Season Review: The Manager

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Today's article in our continued Season Review series focuses on our manager, Arsene Wenger. How did he perform this season? What decisions did he make right; and which were wrong? Did he make the right signings at the right times for the right amount of money? And did he correct our shortcomings in a timely and effective manner?

The place to begin the review is the summer signings. Many argue that Arsene Wenger did not do enough over the summer transfer window. I would argue that he tried to, but ultimately he came up just short, through no fault of his own. The signing of Samir Nasri was brilliant, and exactly what we needed to replace Hleb: a player with all his trickery but who could actually score a goal or two. Ramsey was always going to be one for the future, and Silvestre was a player who was supposed to add height and experience to the backline. In theory he was the perfect signing; in practise, he was far from.

Wenger also tried to sign a central midfielder during the transfer window; a fact that is often overlooked by Wenger-bashers. All verified reports said that he made a couple of bids on Liverpool's Xabi Alonso, but the asking price was just too high for us. We undoubtedly could have paid the transfer fee, but to spend what would have been required would not have been worth it in the long term.

So the transfer window slammed shut, and we made due with what we had. We discussed tactics in detail in the last Season Review article, so I won't go over it too much, but instead I'll skip ahead to the 3-0 loss to Manchester City. This was, as I said before, the turning point in our season. Arsene Wenger admitted later on that this point, more than any other, was when he looked long and hard at his entire plan and strategy to see what had gone wrong. He settled on the defense.

Now, anyone who has said that Arsene could not coach defense, was, I believe, proved wrong. Over the next month, he trained our defense and tweaked our tactics so well that we conceded next to no goals for months afterwards. Our problem however became scoring goals. So when January arrived, Wenger ignored all the incessant cries for a reinforced defense (he knew that it would now be good enough, provided our defenders remained fit), and he instead went after A. Arshavin. He knew that the Russian playmaker would be exactly what was needed to liven up our attacks and get us scoring goals again.

He broke the bank on Arshavin, and spent (according to some reports) more than the Arsenal football club had ever before spent in order to secure our new playmaker. And it paid off. Arshavin was brilliant, and before long we were scoring goals again.

Meanwhile, Le Boss changed our tactics to a more defensive 4-2-3-1, and it continued to pay dividends. When our backline, however, was decimated by injury, there was nothing Arsene could do. He brought in the best we had in reserve, but it just wasn't enough, and it ultimately may have cost us the chance at silverware.

Now, has Arsene Wenger noticed this fault in our side? And did he notice how we spectacularly collapsed against Chelsea and Man Utd at the critical junctures? Will he move to address this issue? Yes, it seems he did notice, and will fix the problem. In a strangely candid interview after the Man Utd loss at the Emirates, he said he would analyse the team, and any signings made in the summer would be experienced players, because, and I quote, when referring to young players, he said "we have enough of them."

Arsene does indeed know, and all those calling for his head are complete and utter idiots. He cares about the Arsenal football club deeply, and now I think he may have come to realise that the youth experiment of the last few seasons will either need to end or be readjusted in order to once again lift a trophy. I think we can look forward to a fantastic season next year as long as Arsene Wenger remains at the helm.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to check out past Season Review articles and see what's upcoming during our Season Review Week by checking out the Season Review main page. Also, don't forget to visit our Twitter and Facebook pages, and follow and become a fan of Fab 4 Arsenal! Till next time,

Fab 4