The five biggest mistakes made by Arsene Wenger whilst in charge at Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger has done a lot of good things in his 18 years in English football, both for Arsenal and for the game in general. However, he is not without fault and has committed some epic blunders whilst in charge of the club. Below are just five of the biggest mistakes he has had the misfortune of making.
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5. Missing out on Zlatan
Wenger has already publicly rued missing out on signing Cristiano Ronaldo when he had the chance, but perhaps his biggest missed opportunity came when he turned down the chance to sign a teenage Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Wenger brought the talented Swede over for two weeks during the early stages of his career from Malmo, and Zlatan, who was desperate to join the club, was blocked by Wenger’s insistence that he undergo a trial period. Zlatan rejected the chance knowing he could walk straight into Malmo’s first team and the rest, as they say, is history.
4. Being too frugal
Last summer Wenger found himself under some serious pressure from the club’s fans. So desperate were they to end the club’s title drought they were positive that a few smart signings over the summer would fix the problem and add some much needed diversity to their ranks. However, Wenger placed a comedy bid for Liverpool’s Luis Suarez instead and neglected to strengthen some key areas of the squad. He eventually brought in Mesut Ozil for just over £42m but he ran a close gauntlet before managing to lift the FA Cup in May.
3. Allowing the trophy drought to continue for so long
Nine years is far too long for a drought like that to continue. And though it ended last year Wenger will need to follow it up with some more silverware this time around. Instead of challenging for honours more seriously, the club seemed intent on finishing fourth every year and just about scraping entry into the Champions League. Nowhere near good enough and Wenger paid the price for it.
2. Allowing key contract to run down
Wenger is a stubborn fellow, and has often allowed some of the club’s most important players wind their deals down before shuffling them out the door. Over the years he has lost the likes of Robert Pires, Edu and Mathieu Flamini for nothing (though Flamini later returned) and he has subsequently struggled to replace them.
1. Selling to rivals
Manchester City have been the main beneficiaries of Arsenal’s players, taking the likes of Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Adebayor and Bacary Sagna off their hands in recent years. However, with that has come an upturn in success for the Citizens, and it must have been difficult to stomach watching the likes of Nasri and Robin Van Persie at Manchester United lift the league title in recent seasons.
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