Let's not do a Mourinho now and call the man a loser.
But something really went on in between the time when he was able to win this league unbeaten and now. He's had his "wilderness" years without trophies, when Arsenal was paying up stadium debt and working on budgets considerably smaller than the other big clubs, but now he's got proper financial clout for a club of Arsenal's stature and yet, something's still broken.
I think during these wilderness years, much has changed in football, tactics tendencies and approaches. Wenger went from using the old 4-4-1-1 system to using the 4-5-1 that expands into 4-3-3, and that was around the 2009-10 season. During that time, Barcelona flourished into the beacon of classy football, possession, tippy-tappy, tikki-takka or whatever you wanna call it... and I think Wenger grew obsessed with the idea of recreating it at Arsenal.
Back in the time of the Invincibles in 2004 we had not only world class players, but damn, that team could defend. And then the transitions were objective and our counter attacks were lightning fast.
This changed gradually into a more predictable Arsenal, and on top of that all of a sudden we didn't have a Gilberto Silva, we had Denilson/Flamini... we didn't have Henry, we had Adebayor... we didn't have Bergkamp, we had Hleb.
To compound on all that, Chelsea spent unimaginable amounts of money during the time Arsenal could spend less, thus Arsenal was completely out of the picture to be the ones challenging Ferguson's United.
Things have never gotten back into place for Wenger since then. We, the fans, have to be grateful for what Wenger did for the club, the new world class stadium and training ground which he had a direct influence on, and consider the fact we never lost Champions League status (and income) during all that time.
However, what we see now on the pitch is a reflection of the man in the dugout.
Johnny's post is right about some things: the players are all grown men earning shitloads of money per week and they should be accounted for it too. They're the ones playing, but Wenger is the man who picked them in the first place. Not only that, he's the man who signed them, who renewed their contracts, who built the squad. Because he's at Arsenal for 20 years now, it's not as if he inherited some rotten apples in the squad and such.
But for the most part, I'm unhappy with the way these performances are going down. We couldn't break Watford for 80+ minutes, and some things about it raises some eyebrows: our first effort on target was in the middle of the 2nd half by Elneny from long range (Wenger hasn't instiled the mentality of not shooting from long range yet, heh). And most concerning: the casual attitude and approach of the players, letting the entire 1st half pass them by. There's absolutely no urgency about this team and these things are surely down to the manager.
I had an epiphany the other day watching Borussia Dortmund trouncing Tottenham at the Europa League. That is the kind of football that is exciting. Maybe Ranieri is right (maintaining a squad like Leicester's on top certainly suggests he's on to something): possession is overrated.
Arsenal's playing style has been an attractive one and it brought results, then at some point it stopped producing results but still very entertaining. Now let's face it: it's became boring and predictable and it's getting us nowhere.
Wenger probably won't get sacked, this board has much respect for him - and they should. But I think this is his last contract. By 2017 we will probably have a new manager and they better start planning this transition accordingly or we're screwed.
It just pains me to see how things are unfolding and I'll say it again: this season was a bloody miracle designed to make Arsene Wenger once more champion of the Premier League. But he's blowing it.
