Football Food For Thought / Feizal Rahman / 08 March 2009 /

With three huge matches in different competitions over the next seven days, Feizal Rahman thinks this is the week Arsenal fans will see if "Arsene knows" or whether it' s time for a change at The Emirates.

An injury time equaliser from Stoke City's Glenn Whelan at Aston Villa last Sunday may have made all the difference to the fate of not only the second city club, but also to that of Arsenal. Had Martin O'Neill's men been able to hold onto their lead, the gap between themselves and the North Londoners would have been a sizeable 8 points.

Psychologically, that may have seemed an unassailable margin to an Arsenal side, already devoid of confidence following four successive goalless draws. Yet, with Villa's failure to capitalise offering a glimmer of hope, the midweek visit to a virtually relegated West Brom could not have been better timed. Able to restore their own self-belief with a facile 3-1 victory, Villa meanwhile succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at Manchester City leaving the Gunners with only a slender three point deficit. With key players about to return to first team action for the end of season run-in, Arsenal will now be bullish about clawing back fourth place, with Villa apparently running out of steam.

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, will be well aware that it is such small margins that separate success and failure. Avoidable miscalculations of team selection in both domestic cups last season appeared to turn their fortunes in the league. Victims themselves of a last minute equaliser away at Birmingham in February, the team's previously assured performances instantly evaporated and they had to settled for third best come May. Similarly, two debatable penalties awarded to Liverpool cost the Gunners at the quarter finals stage of the Champions League and they went trophyless for the third season in a row.

At a time where the fans and media demand instant gratification, to go a fourth season without silverware would surely be unacceptable for a club of Arsenal's stature and raise serious concerns over the future of Wenger. Having elevated the standard of expectation with previous glories, the two-time domestic double winning manager cannot be surprised that an increasing number of the club's supporters - used to feasting on fine football and the silverware to accompany it - are getting frustrated.

It can be noted that under George Graham, Arsenal never went more than one season without winning a competition. While the footballing landscape has since changed beyond recognition, it could be argued that Wenger is now in a far better a position to be challenging for honours with greater resources available to him. While he has two financial behemoths to compete with domestically in the form of Manchester United and Chelsea, it should not be forgotten that George Graham was the first to knock the dynastic Liverpool 'off their perch', whatever Sir Alex Ferguson would prefer you to believe.

This upcoming week then is unquestionably one of the most important in Wenger's 13-year tenure at the club. An FA Cup tie at home to Burnley today is followed by a tricky Champions League trip to Rome on Wednesday evening, with a potentially bruising league encounter with Blackburn Rovers awaiting them on Saturday. Should they emerge victorious from all three then the bleak vision of the future of only a week ago may metamorphose into the promising one that Wenger himself believes in.

Never once doubting his own ability, or that of his burgeoning squad, the manager has refused to give up on his footballing philosophy even when critics and fans alike have doubted him. The boos that echoed around the Emirates stadium last Saturday evening following the 0-0 draw with Fulham will have undoubtedly hurt the Arsenal boss. Yet, one senses that such a reaction only strengthens his desire to see his fledgling players finally come good and repay the fans that have - for the most part - held blind faith in him with assertions that 'Arsene knows'.

While an FA Cup victory would suffice to water the drought, the one prize that has thus far eluded Wenger has been the Champions League. Painfully close to success in Paris in 2006, Arsenal's poor domestic season then mirrors that of now. Allegedly aided by a dubiously prepared lasagne at the Tottenham hotel, the Gunners waved goodbye to Highbury by securing fourth spot on the final day of the season. Statistics show that in the 16-year history of Champions League, half the winners have not also been domestic champions in that same season, nor have been within at least 7 points of the title winner. Despite securing their fifth European Cup in thrilling fashion in 2005, Liverpool were a massive 37 points behind Premier League champions Chelsea and had to settle for fifth spot behind Everton.

Despite presently sitting in fifth place themselves behind Aston Villa, Arsenal have been unbeaten in league competition in 14 contests since late November. With trips to Old Trafford and Anfield to come - and a revitalised Chelsea still to visit the Emirates - Arsenal may yet influence the fate of title race as well as their own. Having already beaten Manchester United and Chelsea in the league this season, Arsene Wenger's youngsters have proven themselves able to raise their game against 'Big 4' rivals and can be confident of coming away from those games with enough to secure them Champions League football for next season (into [1.76] to finish Top 4).

Yet, the most satisfying way to ensure the thus far constant flow of elite European football is not stemmed would be to go one better than the Champions League final appearance of three years ago - and at [16.0] to do so, they provide better value than the five others in front of them in the market.

Once dubbed 'Comical Wenger' for claiming his side could go a whole season unbeaten, nothing was more pleasing for the urbane Frenchman than his side doing just that in the 'invincible' season of 2003-04. Now being deemed by some to have irretrievably lost his way after nearly four barren years, Wenger may yet have the last laugh once again.

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