Arsene Wenger’s Political Brilliance and Hubris Were on Full Display Again This Week

Arsene Wenger reminded Gooners again this week why he a man made up of equal parts sheer brilliance, and total daftness. Being an Arsenal fan this season has once again reminded fans that they are involved in an abusive relationship with the club – they know they should leave, Wenger is never going to change and things will never get any better. It’s best just to get out now. But after an absolutely horrid November (and really October, and ok, September too), just when fans were ready to burn him in effigy on their way out the door, Wenger demonstrated again why he is truly the master politician of the English Premier League.

Earlier this week, in response to a question about whether Arsenal could actually win its first Premier League title in a decade, Wenger responded by saying that he believes Arsenal will win the league title within three years. He believes the pieces are in place to allow Arsenal to once again ascend to the throne of glory. Such a statement is at once total genius and complete and utter buffoonery at the same time.

By stating that Arsenal will win a title in the next three years, he managed to provide vision and hope to a dour squad that is playing like they don’t have anything to play for. Maybe hearing the optimism and surety projected by the boss will be the exact thing needed to instil some confidence in the likes of an Aaron Ramsey or Calum Chambers. Perhaps such positive words are in fact the soft, delicate words needing to be gently whispered into the ears of a discouraged and demoralized squad after all.

Moreover, Wenger may not have Jose Mourinho’s penchant or ability to play mind games, but he’s a brilliant politician and can read a political landscape as well as any manager in football. Wenger also sent a subtle message to potential suitors: “I’m not going anywhere for at least three years because I’m going to win a title” is effectively the message he sent to Paris St. Germain and others. His statement about winning the league over the next three years is a statement just as much about Wenger’s plans to stay rooted in north London, as it is anything else.

But perhaps the biggest coup of Wenger’s myopic statement is how he managed to deflect all of the negative energy that’s been focused on his ineptitude as of late. The “boo boys” have been howling louder and louder as of late, threatening to finally get through to an utterly disinterested Arsenal board. Another embarrassing loss or two to the likes of Aston Villa or Hull City and the board may have been forced to actually do something to address Arsenal’s perpetual state of under-performing.

Now, instead of taking up torches and pitchforks and storming the gates of the Emirates Stadium, demanding Ivan “the terrible” Gazidis produce Wenger to the masses a-la-King Louis XVI-style, Gooners actually seem rather encouraged by Wenger’s false prophecy. It’s as if they actually believe him – like all that’s been missing this whole time is an arbitrary, completely fact-less and an abstract statement about winning the league title sometime over the next couple of years. Once again, Wenger’s absolute political brilliance was on full display as he once again saved his own bacon. This time, he didn’t even have to go out and buy Mesut Ozil, or an Alexis Sanchez this time. Instead, all he had to do was say the magic words of “Arsenal” and “league title” in the same loose collection of words and Arsenal fans are back swooning over “Le Prof.”

It is completely and utterly baffling that Arsenal fans actually believe that Wenger is right when he says Arsenal are a mere season or two away from winning a title.  See, the genius of Wenger is that he can insist on doing the exact same thing while achieving minimal results, make a bold statement about the future, and then fans everywhere buy into his delusional quackery. Wenger provided zero evidence of how he plans to all of a sudden turn Arsenal around into a title-contending side. He didn’t say that he was going to increase the transfer budget for the club, or that the club’s training policies (which have managed to leave nearly have of the squad injured at some point this year) are going to change, or even that the club’s ridiculous wage policies were going to change. Instead, Wenger pulled the statement that “Arsenal will win a title over the next three years” literally out of nowhere. And Gooners are lapping up his cotton candy-like empty calorie statement like its water. No other manager could pull such magic, or rather, such cheap illusions out of nowhere. Wenger is truly the David Blaine of Premier League managers these days.

While his ability to convince the Gooner faithful that he can pull a magic rabbit out of a hat, give himself a couple more years of breathing room and telegraph his intentions to stay at Arsenal through the duration of his three-year contract show the eruditeness of Wenger, his actual belief in his hollow statements illustrates how daft he has really become. It’s common knowledge that Wenger’s strategy for buying and retaining players is incredibly outdated. Wenger refuses to believe that he is no longer able to dictate the market for the price of players. While he’s committed to his thrifty ethos, the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City are consistently smashing transfer fee records in order to secure the best players in the world, who then in turn help them win titles all while Wenger sits idly by, wringing his hands in protest.

Instead, Wenger’s strategy for winning a title in the next three years seems to be employing the strategy of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different result. The last 10 years are filled with empirical evidence demonstrating that Wenger’s master plan is only good enough to earn the Gunners Wenger’s famous 4th place trophy. Wenger is not presenting a single shred of evidence to demonstrate that he will do anything different this time around in his quest for an immediate title.

The greatest stroke of Wenger’s brilliance is knowledge that Arsenal fans everywhere believe him when he says he’s going to win a trophy in three years. And he’s right – Gooners everywhere are ecstatic about Wenger’s great proclamation. If Arsenal fans want to truly believe that they will win a title in the next three years, they’ll stop going to matches, buying kits or spending money on Arsenal propaganda. By making a statement with their hard-earned cash, they will send the only kind of message the hearing-impaired Arsenal board of directors can here: namely, if you don’t replace Wenger now, we won’t spend any more money on your club. Then, and only then, with a new manager with a new and truly fresh vision of the future, can Arsenal realistically win a title in the next three years.