Robin van Persie backs Wenger but angry fans still have a case

ROBIN VAN PERSIE has launched a stirring defence of Arsene Wenger in the wake of Sunday's defeat to Manchester United. Using his column in The Sun, the Dutch striker rubbished rumours that the Arsenal manager no longer has the trust of the dressing-room: "There is no problem, there is no conflict and there is no controversy," said Van Persie, who had appeared to disagree with Wenger's decision to substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during the Man Utd game.

That's not so, according to Van Persie, who said he had every faith in the Frenchman's judgmen,t as must Arsenal fans. After all, he reminds them, "Arsene's remarkable success in the game is proof enough that his decisions are made from knowledge and experience".

How does Van Persie define "remarkable success"? Finishing in the top four of the Premier League every season for 14 years or winning trophies? If it's the latter, then Wenger has been neither remarkable nor, for the last seven years at least, successful.

Wenger has been at the helm of Arsenal for 16 years yet the Gunners has not won any silverware since May 2005 when they beat Manchester United in the FA Cup. The last time the club went so long without a trophy was the eight years between winning the FA Cup in 1979 and the League Cup in 1987.

It's not just the lack of tangible success that makes the Arsenal faithful so furious, though three league defeats on the bounce has done little for their mood this month. It's Wenger's obstinacy, his arrogance, his inability to see what they all see: that Arsenal are in decline. Eight years ago the club went an entire season unbeaten in the league; nowadays they lose to Fulham one week and Swansea the next.

Sunday's defeat to United was the nadir for many Arsenal fans, even though the scoreline was a vast improvement on the 8-2 thrashing handed out to the Gunners in August. That humbling prompted Wenger to splash the cash on a raft of reinforcements, only one of whom, Mikel Arteta, has proved his worth.

This time around Wenger is refusing to dip into the transfer market, telling reporters on Monday that when Arsenal's injury list clears up everything will be all right. "Spending money is not the target," he said. "It never has been in life. We need our players back... it's important for us to get the players back."

But what players? Jack Wilshere and Arteta will make a difference in midfield, but Carl Jenkinson, Francis Coquelin, Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos and Abou Diaby at the back? While their return will give Wenger more options in defence, they're hardly going to put the fear of God into opposition strikers.

Starting on February 15, Arsenal face four challenging weeks. First up is a trip to AC Milan in the Champions League. Then it's league matches against Tottenham and Liverpool before the return leg against Milan. The week after, Newcastle come to town. The way things stand at the moment – with or without a full strength squad – it's not inconceivable that Arsenal will lose the lot.

Arsenal have the most expensive ticket in domestic football at £100 for a category A game (not to mention the most expensive pies at £4 a shot) so fans feel entitled to air their grievances.

They want new ideas, new players – good ones, not Per Mertasacker and Maroune Chamakh – and above all they want a manager who knows what he's doing, not one who used to know what he was doing.

With stories emerging in Spain suggesting Jose Mourinho is likely to leave Real Madrid in June it's not too fanciful to see the Arsenal board making a controversial substitution of their own in the summer – the ‘Nutty Professor' making way for the ‘Special One'. ·