Free Kick: Battle-weary Wenger needs someone to inject some fight

Does Wenger need Dein? The suggestion has been whispered. Long ago, the then-chairman of Chelsea, Brian Mears, told me that managers, like their players, sometimes need motivation. He was speaking of the much-admired Dave Sexton, who was then in charge at Stamford Bridge, who indeed would duly respond.

And after nearly 16 years in charge at Arsenal, it is hardly surprising that Wenger would run out of energy and initiative, helpless to prevent the double disaster of surrender in Milan and defeat at Sunderland.

It was somewhat significant that the club's chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, who was recently paid a massive £1.7 million (Dh9.87 million) bonus for his financial expertise, didn't even make the journey to Milan as he was abroad on holiday. The American chairman was twice seen fleetingly last year, but remains a distant figure.

David Dein has been the entrepreneur incarnate. When he bought a batch of seemingly ‘dead' shares from Hill-Wood, the chairman reflected that they'd never been worth anything. But not only were they reactivated, giving Dein increasing power in the Arsenal hierarchy, but his shrewd wheeling and dealing would make him a major shareholder. And when he was controversially forced out by his fellow directors after disagreements over policy, he duly sold the shares he had to the Uzbek oligarch Alisher Usmanov for some £71 million.

Injury impact

Essentially, however, it was Dein who brought Wenger to Arsenal in 1996, enlisting him from the Japanese club Grampus and Dein who might arguably reactivate him. Though Wenger has had bad luck with injuries this season, notably to his outstanding young playmaker Jack Wilshere, he has beyond doubt made mistakes.

Why in Milan did he inexplicably decide to use his right-footed Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky fruitlessly on the left flank? Why did he not bring on the promising teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain till midway through the second half?

Why did he allow Robin Van Persie to plough a lonely furrow? Why had he devised no plan to contain Zlatan Ibrahimovic?

As for Chelsea's Andre Villas Boas, the thread by which he is hanging grows more and more slender. His supposed long-term plans will hardly continue to satisfy the impatient oligarch owner, Roman Abramovich. In Naples today, Chelsea must confront the dynamic South American pace of Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi, supplied by the clever Marek Hamsik. Will John Terry be fit enough for this?

The author is a renowned football writer based in England.