Agent Smith: Why, Mr Anderson? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something? For more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Yes? No? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr Anderson. Vagaries of perception. The temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. You must be able to see it, Mr Anderson. You must know it by now. You can't win. It's pointless to keep fighting. Why Mr Anderson, why? Why do you persist?
Neo: Because I choose to.
For six seasons, Arsene Wenger has persisted. He has been beaten, he has been battered, but he has never been broken. He has lost, he has seen victory being snatched away at the very last second, he has been denied victory unfairly, he has seen it all. But he has still persisted. He has been rebuked for his approach. He has been written off, despised, loathed and sneered upon. But still he has persisted. Because for him it is not so much about winning. It is about winning his way. The Arsenal Way.
It is unfair to say that Arsenal have been in freefall since the disintegration of the famed Invincibles. Since the 2005 FA Cup triumph, Wenger’s team has managed a European Cup final and a League Cup final and while other sides have faltered, Arsenal have always finished in the Top 4 and qualified for the Champions League knockout rounds.
But the measure of success in world football is the number of trophies a team can flaunt in its cabinet. Barcelona, their famed tiki taka aside, also have the unprecedented sextuple and multiple league titles under Pep Guardiola to showcase. The Catalans also field more than half a dozen World Cup and Euro winners in their starting XI.
While Wenger’s men can claim to be the only true proponents of ‘the beautiful game’ in England, asserting this fact is a lot like Liverpool, who haven’t won the league since 1990, incessantly harping about their legacy of 19 domestic titles. What is the point of mouthwatering football if it does not result in silverware?
There are those who argue that Wenger’s failure is his inability to copy the Barcelona model. But is the Spanish giants’ approach the long term solution? They have achieved success with big-name signings like Zlatan Ibrahimovic (69 million Euros) and David Villa (40 million Euros) while announcing losses at the end of every financial year.
Wenger, on the other hand, has been working on a relatively shoe-string budget. He has seen all his Invincibles move on or retire, has sold many of his main players (Adebayor, Hleb, Toure), shifted to a bigger stadium and yet has kept his side in the Top 4 and at the same time announces profits. In these times of managerial turmoil where coaches have been fired for much less, there has never been a hint from the Arsenal management that Wenger’s job is in jeopardy. And this is testimony to how much he means to the club.
But the barren streak may have just drawn to a close. Arsenal are at the threshold of ending their trophy drought. A win tonight over Birmingham City at Wembley is all it will take. While victory in the Carling Cup may not be the same as winning the Championship or the Champions League, one has to start somewhere.
The wait has been long and painful but this season the fruits of this long endeavour look more than achievable. With Arsenal going strong on all four fronts, this win would give them the much needed belief that winning isn’t beyond them. It will be poetic if Arsenal end the drought soon after beating Barcelona at their own game, on the field as well.
Recently the Guardian referred to Wenger as a man who seven years ago had found a glorious formula for success but then craved for an even better one. At long last he might just have arrived at one. And the reason that of all people it was him boils down to one simple reason… he chose to.
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