Wenger’s default position is always to buy from abroad, usually to buy unproven and mostly from Latin or African countries. If you keep adding salt to a salty dish it won’t make it taste better I can assure you

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Although it makes no odds in reality how long you’ve been a fan, how many years a season ticket holder etc to the validity of one’s views on the club, I feel that as I am likely to come in for some stick I should clarify at the outset that I have been an ‘attending’ fan since the mid-70’s, home and away in 80’s and 90’s and a season ticket holder from 96 – 07.

My view is that contrary to many, I believe that the cause of the club’s problems are not the lack of a centre half, ball-winning midfielder or goal scoring striker. It is the manager himself and to certain extent the Board of Directors for allowing him to continue destroying the club from within.

I am not surprised or particularly upset by the results this season or last, but I am VERY upset by what he has turned our football club into and our collusion as supporters in this egotistical enterprise.

Wenger has created a club that has no sense of self, no coherence, no belief. That is borne out through the performances we see on the pitch, particularly against teams who fight and battle. Qualities Wenger derides as ‘old fashioned English’ (see his comments following the Stoke game). He has denuded the club of it’s soul and identity and we are paying – and will continue to pay – a very heavy price for that. The truth is that Wenger does not like British style players -and we can speculate as to why that is the case- but any English club that denies it’s geographical location is almost certain to fail. This is because to win in England you require a spine of players for whom the essence of the English game is second nature. They don’t have to be the most skilful (although they can be), but they do need this understanding in my view. Additionally foreign imports alone cannot create the team spirit and togetherness which carry you through a season. We have seen these flaws in the team growing bigger and bigger by the season and the loss of the old English players gradually has been the prime cause. When buying players from abroad there is always the additional risk that they won’t settle, their families won’t settle, the weather will be too cold, they won’t adjust to playing in the Premier League etc. For Wenger to create a club where being English is a novelty therefore is a policy of destruction.

I also find that my attitude to the team is severely compromised by not having players I can readily identify with and who have similar feelings to the club or understanding at least of those feelings as I have. I am sorry but I just do not believe that players from all over the world see things like that. It is a career move to them – simple as that. I am not naive and believe that English players are not also career focused but the likes of TA, Wrighty, Winterburn, Dixon, Parlour etc weren’t looking to join another club every summer.

Wenger’s default position is always to buy from abroad, usually to buy unproven and mostly from Latin or African countries. If you keep adding salt to a salty dish it won’t make it taste better I can assure you!

It really is time for Arsenal fans to take a stand against this terrible policy. We may take solace in the number of English youth players (a few years ago even the youth team was almost 100% foreign!) but how many players has Wenger actually brought through? Many players left in frustration as he preferred to bring in players of dubious quality from overseas (think Cygan, Stepanovs, Senderos, Wreh, Boa Morte, Eboue, Denilson, Song etc etc). It is great when you can bring in top quality players from overseas to augment and develop your team but to claim that the players listed (and several others unnamed) are better than those available on these islands is shocking. Arsenal used to be London’s number 1 club for bringing through players from the region, now we must be bottom. West Ham, Chelsea, Tottenham even Palace (John Bostock) have proved a better bet than us. Hopefully Wilshere will change things but it has been a sorry decline on Wenger’s watch.

Wenger has been successful in the past, but I find it astonishing that fans are worried about him leaving as if Arsenal will be cast into the abyss, never to return. This is tosh and is completely disrespectful of our club and it’s great history. Sunderland had applications from several top name managers. How do you think Arsenal would do? It would probably be viewed as the best job in world Football. A club with 60,000 seats sold every week, the highest turnover in football, underperforming team, great history. This is partly due to Wenger’s work but the changes in English football and the Premier League have meant that any top English club (which Arsenal have ALWAYS been) will attract the cream of management talent from around the world (Mourinho could be perfect).

Wenger needs to go before it really is too late. Anybody who follows will have to ‘root and branch’ it I fear, or at least focus on building back a spine and a team ethic. These are very difficult tasks but fortunately Arsenal will attract the best there is, so the only thing we should fear is Wenger staying, not going!