Praising managers for rallies in the second half of the season seems to be in vogue at the moment
Louis van Gaal is getting credit for belatedly stumbling upon a formula for success at Manchester United. Elsewhere, Brendan Rodgers has been widely eulogised for revitalising Liverpool's season, with some pundits even venturing to suggest this season represents a greater success than his title charge of last year. Amid the tributes, one man has been relatively free of praise. However, it's time Arsene Wenger got some recognition for saving Arsenal's season once again.
Back in December, the legendary Arsenal boss appeared to be on the precipice of an acrimonious end. A 3-2 defeat at Stoke enraged supporters, and ugly scenes saw him barracked by his own fans as the team made their way back to London.
Since that day, Arsenal have played 22 games. They have won 18 of those matches. That is a record that demonstrates remarkable consistency. Consistency is the hallmark of the second half of Wenger's Arsenal tenure. In fact, he's become so reliable that we're often guilty of taking his achievements for granted. Even after that notable nadir against Stoke, Arsenal's rise in to the Champions League places felt inevitable.
That shouldn't be allowed to detract too much from the achievement itself. There are those who will say Arsenal's struggles in the early part of the campaign were the fault of Wenger himself -- that he ought to have bulked out the squad with an extra defender and holding midfielder in the summer of 2014.
That's a valid point, but by the same token you could criticise Rodgers for signing Mario Balotelli or lambast Van Gaal for failing to recruit another senior centre-half. It does not take away from the manner in which they've managed with their squad over the course of the season.
Much like those managers, Wenger has shown the flexibility to reshuffle his pack in the search for a winning lineup. At the back, he's dropped his first-choice goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, in favour of a Premier League rookie in the shape of David Ospina. He's promoted teenage defender Hector Bellerin and helped Nacho Monreal develop into a rugged and reliable full-back.
Wenger has also dramatically reshaped his midfield, deploying Santi Cazorla in a deep-lying midfield role that saw the Spaniard named the PFA Fans' Player of the Month in both December and January. He's reintegrated Mesut Ozil to impressive effect, supplementing him with hard-working wingers in Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The reconfigured attack has enormously benefited Olivier Giroud, who is in the midst of the most prolific run of his career.
He's also shown creativity to plug the gaps in his squad. Wenger may have initially turned to Francis Coquelin out of desperation, but he still recognised his fellow Frenchman's potential and entrusted him with the responsibility as a regular starter. When the January transfer window opened, he managed to uncover a new centre-back at a time when many of the world's top clubs tried and failed to identify recruits in that role. Thus far, the athletic and aggressive Gabriel Paulista looks to have been an astute acquisition.
This reimagined Arsenal side have picked up wins away to both Manchester clubs since Christmas. What's more, they're in with a chance of finishing in second place and are overwhelming favourites to reach the FA Cup final. If you narrow the context to 2015, the home leg against Monaco looks increasingly like an anomalous aberration. Wenger has dragged Arsenal out of the mire and towards another creditable conclusion. Had he resigned after the Stoke defeat and a new man achieved these same results, he'd be heralded as a managerial genius. The only explanation for the lack of media fuss over Wenger is that we've grown sadly accustomed to his unrivalled powers of recovery.
James McNicholas is a football writer and the man behind Arsenal blog Gunnerblog.com. You can follow him on Twitter @gunnerblog.
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