Manchester United after Alex Ferguson.

Against Bayern, the gulf in class was monumental and this is a big problem for Arsenal as it scares quality players who may have looked at Arsenal as a chance to win trophies. We may say that the penalty was unwarranted and certainly the sending off, but in as much as this swayed the game against them, we must recognise that most of us only remember the end of the game not what happened in between. 

The biggest criticism against Wenger has to be that he seems to sign the same player over and over again. Henry, Van Persie and Sanchez are all the same type of player, Ozil, Bergkamp, Fabregas e.t.c. The problem with this is that whereas it make have worked over his first decade, the game has changed and there is a need for new skills. 

Before we start hounding him out of office however, let's admit that Wenger has earned the right to leave at his own terms. 99% of teams would love to have the record Arsenal have had under Wenger. The main question is how do we balance what is right by him versus what is right for the team. The problem is we have seen countless times where great players and/or coaches have stayed too long to the detriment of the team; Kobe Bryant being the latest example.

Its time we appreciate that teams are businesses and decisions should be made based on what's best for the business. Arsenal's future looks dimmer by the day with Arsene Wenger in charge and the team needs to accept that and look for ways to move past him. Yes loyalty is a consideration but when it starts becoming an impediment for growth, we need to set it aside and move forward as we do with old stuff around the house. Real Madrid did it with Raul and Casillas as did Liverpool with Daglish and Gerrard.

Thank you Wenger for your services but its time to go.