For the seventh straight season, Arsenal has stumbled in the Champions League round of 16.
But never before has the pressure on manager Arsene Wenger been as intense and scathing as in thewake of a 5-1 thrashing at home by Bayern Munich that piled up a 10-2 aggregate defeat.
A small but noisy group of fans had protested outside the Emirates prior to kickoff. They carried signsthat read “Wenger Out!”, “No New Contract,” “Support the Team not the Regime,” and “Enough is Enough. Time to Go.” The Gunners’ are alsostruggling in the Premier League and the club is faced with the prospect of missing the Champions League for the first time in this century.
Consistently qualifying for the Champions League isa significant achievement but in recent seasons has only ratcheted up fan frustration as the Gunners have collapsed in the first phase of knockout play, and a crushing 10-2 defeat has a sizablecontingent convinced the time for change is nigh.
Trailing, 5-1, from the first leg in Munich, Arsenal took the field in an Emirates Stadium dotted by empty seats and played well enough in thefirst half to forge a 1-0 lead. But as Bayern took command after a controversial penalty kick award which also dismissed defender Laurent Koscielny with a red card, the swaths of empty seatsgrew with each Bayern goal.
There was no deafening cacophony of boos and whistles when the game ended simply because not many Arsenal fans stayed that long. Bayern’s traveling contingenthad grown in volume as the rout unfolded and chanted and cheered continuously as their disgruntled counterparts hurried for the exits.
Before this season, rueful but respectable had been therun of eliminations for Arsenal, which since reaching the Champions League final in 2006 hasn’t come close to a reprise. Since a 2-1 loss to Barcelona that year Arsenal has watched sevendifferent teams capture the trophy.
Here is Arsenal’s run of failure in the Champions League round of 16:
2010-11 Barcelona* (3-4)
2011-12 AC Milan (3-4)
2012-13 Bayern Munich* (3-3 — Bayern wins on away goals)
2013-14 Bayern Munich (1-3)
2014-15 Monaco (3-3 — Monaco wins on away goals)
2015-16 Barcelona(1-5)
2016-17 Bayern Munich (2-10)
*team won Champions League
Five years ago, Arsenal had nearly pulled off a remarkable four-goal reversal against AC Milan. It lost the firstleg, 4-0, and heroically pushed the Italian club to the brink by scoring three goals without reply. The fightback fell a goal short, 4-3, but a memorable chapter in the club’s history had beenwritten. Nothing of the sort had been anticipated for Tuesday, and instead one of the bleakest night’s in recent memory ensued.
For his 201st Champions League match, Wenger had returnedstriker Alexis Sanchez to the starting lineup. His exclusion from the first XI for a league game with Liverpool on Saturday and reports of friction between player and manager had roiled theteam’s preparation for Bayern.
The club has offered Wenger a new, two-year contract, which he has not signed. There are also suspicions that Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, sidelined by illness forthe Liverpool game and restricted to a late stint off the bench Tuesday, will depart this summer. The sense that major change is imminent has gained strength in recent weeks and a second straightEuropean rout may have blown the lid off a very proud club.
For the FA Cup quarterfinals, Arsenal has drawn little Lincoln City, current leader of the fifth-tier National League and conquerorof Premier League Burnley in the fifth round. An easy home win is anticipated and will do nothing to strengthen the crumbling foundation on which Wenger stands.
Some people just like to overstay their welcome.. this reject is one of them..
Did not see the first leg, but until the PK and red card, Arsenal was the stronger team. Given Arsenal was denied a PK just before that (probably appropriately) and that Levandosky was looking to draw a foul (Koscielny barely touched him, though it was from behind and rightly called), the red card was very harsh. Bayern piled on the goals because despite being a man down, they were pushing forward and got caught, as well as some clinical finishing by Bayern. Would the fans have preferred that the team hunker down and try to get a 1-1 draw? And when you look at the teams Arsenal falls to in the quarterfinals, primarily Bayern and Barcelona, it’s not a shameful record. While it is frustrating that Arsenal has not won the EPL (or the CL) in a very long time, Wegner’s teams are usually fun to watch.
Calling a person a “reject” whom u never met is quite boorish. That term was very evident with the NYRB supporters.
