The worst run of the Arsenal manager's tenure heads our writers' analysis of the Premier League weekend...
Wenger won’t walk
Things are, somehow, only getting worse for Arsenal.
Defeat to West Brom on Saturday was the Gunners’ fourth in their last five league games – the first time such a run has occurred under Arsene Wenger.
They are now sixth, and finishing in the top four – the one constant of the manager’s time in north London – seems a long way away.
Nevertheless, credible reports have all but confirmed that Wenger intends to remain at the club beyond this season.
The Frenchman has admitted that this is the worst patch of his entire 21-year tenure.
If that is not enough to force him out, then what is?
It seems Wenger’s breaking point does not exist.
He will leave Arsenal only when he chooses, and, as French journalist Phillipe Auclair tweeted on Sunday night, leaving at a low point is not Wenger’s way.
His self-belief is – for better or worse – unwavering.
He wants to put this right, and finish his life’s work on a high.
So he will stay, and even if results continue to worsen and the protests grow louder, his desire to carry on will only intensify.
For any Arsenal fans hoping this season is Wenger’s last, a positive ending – with either a top-four finish or a triumph in the FA Cup – might be their only hope.
Lukaku lives on
It would have been easy to expect the worst for Romelu Lukaku this weekend.
After rejecting the biggest contract offer in Everton’s history and voicing his concern about their ambition, the 23-year-old was in danger of backing himself into a corner.
His midweek comments about having “10 finals” still to play this season appeared little more than a weak attempt to placate the expected angry hoards.
It would appear, though, that he meant every word.
Shrugging off any expectation he might mentally check out, Lukaku made one and bagged a stoppage-time brace as the Toffees recorded a 4-0 win against Hull.
Those goals took him to 21 Premier League goals for the season, two clear of Harry Kane at the top of the Golden Boot standings.
The fans’ reaction to him was also at odds with present-day footballing trends.
There was no ill-feeling or vitriol projected towards their wantaway star man.
Instead, supporters seemed to understand his frustrations, with a raucous cheer going up as he was announced in the team and his name sung throughout.
Talk of a crisis at Goodison were wide of the mark.
Faltering Walter
You would be hard pushed to find a more unpopular Premier League manager among his own club’s fanbase than Walter Mazzarri.
Arsene Wenger may be the victim of vitriol from a considerably more vocal set of supporters at a bigger club, but he has plenty of admirers.
The national press have not picked up on it, but the Italian has no such apologists.
That Mazzarri still does not speak a word of English in public does not help.
A consequence of having his translator everywhere is that he has forged no connection whatsoever with the Hornets’ supporters.
So when the Watford team he produces from behind a mask turns in performances lacking in any noticeable intensity, identity, or plan, who is going to stick up for him?
The only expression of sympathy is that he had been unlucky with injuries, rather than any positive influence of his own.
His side have won three league matches since the middle of November – one a victory at Arsenal that seems more freakish by the week, another at home to 10-man Burnley.
And if they continue to produce pitiful offensive displays like Saturday’s at Crystal Palace – which wasn’t a one-off – they will be fortunate to pick up the points that they need to stay up.
Nobody really seems to notice Watford. They just exist.
But if the abuse hurled at Mazzarri and his team on full-time at Selhurst Park and on social media is anything to go by, there is little faith that they’ll avoid the unwanted headlines before May.
