When Arsene Wenger finally admitted that the season-long saga surrounding his future had damaged the team's Premier League campaign, he didn't mince words. The uncertainty had created an environment for the players that was "absolutely horrendous," Wenger said after the Gunners missed out on a top-four spot for the first time in 21 years under his management.
So there's no point in mincing words when it comes to summing up how Wenger and Arsenal have handled this situation: it's been absolutely horrendous as well.
It had been obvious to everyone long before Wenger's admission that the team's collapse in February and March was directly connected to the pressure of playing for their legendary manager's future -- though it now looks like Wenger, 67, plans to hang on to his job regardless, even if a loss to Chelsea in Saturday's FA Cup final would officially make this the worst season of his tenure.
Which is why the whole drama now seems as pointless as it has been costly.
Wenger's future could have been sorted out last summer when, by all accounts, the club would have been happy to hand him a two-year extension. Instead, even after finishing the season on a high by pipping Tottenham Hotspur to second place in the league, Wenger insisted that he would not make a decision until the end of this current campaign and naively claimed he wouldn't even talk about his future until then.
Presumably, it was in the genuine belief that this season would be a successful one, which would swing the mood among supporters back in his favour and remove any doubt that he was still the right man for the job.
The issue also could have been sorted out in September, when the club was on a high following a record summer spending spree and a 3-0 win over Chelsea that had fans purring and dreaming of the Premier League title. Few would have objected then to a new deal -- especially if it was coupled with a new contract for Mesut Ozil, who has since claimed that the uncertainty surrounding Wenger is part of the reason why he hasn't committed his long-term future to the club.
Instead, Wenger went on insisting that everything would be sorted out after the season. Until, for some reason, he changed his tune at the worst possible time.
Coming off the damaging 3-1 away loss to Chelsea in February, and heading into the crucial Champions League clash with Bayern Munich, Wenger suddenly announced that he would make his decision "in March or April."
The statement was made before the 5-1 first-leg loss in Munich but reported in England only after that result, which immediately ramped up the pressure from fans for him to step down.
That's when the wheels really started coming off.
Arsenal lost 3-1 at Liverpool, with Alexis Sanchez on the bench after he stormed out of a training session. Smelling blood, many fans sided with the Chilean over the manager and the incident created the sense of a rift between the manager and his biggest star. And since the year had reached March, journalists were asking Wenger about his decision at every news conference and after every game -- a trend that has continued.
Another 5-1 defeat to Bayern in the second leg in London followed, with that game preceded by the first of several fan protest marches outside the Emirates demanding that Wenger would not be offered a new contract. In wake of Wenger's recent comments, those fans felt that a decision on his future was imminent and wanted to make sure the board knew how they felt. Had Wenger not changed the timeline for his announcement, it's quite possible those protests would not have taken place -- at least not at that time.
Cue more protests, more speculation, more questions at every news conference, and more struggles on the pitch.
Come May, when Wenger had finally steadied the ship by switching formations to a back three, he was reminded about his "March or April" statement. "We are in May. That means I was wrong," he said with a smile -- seemingly oblivious to the impact the back-and-forth was having on his team's season.
The latest message from Wenger is that his future will be announced following a board meeting next week, which of course only ramps up the pressure on his players to beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final to strengthen his case for staying on.
Why Wenger has led his players, fans and club board on this merry-go-round may never be known -- although he has promised that he will tell us "one day." There have been reports about a rift with the board, who have demanded that he changes his methods and agree to work with some form of sporting director -- to which Wenger has been opposed. Perhaps, also, the bid from Alisher Usmanov to buy up Stan Kroenke's majority share in the club affected matters.It's possible that once all the facts are known, Wenger's actions may not seem as incomprehensible as they do now. But for now it looks like the only thing he got right during this whole season-long mess was when he said he got it wrong.
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