An open letter to Arsene Wenger

Dear Arsene Wenger and the board of Arsenal

As I sit at my desk on a Thursday morning, starting my day for the work day I have to admit that I am in a toxic mood. Not because of the many work emails and tasks that need attending to or that I was late because my son decided it was a good idea to keep messing himself before I dropped him off at day care this morning. 

No instead my chakras are all over the place because I have woken up to the news that one of our rumoured targets for the transfer window Riyad Mahrez has signed a four-year contract extension with Leicester city.  

Yes, Leicester city, you might remember them as the team that were languishing on the brink of relegation two seasons ago or more recently as team that lifted the English Premiership in the most topsy-turvy season of football I have seen in my lifetime. How quickly things can be turned around. 

But the story of Leicester City is more than just the story of David vs Goliath or of an obscure team that rose from the ashes to seize the crown. Instead it is the story of a club that saw what was going wrong, learned from it and had the will to do what was necessary to change it. What Leicester learned over a season, we have been learning for twelve years yet we are yet to do anything about it.

The loss of Riyad Mahrez is the latest in a long history of players that we almost signed. At this point to have almost been signed to Arsenal is actually a rite of passage. The list of signatures we almost got over the years but pulled out of is depressing. From Zlatan and Drogba to Alonso and Ronaldo.  Instead we have Olivier “He scores when he wants” Giroud. 

Years ago when Thierry Henry left the Gunners to play for Barcelona we labelled him a traitor and a sell-out for wanting to be part of a team that would win the Champions League. What Henry knew then and what the last twelve years have taught us is that Arsenal lack the necessary conviction to compete among Europe’s elite both in the transfer market and on the field.

On Sunday as Liverpool played with gusto and menace and had us by the throat in our own backyard, I was left feeling worried about what lays in store for us as the season unfolds. Of the so called ‘big five’ Liverpool are arguably the weakest on paper. 

No defence to speak of really, they lack a proper holding midfielder and what they have in pace, width and individual flair is often undone by very inconsistent striking options. But for them to have put four past us, even when we were fielding a compromised side is alarming. 

Wenger saying, “We're just not physically ready,” a week after saying 'We are physically ready' is the perfect summary of the comedy of errors known as Arsenal under Wenger  

Sunday was a tactical catastrophe. When I saw that Xhaka was on the bench and Francis Coquelin was starting my stomach turned. Why was a player who had proved ineffective time and time again thrust into a crucial opening game over a player who was simply technically superior in all aspects?

Another week is almost coming to an end, on Sunday we travel to the King Power to take on the defending champions, meanwhile somewhere in Valencia Shkodran Mustafi is training on his own and we are yet to put pen to paper for his services.  Last year in December we were promised a very active January transfer window, we only signed Elneny and the rest is history. 

We have to accept now that that like Liverpool we can no longer regard ourselves as a big team. On the balance sheets we are but in footballing terms we are far from big. Twelve years without a league title and years upon years of being happy to qualify for the Champions League yet being chucked out before we can even get going is no way to live. 

What can we offer players to attract them? At least we can offer them intent by making legitimate bids, but we are not even willing to do that. Mancini, Jose, Ancelotti have all come, won the title and gone yet Ivan Gazidis is busy telling us about how our values will attract big players. Miss me with that BS. 

Meanwhile across England swift and necessary changes are being made and as fans we might put on a brave face but we are scared. We know a disaster is coming and nobody is willing to stop it from the inside. This is why I am pleading with Arsenal fans in the UK to stop going to Arsenal’s home matches. 

We must support the team in away games because the boycott is not aimed at punishing the players but instead making a statement to Wenger and the Arsenal board that business as usual will simply not do.

The 12-year scam of having the highest ticket prices, building new stadiums, maximising profit and then telling fans there is no money to spend must come to an end.

The 4-3 loss to Liverpool was the culmination of a long form failure. A failure of tactics and most of all a failure of philosophy.  It is my hope that when Wenger’s contract expires we will not display a failure of common sense by renewing it. 

How long must we suffer under the tutelage of a manager who seems out of touch with the mechanics of modern football? Often my Man United and Liverpool-supporting friends ask me who I would want to coach Arsenal should Wenger and the board decide to go their separate ways. 

Jurgen Klinsmann with his brand of pacey attack, Joachim Low perhaps to bring balance to the team and even Diego Simeone because he knows how to grind out results when it matters. But at this point after 12 years in the wasteland of English football, anyone will do. Anyone but Wenger.

Sincerely Sihle Mthembu

A lifelong Gunner.