It is now time for Wenger to go, not in disgrace but with our undiluted gratitude. No one excels in prison and he is now a prisoner of his own rhetoric, his own framework.
Victoria Concordia Crescit once bellowed from the terraces but today, that harmony is lost. Lost to imagery, frugality and well-timed statements designed to extract even the whistle from our pockets.
With five games to the end of a season that promised so much, it will shortly be time for evaluation future planning. That plan should not consult the architect of stagnation.
Legacy
Wenger has been a godsend. It has been due to the pain of adversity, Wright and Bergkamp that I've from 5000 miles away became an ordained Arsenal fan and it has been the Wenger doctrines upon which sermons have been based but alas, tenets and faith require sustenance.
The last trophy to adorn the Arsenal cabinet was not achieved on the whole gospel according to Wenger of winning in style, but by the will to win, a vestige of pride, the hallmark of any professional irrespective of class, stature or sport.
The 2005 FA cup win was the ugliest win I care to recall, but pride would never allow those champions to be beaten.
That was when Wenger was a football manager, when his ambitions were aligned to those I share but regrettable his horizon has expanded and the beauty of glory has been lost in the glare of finance and power.
To the envy of managers more successful than he Wenger is arguably the most powerful man in world football in relation to all he surveys.
He is credited with changing the diet of English football, the fortunes and face of Arsenal, champion the aesthetics through on field success and headline rhetoric and for this he's been rewarded by the club with absolute power. Wenger is now so power he hires his own boss and will decide his own exit. Out of respect for what he achieved, trophies and wonderful infrastructure we all understand.
It's a legacy only few will achieve, ask Mourinho; but should we watch him destroy it?
The human embodiment of today's Arsenal Wenger is the name we will resound when that time capsule the lays beneath the hollowed turf reminds us of where we are. It is my view, it is this power of been more than just a football manager but the legator of Arsenal that is explains our malaise.
He no longer manages just Arsenal football but all that surrounds it, thereby diluting his focus, draining the passion we once thought was the will to win.
To clutch to the excuses of good performance in draws to teams we ought to be beating confirms the idea of attractive football is now the achievement and not the idea of superiority. How he has managed to convince so many fourth and its security of champions league football is an achievement is beyond me, especially since first would secure it just as much.
The importance of the Wenger legacy now exceeds to importance of winning and all the nonsense he has spouted over the last six years has imprisoned him and his players in a prison of mediocrity, a prison of his own making.
Prisoner of framework
Henry, Anelka, Petit and others were up and coming stars who attained highs under Wenger's guidance earning him the much admiration, mine included. This has become a pillar of his reputation that now threatens to demolish all he's built.
The "we don't buy stars, we make then" excuse for buying Europe's premier deadwood cannot be overlooked. Then to presume they can mimic the play of much more talented Barcelona players while disregarding the other disciplines to their play is moronic and indicative of Wenger's fall.
The once great pioneer failing to copy the Pep/Spanish plan instead of furthering the power and style philosophy of his "Invincibles 2004" magic. The same philosophy of which Mourinho and Manchester City are experts. Or has he not noticed or heard. Well, he didn't know Berbatov was to leave Manchester United, or Fulham, so he might not have.
Wenger must now recognise the last decade is also, his legacy. The rose bed of glory is fed by the dirt of hard work, not failure. His mantra we learn more from losses than we do wins, is fast becoming or has become or ethos, and have learnt, only to when it matters most.
It now seems as though the success of every other manager only serves to highlight his failures.
The progress of every player once linked to Arsenal beyond those he secured simply serves to mock our fans as they continue to outshine those to whom he's remained loyal.
But we forgave his countless mistakes and error strewn recruitment.
According to Wenger Modric was too small but won a cup with grime; Bale, but he would have blocked Traore's progress, Kompany, Yaya, et al, were all possible yet we were left to borrow Benayoun.
Not even Confucius could make sense of buying Santos, Park, Djourou, Denilson and others I'd rather forget were ever here or how he converted Gervinho, Chamakh, Arshavin and others that seemed to show early usefulness into walking, talking cotton reels during short lived tenures.
What of all the others who weren't good enough for Arsenal but achieved more than we have elsewhere in less favourable circumstances. Our world renown master is now been snubbed by Chelsea reject, Kalou, one no better than Giroud. The thousands of players he could have signed but didn't Ronaldo, Zlatan, Drogba, Essien, Mata and every other world leading talent he now takes pride in acknowledging his veto of their acquisition.
The man who knew it all now finds comfort in announcing he doesn't know why "title contending Arsenal" had a 6-0 accident to a rival then paid a 3-0 dowry to a chasing assassin. It's like offering a thief a guided tour. If Wenger hasn't lost his masterful touch, he's probably lost his mind.
To make matters worse, even during this phase of malaise, so not long ago, the Arsenal second string of Vela, Bendtner and others was sufficiently potent to beat a battling Premier League team but Arsenal has regressed in ways we don't even assess.
Twenty eight academy players sold for little or given away in the last three years while we look to borrow Demba Ba and those struggling to make it a Barcelona and Real Madrid. The 2006 final versus Chelsea was such a team. That team would beat today's first team so there's very little certainty we'll triumph versus Wigan in the FA Cup.
So even if Arsenal wins the cup and secure an unlikely fourth, Wenger is presiding over stagnation in his effort to add lustre to a the legacy he's smashed..
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