Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis insisted Tuesday that Arsene Wenger’s future is not under threat, and dismissed fan complaints that the manager may have lost his touch following the club’s worst start to a season for 58 years.
The Gunners are just a point above the relegation zone after losing three of their five Premier League matches and jeopardizing their hopes of a first title since 2004.
The dismal start has raised tensions among fans, with Wenger facing the deepest crisis of a 15—year reign that has yielded three league titles.
But the club, which was recently bought by American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke, is not contemplating any knee—jerk reactions.
“Thinking that spending money solves issues, (or) firing a manager solves issues are short term cures that actually have tremendous costs for football clubs that are not often played out in the short term,” Gazidis said. “That’s a route we are not going to go down.”
At a question and answer event for business leaders in London, Gazidis maintained that Arsenal is “fortunate” to have Wenger, whose transformation of the London club has been widely praised.
“The amount of admiration for Arsenal, the way we play the game, the technical dexterity is extraordinary,” Gazidis said at the Sport Industry Breakfast Club. “That is something Arsene brought to the club.”
“Believe it or not, he didn’t suddenly become a bad manager or someone who is out of touch with the game,” the former Major League Soccer deputy commissioner said. “It’s absolute nonsense.”
While the 61—year—old Wenger has been characterized as struggling personally during the current turmoil, Gazidis said the Frenchman is holding up well.
“Arsene is not broken,” Gazidis said. “That is a portrayal that is black or white. You are either flying high and everything as great or you are a broken failure. To see him portrayed, because he is responsible, as some kind of idiot is profoundly damaging, not to Arsenal or Arsene but for the game.
“We do this to people and we need to think about that. He is frustrated, he shares the same frustrations that we all do.”
Arsenal twice lost the lead at Blackburn on Saturday, conceding two goals in the 4—3 loss that left the side with just four points from a possible 15 so far.
“The potential is there and everyone can see it last year we played some of the most attractive football in the Premier League and yet we self destructed at key moments and we have seen that a couple of times again this season,” Gazidis said. “That is something we need to correct because the potential is there.”
Wenger did respond to the poor start to the season and the loss of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri by veering from his policy of signing emerging talent by bolstering the squad with experienced players last month.
Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta (29) arrived from Everton, Germany defender Per Mertesacker (26) from Werder Bremen and Israel captain Yossi Benayoun (31) on loan from Chelsea.
“We have seen a tactical adjustment of bringing in more experienced players,” Gazidis said. “Our strategy continues to be to focus on young players.”
Gazidis does not believe that “chasing after the same players as Manchester City or United would be sustainable” as the club looks to win its first trophy since the 2005 FA Cup.
“I cannot accept it’s a total failure (the title drought) because actually we have been incredibly consistent over a long period of time along with Manchester United and Real Madrid, the most consistent of clubs in Europe,” Gazidis said. “We haven’t achieved what we want to achieve and we need to adjust.”
Gazidis sympathizes with anger among supporters.
“We have fans at the core, season ticket holders for whom defeat is humiliation,” he said. “When we have difficult, horrible defeats, it is impactful on their self esteem.”
And he promised that Kroenke will soon speak publicly for the first time since adding Arsenal to a porfolio that also includes the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and MLS’ Colorado Rapids.
“Throughout the transfer window, he was intimately involved in the discussions that we were having,” Gazidis said. “Stan has said that he will talk to the fans the next time he is in the U.K. and he will.”
