Win the FA Cup, Arsene, and Move On’

 BEFORE the point of these words, first consider the fate of Tata Martino, Barcelona boss, who saw his club miss the Champions league semi-finals for the first time in seven years.  And it could get worse. Say Real Madrid beats its bitter rivals next week to win the Copa del Rey, and say, one of the Madrid clubs wins La Liga. And then Barcelona fails to win either of those, or the Champions League for, say, the next nine seasons. They’ll still play beautiful football, make the group stages of Europe’s elite competition and unearth gems, but what if they don’t win anything? Does Martino still have his job? “Tata, Tata” would happen within nine months. To survive nine years? What type of narcotic would be involved to garner such ‘wisdom’? Why should Arsene Wenger get away with it?That is not a question from outside, asked for year upon year. It is now a full blown Gooner Inquisition, a disgruntled minority now an unhappy majority. It has been brewing, rumbling for some time amongst Arsenal brethren. 6-3 to Manchester City in December was the tremor. The first 18 minutes to Liverpool in February the eruption. The 6-0 to Chelsea in March the devastating aftershock, followed up by another at Everton last weekend. The big teams know how to reduce Arsenal to rubble. The damage amounts to what will be felt on Monday – win, or lose against Wigan in the FA Cup Semi Final - and all Wenger’s problems still exist.

And the Monday after the FA Cup Final, should they win it.

Should they, what a way for him to go out.

Should they, what a reason for Wenger to go on, strolling down the very path he’s on, guiding all that is Arsenal.

No grip is stronger than that of a control freak.

Who would break that hold?

The board? Sir Chips Keswick, the Arsenal Chairman, said on the eve of Wenger’s 1000th game in charge, that fateful sunny afternoon at Stamford Bridge - “I think that’s what Arsene’s done, he’s lifted everybody up. Whatever he touches has got better and for that we’re all very grateful.”

True, nice words are to be spoken at a time like that. And those nice words are true.

They’re also the words of a man who will never give Bambi lead poisoning.

A man like Sir Chips, who has been a banker for over 50 years, including nearly a decade as a Director of the Bank of England, doesn’t make such decisions.

Impulse and rashness does not exist for a chap like that.

So do the fans get feral? Protest all you want to the board, there is no noise to a room full of businessmen that drowns out a healthy balance sheet.

It must come from the man himself, who has, as yet, refused to sign a new contract. The exit is unlocked and if he walks through it, will it be sadness, or joy?

Plethora – the amount of yarns written about Arsenal since Christmas, very few positive.

Results aside, there’s been the usual crazy normality in any Premier League season, which this term has included his lone striker on the front pages in his undies, Bendtner benders, Szczesny szczhelfies, and heck, even one of their former players is accused of being a jihadist in Syria.

OK, that last one literally has nothing to do with Wenger, but it fits in with the notion of everything that can go wrong will.

But one tale remains untold.

The few days between the 6-0 loss to Chelsea and the 2-all draw with Swansea. Wenger skipped all press engagements. Rumours about a retirement announcement proved false. But for an in house interview, the Gunners fell silent – a total contrast to normal practice for Wenger, who before then had always fronted the firing squad.

There is a story about those few days, if anyone is willing to Back to the football, but still off field, Santi Cazorla chimed in this week with “Arsenal has everything to win. History, infrastructure, an incredible stadium and great players. But we have to improve at crucial moments and sign the best football players because if you don’t do that, you may lag behind others”.

There is nothing more galling to a person driven by ambition to have a leader who has let ambition leave the room.

One who is just floating, letting the prospect of glory gently drift away when it seemed so very reachable.

In a pool of uncertainty created by Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure, six clubs were in the same boat.

Again, Arsenal floated away, the captain stoic, the crew, rattled. Not for the first time, some may want to abandon ship.

Not to say Wenger doesn’t have ambition, per se. It leads elsewhere, in that he’s driven to prove a point. Football clubs’ ability (nothing new) to throw whatever money it takes to get players remains as distasteful as it gets.

To win ugly, defending, scratching, passing on passes for physicality in a physical activity remains Wenger’s fire hydrant – don’t dare break that glass.

Through his genial instinct the current Arsenal Football Club is not the one he walked into.

You want to see a man who has done so much for his club, enriching lives of those who play for and follow it, go out his way.

And as improbable as it might seem, it looks 1000 times more likely when mirrored with the prospect of giving those fans and players what they really want – a return to title winning ways.

- Culled from FOXSports