If Wenger had any decency, he'd resign.

During the game, Clyde Tyldesley made a comment about O’Neill’s impact on Sunderland: ‘O’Neill inherited a talented squad which had lost its way, and he’s given them that “X-Factor"’. The very thing Wenger provided when he arrived. Does he offer that now? Can he inspire results by tweaking here or there, showing faith in maligned players, and use it to produce results?

When looking at what Wenger offered at first, one is obliged to ask whether he still offers the same contribution:

Producing/revitalising players:
Upon arrival, Wenger took a squad with ageing defenders and turned them into evergreen warriors; he revitalised Bergkamp and turned him into the heartbeat of a new-look Arsenal side; he took a French winger devoid of confidence and turned him into a world-class striker; and he produced the archetypal box-to-box midfielder from a gangly, fiery Vieira.

Since then, Wenger has been somewhat harmful to the progress of youngsters he’s managed; people cite Fabregas as proof of his success in that area, but Fabregas had already been given a great education before he arrived on Arsenal’s doorstep. A lot of youngsters he has blooded at Arsenal have changed, but not always for the better; his obsession with tippy-tappy football means he over-trains youngsters, until their natural game is coached out completely, and they all conform to the same style. Individual brilliance appears to be something of a sin in Wenger’s eyes.

Decision-making:
The old Wenger always thought ahead; not in the sense we know now, where he forgets the present while dreaming about Arsenal’s future; he always thought had a bigger plan. That was where he got the ‘Arsene knows’ reputation; there were moments when it seemed he was letting a player go too soon, or wasn’t signing the right player at the right time – there would be a few weeks before we saw that he knew the outgoing player was losing his pace, or didn’t have the stamina required; or there’d be a player waiting in the wings who could outperform the player we once coveted.

Since 2005, we’ve had players leave before peaking: Flamini, Fabregas, Nasri, Cole, etc; nobody replaced them. Clichy ruined Arsenal’s reputation for producing left-backs; we haven’t had a natural defensive midfielder since Flamini left; Fabregas and Nasri left when they saw the end of Arsenal as a footballing force.

There’s simply no plan; Wenger is working on a season-by-season basis and making it up as he goes along. This season, Arsenal went 3 games without a win and conceded 8 to United before he decided on change; the improvement with experience was clear, but it meant Wenger slipped back into a false sense of security (that doesn’t take much), so he didn’t see the need to buy in January. It shouldn’t take a mini-crisis every few months to keep him in touch with reality, surely?

Motivation:
To see Wenger’s motivational skills at work, let’s look at our last trophy; Arsenal outfought, and out-thought a strong United side. There was resilience and steel in every Arsenal player, and their resolve only strengthened with every wave of United attacks.

Now we see Wenger failing to motivate Arsenal for a Champions League tie; then we see him fail to garner a response for the FA Cup (the only chance for Arsenal to save face). He’s lost credibility with his sheltering of listless players; why would players listen if they know they have no chance of being dropped for more motivated players? Djourou was quoted this morning saying we would now see the best of him. He subsequently put in a performance that made Bramble look like Baresi. Yet Wenger puts his faith in these clowns, to no avail.

Financial prudence:
Arsenal built a training complex with profit created from the sale of Anelka. Now there is a warped wage structure that underpays the elite and overpays the obsolete. It is his fault this is happening; he wanted a wage structure with a narrow range to ‘keep morale high’ – now the wages paid to youngsters and squad players are a massive hindrance. People complain about the board for not raising the wage bill; but it is Wenger’s fault for insisting that players like Diaby, Walcott, Djourou and Almunia receive more than £50k a week. Why would they increase the wage budget when Wenger sanctions stupid sums to players who don’t deserve it?

Wenger’s presence has been a slow poisoning for a while; now the poisoning process is picking up speed. People say ‘give him until the end of the season’, but by then he will have done irreparable damage to the club. Another manager is needed to steady the ship, grind out results, and breathe fresh life into the club.