A short post this evening on the hysterical overreaction to Arsène Wenger substituting Alex Oxlade-Chamberlaine a few days ago, and the general attitude to Wenger that has been flying around since the start of the season and the infamous defeat to Manchester United. This will probably be laden with cliches or running over old facts that everyone knows, but that's the way it goes with a manager who has been as long serving and successful as Wenger (cliché count: 1).
The level of vitriol contained in the booing which greeted Arshavin when he entered the pitch was at least, in part, directed at the player himself, but mainly at Arsène's decision to haul off the youngster who had been pretty explosive up to that point. The goal which resulted moments later was, popularly, attributed to Arshavin's defensive failings, which were never the strong point of his game. Obviously, his involvement in the goal can't be denied, but I highly doubt that The Ox would have been any more effective in the role of defender either. Apart from the injuries which forced players out of positions, the defensive workload without any help meant Djourou was run ragged early in the game, and couldn't offer any help to Arshavin to close down the attack. Oxlade-Chamberlain hadn't offered too much at the back, and Wenger noticed that some fresh legs on that side may have helped to see out a fairly important draw, which would have marked a turnaround from the previous loss by six goals. Psychologically, if nothing else.
I must believe that Wenger, had he been in possession of a player who he could sub on to right back, would have made two changes, or simply changed right back. However, whether or not you want to blame Arshavin for the goal, you must accept that blaming Wenger is insane. In the last few days, I've heard commentators claim that he is tactically inept. That is something which I simply cannot abide. This comment was followed by the statement that Wenger had gotten some good players and was able to "tell them to go out there and play". The mere suggestion that a man whose team went unbeaten in 2003-04 is sheer lunacy, he could not possibly have done that without tactics. I don't particularly wish to conjecture any ideas, but I do think that Wenger's current record of titles should dismiss that talk. Add to that the fact that he has, as a manager using a limited budget at times, created a strong team which has the ability to match any of the top teams in the league when at full strength.
It is of course, a problem that they don't achieve those heights on a regular basis. Management is a possible issue in that respect, although consistency is a tricky business to force out of players. The problem with telling a bunch of adults who have been told they are the best thing in the world since they were sixteen that they may be facing better players today on the field and need to produce the highest level performance is anathema to everything they believe about themselves. Look at Bendtner, not even empirical evidence could bend his iron will and belief in himself.
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