Friday 29 April 2016 07:29, UK
Arsenal's recent collapse has ramped up the pressure on Arsene Wenger, with disgruntled fan groups planning protests during their Saturday Night Football clash with Norwich. Ahead of his 750th Premier League game at the helm, we examine a turbulent period for the Frenchman...
On the eve of Arsenal's damaging 3-2 defeat to Manchester United in February, Arsene Wenger was asked whether he feared they were on the brink of another second half of the season collapse. The Gunners had just suffered a grimly familiar defeat to Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League last 16, and the trip to Old Trafford presented another psychological hurdle.
"There is a perception that Arsenal fade in March and April," responded Wenger. "It's true we have lost the championship once or twice, but what is different now is that on those occasions we were losing momentum. This time, it's the opposite. We are chasing and gaining momentum."
Wenger had hoped Danny Welbeck's late winner against Leicester two weeks previously would give Arsenal a platform to build on, but instead they slumped to what Graeme Souness described as a "weak, insipid and unacceptable" defeat against an injury-ravaged United side who had failed to win 10 of their previous 13 league games.
Arsenal's wretched run of four wins from 11 games since then has included a sixth consecutive Champions League last-16 exit and an FA Cup knockout by Watford, and the team who led the Premier League table by two points at the start of January were mathematically ruled out of the title race after Sunday's goalless draw with Sunderland. So much for the momentum.
Even by Arsenal's recent standards, the implosion has been spectacular, and as old weaknesses have resurfaced, many supporters are pointing the finger at the familiar figure in the dugout. Saturday's protests will be aimed at the club's hierarchy as well as the manager, but some of Wenger's recent decision-making has done little to help his cause.
Last month's 3-3 draw with West Ham was a case in point. Wenger caused widespread bafflement when he selected second-choice goalkeeper David Ospina over the fit-again Petr Cech for the must-win encounter, and the decision to leave the 6ft 6in Per Mertesacker on the bench looked equally questionable as Arsenal were aerially dominated by Andy Carroll.
Wenger defended Ospina and expunged the Colombian of blame after the game, only to reinstate Cech for the visit of Crystal Palace the following week. Cech duly conceded a soft goal from Yannick Bolasie as Arsenal surrendered another lead, but that strike highlighted another area of uncertainty.
Indeed, Bolasie's strike wouldn't even have arisen had Gabriel Paulista not given Emmanuel Adebayor so much time and space to hold the ball up on Arsenal's left flank before setting up the chance, and the Brazilian made little effort to block Bolasie's shot after moving back across into the centre of defence.
Gabriel had kept his place in the side that day despite turning his back on Carroll's acrobatic leveller at Upton Park, and it wasn't his first costly error since moving ahead of Mertesacker in Wenger's pecking order. His miscued clearance and poor marking allowed Marcus Rashford to score twice in three minutes at Old Trafford, and he was also turned too easily for Odion Ighalo's opener in the FA Cup defeat by Watford.
Mertesacker, of course, is not without his limitations, but it was certainly strange to see one of Arsenal's most experienced campaigners confined to the bench as his replacement struggled so obviously. It is no coincidence, either, that they have kept two clean sheets since his return to the side last week.
The emergence of Alex Iwobi and the encouraging performances of Mohamed Elneny have been bright spots for Wenger, but there have been oddities in attack, too. Olivier Giroud has come back into the team ahead of the more impressive Danny Welbeck despite being on the worst barren run of his Arsenal career, while Joel Campbell appears to have fallen out of contention altogether, despite receiving glowing praise from Wenger as recently as January.
The decisions raise further questions of a manager who has been unable to arrest another alarming slump. Tottenham's recent draw with West Brom all but ensures Arsenal will avoid the doomsday scenario of their arch-rivals winning the title, but they are still likely to fall short of Mauricio Pochettino's men, and the risk of another fourth-placed finish has only intensified the ill-feeling around the club.
And so, Wenger finds himself in the spotlight once again. Two months ago, he might have hoped his 750th Premier League game would present an opportunity to move one step closer to his first title in 12 years, but instead he is facing the same old questions over the same old problems. Saturday's protests will go some way to showing the scale of the dissatisfaction at the Emirates Stadium.
Watch Arsenal v Norwich live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 5pm on Saturday
