James Olley: Someone at Arsenal must be ruthless if Arsene Wenger won’t do it

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James Olley22 March 2017

During a training session at London Colney in the more recent days of Arsene Wenger’s reign, two first-team players were said to have grown so frustrated in the middle of a practice match that they walked off before the end.

Rather than intervene and chastise this flagrant breach of discipline - as was the immediate reaction of his backroom staff - Wenger instead allowed the pair to head back to the changing rooms to cool off. The session concluded without them.

In isolation, such an incident is hardly evidence of mutiny but it has since been described by onlookers as symptomatic of Wenger’s desire to avoid internal confrontation almost at any cost. Arsenal’s cyclical failures combined with a stagnation in the careers of several players creates an overwhelming impression this squad have become too comfortable, too insulated from responsibility and reality.

Someone at Arsenal needs to develop a ruthless streak. Wenger may not be capable of this change in the autumn of his years but if he is to ride out this latest, most tempestuous storm to stay on and chart an improbable Premier League title success, then there can be no further room for sentiment.

Underperforming players who have been protected for far too long must be jettisoned. Those unwilling to sign new contracts must either be paid top dollar to quash their doubts or sold to avoid corroding team unity.Decisive action is required in the transfer market, abandoning the obsessive search for value in a pursuit of elite signings Arsenal truly need to improve, if it becomes necessary as is so often the case.

A rethink of tactics, training and preparation is also necessary. The extensive list of essential alterations points most obviously to a change in manager — especially given the toxic mix of fan unrest and dreadful form — but the Arsenal board remain steadfastly behind the man who hits the club’s financial markers and acts as a lightning rod for any and all criticism.

They have to get tough regardless. The notion that any decision regarding Wenger’s future will be “mutual” is laughable when an unequivocal two-year offer remains on the table. Sir Alex Ferguson determined the timing of his own departure in 2013 because Manchester United kept on winning.

Wenger’s revolutionary impact on Arsenal will leave an indelible mark on English football but 13 years without a League title and seven successive Champions League last-16 exits should rescind sole discretion of his fate.

He should either be held to account and asked, with the dignity he deserves, to step down or any new contract reduced to a one-year deal with an option for a further season based on Arsenal’s performance in the 2017-18 season.

The bar for success would have to be set extremely high: say, if Arsenal do not win the Premier League or at the very least sustain a title challenge right to the wire, the club will not take up the second year. Further progress in the Champions League latter stages would also be an imperative.

Wenger commands the upmost respect but the club are rudderless when he falters. Someone needs to grab the ship’s wheel with conviction.

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