Arsenal: The collapse of Wenger's 'dynasty'

(Baonghean.vn) - The 2017/2018 Premier League has only gone through three rounds, but the majority of experts and fans have already ruled Arsenal out of the title race. This is completely understandable given what is happening at the Emirates Stadium.

A bad start

It's been a long time since Arsenal had such a poor start to the season. Their hard-fought opening victory against Leicester City signaled an incredibly difficult journey ahead for Wenger's team. Goals from Lacazette, Welbeck, Ramsey, and Giroud only secured a hard-fought win at home at the Emirates, but they couldn't reassure the Gunners' fans about the strength of their beloved team.

Those fears quickly became a reality. In Arsenal's two away matches against Stoke City and Liverpool, "Wenger's youngsters" suffered humiliating defeats. While some conservative Gooners might have attributed the 0-1 loss at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium to refereeing errors, the 0-4 defeat against Liverpool left no room for excuses for the poor performance of Wenger's team.

Arsenal players (in blue shirts) during their 0-4 defeat against Liverpool. Photo: Internet

With only 3 points from 3 matches and a goal difference of -4 (4/8), it's clear how poor Arsenal's record is. Statistically, in their first 3 Premier League matches of the 2016/2017 season, the Gunners earned 4 points with a goal difference of 6/5. Their 5th-place finish was largely due to the disappointing start of Sanchez and his teammates. Will Arsenal repeat that dismal result this season?

Transfer missteps

Despite strong protests from home fans, Arsenal's board decided to keep manager Arsène Wenger at the Emirates for another two years. Immediately after signing the new contract, the French strategist promised: “Of course we will strengthen the squad for the new season and we are preparing to welcome a very strong team. What we want from the fans is their trust.”

Despite being all too familiar with manager Wenger's recurring pattern of "promises and broken promises," Arsenal fans still had reason to place their faith in the 68-year-old after several disastrous seasons. Not wanting to keep the fans waiting, as soon as the 2017 summer transfer window opened, Wenger quickly brought striker Lacazette and full-back Kolasinac to the Emirates Stadium. It seemed as though, with the professor's frugal spending habits changed, Arsenal would welcome even more quality stars after those two signings.

Sanchez no longer wants to stay at the Emirates Stadium. Photo: Internet

But they were all wrong! In the remainder of the transfer window, manager Wenger failed to bring in any new signings. His top target, Lemar, refused to join Arsenal because he didn't want to play in the Europa League. Conversely, the Emirates Stadium club had to watch Chamberlain move to rivals Liverpool. The fact that they only managed to retain Sanchez and Mustafi – who no longer wanted to stay with Arsenal – further highlighted Wenger's mistakes in the transfer market.

An inevitable outcome.

Given what's happening at Arsenal, it's difficult for the London team to compete for the 2017/2018 Premier League title against powerful rivals like Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea. Besides the inferiority in terms of squad strength, morale is also a luxury for Sanchez and his teammates at this moment. The humiliating defeat against Liverpool in the third round, Chamberlain's departure, the disheartened attitudes of Ozil, Sanchez, and Mustafi... clearly reflect this.

Manager Wenger is paying the price for his own mistakes. Photo: Internet

With a team lacking quality, a weak spirit, and the home fans turning their backs, how can they possibly win the championship? If he can't help Arsenal end their more than a decade-long Premier League drought, manager Wenger will certainly have to leave. In fact, there's no need to wait until next May; it's highly likely that the French strategist will be sacked from the Emirates Stadium within the next few months if things don't improve.

At that point, manager Wenger could only blame himself. His conservative and incompetent transfer policy, along with his outdated philosophy, had destroyed the achievements he had built at Arsenal over the past 20 years. The Arsenal-Wenger era was counting down the days to its collapse. Surely, Arsenal fans were now more eagerly awaiting that day than anxiously waiting for Wenger's promises.

Thanh Hung