Arsene Wenger's relationship with Arsenal fans may be at it's lowest point since the Frenchman arrived from Japan in 1996, as 20 years on, it all appears to be going stale and the Arsenal fans are not happy.
The fact that Arsenal limped out of a title race involving Leicester City and their bitter rivals Tottenham has left Arsenal fans utterly miserable, and when it comes to what their manager is saying in public, it certainly isn't helping.
Friday's press conference ahead of the Arsenal's meeting with Norwich at The Emirates Stadium has actually wound up the Arsenal fans even more, as Wenger complained about the lack of support the club are receiving at home, insisting that the club has been doing well considering the need to pay back the cost of building a new stadium.
When you build a stadium, we had five to seven difficult financial years where we had to pay back - we had (to qualify) for the Champions League three years out of five and have an average (gate) of 54,000 people (to finance the new stadium). We didn't know we would be capable of that.
We had to sell our best players every year to survive, but we didn't do three years out of five in the Champions League. We did five out of five. But during that time, it was very difficult.
He then called on the fans to back the team, and implied that influencers with "big egos" have been turning fans against the club. It was quite clear that the big ego in question was that of Piers Morgan, a very high profile anti-Wenger campaigner.
The best chance (Arsenal supporters) can give our team is to be behind our team.
Some groups of people try to manipulate our fans, and I believe apart from an agenda, a personal agenda, a big ego, there's not a lot behind it.
Does that seem a little bit delusional from Wenger? You would be extremely hard pushed to find an Arsenal fan who thinks this season has been in any way a positive, and while FA Cup success has been welcomed in recent years, the fact remains that Arsenal haven't looked like maintaining a consistent title challenge for a long, long time.
Sure enough, the Arsenal fan reaction on twitter was very unimpressed, led by the man that many believe was the target of those comments:
9.41am & Wenger's already sent my blood pressure to life-threatening levels.
How dare he blame Arsenal fans for HIS failure? #WengerOUT— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 29, 2016
What's worse is the fact that him suggesting Arsenal are the best side away from home is factually incorrect.
@MiguelDelaney as the pedantic side of me is frantically tweeting to everyone, it's a complete lie, too... pic.twitter.com/eNiyBnDfU3
— Gingers for Limpar (@Gingers4Limpar) April 29, 2016
Lol Wenger is a deluded old man
— Ian Rusagara (@Rusa_G14) April 29, 2016
Wenger's list of excuses:
Too many injuries
Difficult fixtures
Teams no longer not turning up
Teams playing deeper
Toxic atmosphere(fans)— Danny Welbeck (@WelBeast) April 29, 2016
Wenger blaming the season's failure on @piersmorgan, pundits, fans? That's desperate, dangerous & wrong. He's playing with fire. @Arsenal
— Euan Rellie (@euanrellie) April 29, 2016
Wenger: "This team has character and attitude." The emptiest of empty phrases at this point.
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) April 29, 2016
Could we really be starting a new Premier League season without Arsene Wenger at Arsenal?
[via 101greatgoals.com]
