Phil Shaw: Wenger worshippers suffering a crisis of faith as Arsenal wobble

Published on Saturday 29 November 2008 18:48

ARSENE WENGER is the luckiest manager in England. According to Jose Mourinho, who bestowed the title on him, the cerebral Frenchman is under no pressure to deliver trophies because it is accepted he is building for a dazzling future in a costly new stadium.

No pressure? If Arsenal lose again in today's derby against the Portuguese provocateur's former club, Chelsea, it will be more like no chance, at least as far as the league is concerned.

Conventional wisdom asserts that six defeats is the most any team with ambitions of taking the title can afford, and Arsenal have already suffered five. A Chelsea win at Stamford Bridge would leave them 13 points behind Luiz Felipe Scolari's side.

The priority then, notwithstanding the three cup competitions they are still involved in, would be a top-four finish. And with Aston Villa pressing hard, the Champions League revenue essential to Arsenal's ability to compete would be far from a formality.

Wenger's teams have tended to play well at Chelsea, without always gaining the points they merited. They demonstrated their big-game temperament by defeating Manchester United at the Emirates this month, and may have the player who scored both goals that day, Samir Nasri, fit again, along with Emmanuel Adebayor and Bacary Sagna, to strengthen their line-up in west London.

Either side of that success against United, however, Arsenal's results and events have pointed to a club beset by fundamental problems, bordering on a full-blown crisis. In midweek, they were three minutes from a barren stalemate with Dynamo Kiev when Niclas Bendtner, in garish salmon-pink boots, scored to release a wave of rapture that was unmistakably tinged with relief.

The result earned a place in the knock-out stages of the Champions League, as well as allaying, if only until this afternoon, the once-unthinkable reservations over Wenger's stewardship that have surfaced among those sections of the Arsenal support who expect, nay demand, honours annually.

Before the season began, Liverpool were widely regarded as the team most vulnerable to the challenge from Villa. The early weeks produced little to suggest it might be Arsenal. Alarm bells should have rung after they lost at Fulham, but stylish wins at Blackburn and Bolton saw them rise to the summit.

Then the cracks that surfaced so destructively last winter reappeared. Players whose departure did not obviously diminish Arsenal started to be missed, notably Gilberto Silva, for his versatility and experience, and Mathieu Flamini, for his tackling and energy. Others who appeared certain to be first-choice Gunners for years to come, among them Bendtner, Alex Song, Emmanuel Eboue and Denilson, suddenly looked short of the requisite quality. Sceptics were chastised by a banner proclaiming "Arsene Knows", as if his judgment were infallible and a matter of religious faith. Intermittent miracles – particularly the brilliant displays by his Carling Cup XI, full of prodigies such as England's Jack Wilshire (16 going on 25), Aaron Ramsey from Wales and Mexican striker Carlos Vela – assuaged the doubters. But in the unforgiving world of the Premier League, Arsenal were in danger of disintegrating.

As if a plague of injuries were not damaging enough, the player in whom Wenger entrusted the captaincy, William Gallas, went public with his disdain for team-mates Robin van Persie and Nasri. It was a surprise that the volatile Gallas, with his Chelsea background, had been given the armband; more so that he kept it after his petulant, unprofessional behaviour following James McFadden's late equaliser for Birmingham last season.

Increasingly, Wenger's loyalty to his compatriot resembled stubbornness, and last week, nonsensically, he accused the media of "witch-hunting" Gallas.

While Gallas will be back at the Bridge today, Cesc Fabregas is now captain, the 21-year-old marking his promotion with a typically astute pass for the winner against Kiev. Wenger, of course, does not believe in demonstrative leadership of the kind Arsenal once received from Frank McLintock and Tony Adams. Every player should show leadership, he argues, without recourse to fist-waving and shouting.

Which is fine with a mature, winning team (although Scolari clearly values John Terry's authority at Chelsea as much as Mourinho did), but a less plausible stance when a young side, bereft of belief, are being routed, as Arsenal were in last week's 3-0 defeat at Manchester City last weekend. They were crying out for a centre-back with the personality and nous to organise the defence. It is no coincidence that they conceded goals from set-pieces against Fulham, Hull and Stoke. They also urgently need a counterweight to the creativity of Fabregas.

Wenger is Arsenal's greatest manager. Even without silverware since 2005, no one says "arguably" any more, or questions whether Herbert Chapman and George Graham might be more deserving. Yet too often the current vintage often look like an assortment of players rather than a team. The most, some might say only, cohesive unit he has put out this year are probably his Carling Cup kids, who face a quarter-final at Owen Coyle's Burnley on Tuesday.

"Arsene Knows" remains gospel among Gooners. Three points at Chelsea, a tall order at the best of times, may be imperative in order to justify keeping the faith.