How much longer does Arsene Wenger have at Arsenal?

When Arsene Wenger joined Arsenal in 1996 many were saying “Arsene who?”. He is now their longest serving manager and most successful manager winning three Premier League titles and six FA Cups, but in recent years he has not been successful regarding the amount of trophies won; which is why for the past few years his future has been questioned.

The move from Highbury to The Emirates has had a major impact on the success of Arsenal in these past nine years, and could be argued that Wenger has managed to get Arsenal through their toughest period without droping out of the Champions League, which is remarkable. Looking back at his squads in more recent years he has had hardly anything to work with as well as a lack of funds to dip into the transfer market with, yet he was still criticised for not winning any major trophies.

Not only did Wenger have to cope with a small transfer budget, but he had to find a way of achieving a top four finish whilst losing his best players to rivals. The likes of Van Persie, Nasri, Clichy, Adebayor, Cole and Toure all leaving to join Premier League rivals; nonetheless Wenger was still able to keep Arsenal in the Champions League places despite losing some of his best players to direct rivals. So surely he deserves some credit for this?

Although he has been consistent in finishing in the top four, has he been consistent when it comes to his tactics?

Look at Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal teams towards the start of his career, the 98 double winning team, the 2002 double winning team and of course The Invincibles, if you were to compare these teams to the current Arsenal squad the style has completely changed. They have gone from being an imposing team who were quick and direct to a team who passes the ball from side to side on the edge of the box trying to walk the ball into the goal. His more direct tactics with physically dominating players were the tactics that won him the Premier League, but nowadays he seems to have completely changed the style of football that he wants, which clearly is not working.

Wenger has two years remaining on his current contract and if that is to be extended he must change his tactical approach to games and must be more ruthless in the transfer market, there are no excuses about not having the funds to spend big on world class talent, he has already spent big on Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez and all Arsenal fans would urge the Arsenal boss to add to his squad further.

Against Liverpool, Wenger’s men looked poor going forward and struggled to put away the chances that came their way, so of course all eyes are on Arsene Wenger to sign a striker before the end of the transfer window, but will he? He is known for being stubborn and has put his faith in Olivier Giroud since Robin Van Persie’s departure so will the Arsenal manager take the plunge and sign a striker?

If he fails to do so I fear the title will be out of reach, which is what all Arsenal fans expect their club to be competing for, this could then lead to further pressure being put on Wenger, which will then see his quality of management being questioned.

No matter what happens, Arsene Wenger will not be sacked and will carry on as Arsenal manager until he decides to leave, which is what frustrates some Arsenal fans the most, Wenger is protected by his success in the past and his ability to finish in the top four which is why the Arsenal board are reluctant to get rid of him.

With just under one week of the transfer window remaining, can Wenger silence his critics and pull off a big signing?