Wenger in the spotlight

Arsenal’s recent collapse has ramped up the pressure on Arsene Wenger, with disgruntled fan groups planning protests during their Saturday Night Football clash with Norwich. Ahead of his 750th Premier League game at the helm, we examine a turbulent period for the Frenchman…

On the eve of Arsenal’s damaging 3-2 defeat to Manchester United in February, Arsene Wenger was asked whether he feared they were on the brink of another second half of the season collapse. The Gunners had just suffered a grimly familiar defeat to Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League last 16, and the trip to Old Trafford presented another psychological hurdle.

“There is a perception that Arsenal fade in March and April,” responded Wenger. “It’s true we have lost the championship once or twice, but what is different now is that on those occasions we were losing momentum. This time, it’s the opposite. We are chasing and gaining momentum.”

Wenger had hoped Danny Welbeck’s late winner against Leicester two weeks previously would give Arsenal a platform to build on, but instead they slumped to what Graeme Souness described as a “weak, insipid and unacceptable” defeat against an injury-ravaged United side who had failed to win 10 of their previous 13 league games.

Arsenal’s wretched run of four wins from 11 games since then has included a sixth consecutive Champions League last-16 exit and an FA Cup knockout by Watford, and the team who led the Premier League table by two points at the start of January were mathematically ruled out of the title race after Sunday’s goalless draw with Sunderland. So much for the momentum.

Even by Arsenal’s recent standards, the implosion has been spectacular, and as old weaknesses have …

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