Almost all talk about Arsenal FC in the last two or three years has been about the fact that they haven't won a single trophy since the FA cup in 2005. These voices have been growing louder with each passing season and following Arsenal's dismal start to the Premier League this year, they have reached an almost deafening pitch. As any regular visitor to Arsenal fansites and blogs would know, Arsenal 'fans' have one scapegoat for all of Arsenal's problems, Arsene Wenger. Yes, a new manager seems to be the solution to all problems at the moment, but lets just pause and take a look at some numbers:
Arsene Wenger's year by year record for Arsenal:
Year P W D L F A Win ratio
Surprised?
Yes, despite failing to win a trophy in the last six seasons, the actual playing records have remained fairly similar over Arsene's 15 years at Arsenal. This fact is highlighted when comparing his records at Highbury and Ashburton Grove. Though Arsenal have not won silverware since moving into their new stadium at the beginning of the 2006/07 season, they have a near identical record here (win ratio: 70.3%) compared to Arsene’s time at Highbury (win ratio: 70.6%).
Therefore, the lack of titles is clearly not due to a lower standard of play, a lack of quality or Arsene losing the plot somewhere along the way, but just that winning a title requires a combination of unforeseeable factors to work in your favour including injuries, referee decisions and just that little bit of luck at key moments in important games.
Not to mention that these numbers are by far the best Arsenal have had under any manager in their history, qualification for the Champions League 14 years in a row and the fact that this has all been achieved having the least average transfer and wage budget among today's big five of the Premier League (Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City) such that the club is completely self sufficient financially, putting it in a very strong position when UEFA's Financial Fair Play rule comes into effect in two years time.
Oh and it goes without saying that under Wenger Arsenal have played some of the most attractive football in the history of the Premier League and continue to produce some of the best young players in the Premier League (Has anyone seen Frimpong and Coquelin play this season?).
So yeah, people, especially Arsenal 'fans' who are talking so loudly at the moment that they can't see or hear anything else, maybe if you'd just shut the fuck up for a second, you'll realize that you should show the man a little more respect.
Arsene Wenger's year by year record for Arsenal:
Year P W D L F A Win ratio
| 1996/7 | 36 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 56 | 33 | 44.4% |
| 1997/8 | 54 | 33 | 13 | 8 | 89 | 46 | 61.1% |
| 1998/9 | 54 | 31 | 15 | 8 | 84 | 38 | 57.4% |
| 1999/00 | 59 | 33 | 11 | 15 | 112 | 66 | 55.9% |
| 2000/01 | 59 | 32 | 13 | 14 | 99 | 62 | 54.2% |
| 2001/02 | 60 | 39 | 11 | 10 | 119 | 62 | 65% |
| 2002/03 | 59 | 34 | 15 | 10 | 119 | 58 | 57.6% |
| 2003/04 | 59 | 38 | 14 | 7 | 114 | 48 | 64.4% |
| 2004/05 | 57 | 37 | 13 | 7 | 117 | 51 | 64.9% |
| 2005/06 | 59 | 33 | 11 | 15 | 96 | 43 | 55.9% |
| 2006/07 | 59 | 30 | 17 | 12 | 98 | 53 | 50.8% |
| 2007/08 | 58 | 36 | 15 | 7 | 113 | 52 | 62.1% |
| 2008/09 | 61 | 34 | 16 | 11 | 113 | 54 | 55.7% |
| 2009/10 | 55 | 33 | 8 | 14 | 116 | 63 | 60% |
| 2010/11 | 58 | 31 | 13 | 14 | 119 | 64 | 53.4% |
Surprised?
Yes, despite failing to win a trophy in the last six seasons, the actual playing records have remained fairly similar over Arsene's 15 years at Arsenal. This fact is highlighted when comparing his records at Highbury and Ashburton Grove. Though Arsenal have not won silverware since moving into their new stadium at the beginning of the 2006/07 season, they have a near identical record here (win ratio: 70.3%) compared to Arsene’s time at Highbury (win ratio: 70.6%).
Therefore, the lack of titles is clearly not due to a lower standard of play, a lack of quality or Arsene losing the plot somewhere along the way, but just that winning a title requires a combination of unforeseeable factors to work in your favour including injuries, referee decisions and just that little bit of luck at key moments in important games.
Not to mention that these numbers are by far the best Arsenal have had under any manager in their history, qualification for the Champions League 14 years in a row and the fact that this has all been achieved having the least average transfer and wage budget among today's big five of the Premier League (Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City) such that the club is completely self sufficient financially, putting it in a very strong position when UEFA's Financial Fair Play rule comes into effect in two years time.
Oh and it goes without saying that under Wenger Arsenal have played some of the most attractive football in the history of the Premier League and continue to produce some of the best young players in the Premier League (Has anyone seen Frimpong and Coquelin play this season?).
So yeah, people, especially Arsenal 'fans' who are talking so loudly at the moment that they can't see or hear anything else, maybe if you'd just shut the fuck up for a second, you'll realize that you should show the man a little more respect.
It seems that you've figured out exactly what a club needs to win a title viz. luck, referee decisions, unforeseeable factors working out favourably! Really?!
ReplyDeleteArsenal is not just not winning titles, they are being beaten quite comprehensively at it! If you take a look at the last six seasons,from the 05/06 season till date, Arsenal have finished an unconvincing 3rd or below in the league each time and in most cases they have been beaten by more than 10 points. It's unlikely that the flow of events will go against a club for 6 seasons in a row! Besides, the lackluster performances in other competitions as well has added to the frustrations of the fans and rightly so, with last year's Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham being the most recent memory.
I think Arsenal are at a unique juncture in their history, having taken the bold decision of moving to a much bigger venue in Ashburton Grove, while at the same time trying to hone young talent, working on a much smaller budget than the other biggies and yet surviving in the top 4. All the plaudits certainly go to Arsene Wenger on those accounts but the bigger question today is how much longer will be able to sustain this unique model of an ambitious club?!
The point here was to show that numbers haven't really changed for Arsenal since the 05/06 season, its just that there are no titles to show. The Carling cup final last season only highlights my point that there is very little between winning and not winning a title, and number of titles won may not always be a good benchmark for judging performance.
ReplyDelete"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
ReplyDeleteWell said. But first of all injury prone squad is no excuse. Maybe you should have included financial aspects of moving to a new ground, emotions attached with Highbury, Arsenal after David Dein.
Everyone needs to improve and I think other clubs have by any means but Arsenal's winning percentage remains same.
FFP is a UEFA farce. Man City have already shown how to bend the rules. I believe Etihad would soon be a major UEFA sponsor.
Food for thought: Arsene is not only the best manager in Arsenal's history, he's the best manager of the last decade, IFFHS.
In Arsene, I(We?) Trust.
Yeah I agree with you. But I don't think other teams improving is a factor in this situation because the team topping the table still has around 85 points which is the same as 10 years ago. It just comes down to winning consistently in one competition in a season to win a trophy.
ReplyDelete