Would another FA Cup really be enough to save Arsene Wenger?

Lukas Podolski(L) celebrates FA cup glory with Arsene Wenger(R)

Arsenal have effectively been handed the Premier League on a plate this year, and have infuriatingly declined to take it

The focus of Arsenal’s season is shifting. Going in to last night’s match against Hull City, it felt like the fixture nobody wanted. After a resounding 4-0 victory, suddenly the FA Cup feels very relevant again. It’s now Arsenal’s best chance of ending 2015/16 with a trophy.

The question is: should it be? Arsenal have effectively been handed the Premier League on a plate this year, and have infuriatingly declined to take it. In a season where both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Liverpool have all had deep problems, they ought to have had a free run at the title. Instead, they find themselves trailing humble Leicester and rivals Tottenham. It’s a maddening state of affairs.

With the league campaign stuttering and the team all-but-eliminated form the Champions League, the FA Cup now looks like the most realistic shot at silverware.

As consolation prizes go, the cup is certainly a good one. Arsenal are certainly not in a position to turn their noses up at another domestic trophy, and the achievement of winning three consecutive cups would be a remarkable one. No manager has won the trophy more than Arsene Wenger, and this would cement his affiliation with English football’s historic competition.

However, would it be enough to satisfy the disgruntled Arsenal fans? After the win against Hull, some supporters unveiled a banner conveying the message that Wenger’s time with the club should shortly come to a close.

Raising that banner after a victory is a clear indication that some fans have already made up their mind. The way Arsenal have squandered their opportunity to seize the initiative in the Premier League has been, for certain supporters, the final straw.

It’s unseemly but it is understandable. From outside the club, observers might perceive Arsenal fans as impatient or even petulant. However, the problems within the side feel firmly entrenched, and frustration has built over a number of years. The angriest fans would argue they are simply taking a longer-term view: the team has struggled to mount a sustained challenge for the title for more than a decade now.

Cup success is welcome — anyone who’s seen the parades celebrating Wembley wins in 2014 and 2015 will know how much Arsenal fans enjoyed those triumphs — but it’s also something of a sticking plaster. The FA Cup wins have obscured Arsenal’s failure to contest the bigger prizes.

Even if they go on to lift the cup for a third year on the trot, Arsenal fans will be left wondering what might have been. Crucially, they’ll also wonder if those things will ever be as long as Wenger remains at the helm.

 

Realistically, there is little chance of Wenger leaving this summer. The club will never dismiss him, and his competitive instincts are such that he will surely be unable to turn his back on one last crack at the title. However, the club should not be taking steps to sign Wenger up to yet another extension.

Another FA Cup would be lovely, but so far there is no evidence than cup success brings Arsenal any closer to being champions. For that to happen, a new man may have to take up the