I know one coach who worked for him he swore by him not at him :)Arsenals training methodAs far as Arsenals situation, the following will probably give you the best idea. It is split into two parts PART ONE ARSENAL F.C.FACILITIES The club’s extensive training camp (located about 30 miles north of London) contains ten practice fields, with the potential for further expansion in the future. TRAINING CONDITIONS ARE IDEAL: All practice fields remain in optimum condition because they are used on a rotating schedule, allowing the turf to regenerate continuously. The A-team has three fields plus a separate field for goalkeeping, while the 17-year-olds, 19-year-olds and reserve team practice on a total of six fields. In addition to the standard markings, each field has extra lines for small practice games and running exercises. These facilities, including the building complex, were designed according to Arsène Wenger’s specifications. Wenger developed and refined his ideas primarily while working as a coach in Japan and France. Adjacent to the fields is a large building complex, which is illuminated mostly by natural light and houses the administrative, youth and professional divisions all under one roof:locker rooms, physical therapy rooms and pool for all teams restaurant large, well-lighted weight room for all players administration classrooms for part-time instruction under salaried teacher .An indoor field is also in the planning stages. One coach, many responsibilities training principles and practice methods. He is eager to share his conception of modern, attractive soccer, both on the practice field and in discussions with fellow coaches. His ideas, demonstrations and incentives have benefited not only the professional team, but the youth coaches as well. Wenger restructured Arsenal’s talent promotion and training program from the ground up. He personally oversees the development of the most talented youth players and is in constant touch with their coaches. This approach carries over into the professional division, where he continues to work intensively with talented young players, in extra sessions as well as during regular practice. In addition to his day-to-day coaching of the professional team, Wenger is also a coach and manager in the personnel union (this is quite common in England), which makes him responsible for all transfers and contracts for the professional and youth divisions.On top of all this, he also acts as club supervisor, observing the youth and reserve teams’ matches and analysing them with the appropriate coaches. Wenger’s philosophy of the game Arsenal uses a 4-4-2 system. Wenger is constantly working to refine this system on the levels of both group and team tactics. The team’s defense is very attack-oriented. They attack their opponents early with a midfield press that alternates between a diamond for
Nick, thanks for the insight. Wenger has obviously been very good for Arsenal. I guess a lot depends on how faithful the fans are to him.
I’m not sure what this wall of text is supposed to mean but they’ve won a grand total of 2 FA cups in the past 10 seasons. Not good enough. His first ten years were incredible but the past ten have not seen nearly enough silverware for a team of Arsenal’s stature. Clearly it’s time for someone new.
You mean when we call someone “metro reject”? It’s all in good fun – this is a soccer game, not a dinner party.
“His first ten years were incredible but the past ten have not seen nearly enough silverware for a team of Arsenal’s stature.” FYI, Arsenal was never a huge spender and a down slide of top teams is expected when tight wallets govern. Your opinion is respected, but it’s quite elementary.
So Arsenal should be satisfied with finishing fourth every season and, at best, reaching the last 16 of the UCL? They are one of the biggest teams in England and should be challenging for the EPL consistently and making some noise in Europe. Going on 11 years of this level of (non) success isn’t good enough. And I’m not an Arsenal fan. Besides, from what I hear, Wenger has the option of spending more but chooses not to do so.
To be fair he has spent some money in recent history, but if you look at the choices none have panned out. Mustafi is just ok, Peres is just ok, and Xhaka is a habitual yellow carder. For the combined money of two of them Wenger could have picked up a difference maker. I get being frugal, especially given the crazy amounts of money being spent (Pogba….), but the investment has not kept up with competitive requirements and their record vs top 6 clubs is evidence of it.
David Dein was the difference. No one has replaced him at AFC and Wenger hasn’t listened to advice since.
Arsenal has the 4th highest average player salary in the EPL behind Man U. Man City and Chelsea. (at least in 2015 and 2016) In 2015 Paris SG, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich also paid higher average salaries than Arsenal. Arsenal should be in the hunt for championships, but probably not winning that often (PSG has a lot to answer for).Wenger has done a pretty solid job in performing about as expected based on salaries, but not over-perfoming.Because Arsenal is carrying a pretty heavy debt load, it is unlikely they will be able to upgrade the team significantly.