Arsene Wenger once described favourite for the Arsenal job, Luis Enrique, as a manager who went from ‘idiot to hero’.

1Knee-jerk

BARCELONA, SPAIN - MARCH 08: Luis Enrique manager of Barcelona celebrates as Sergi Roberto of Barcelona scores their sixth goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg match between FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain at Camp Nou on March 8, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – MARCH 08: Luis Enrique manager of Barcelona celebrates as Sergi Roberto of Barcelona scores their sixth goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg match between FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain at Camp Nou on March 8, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Luis Enrique is said to be in ‘advanced talks’ with Arsenal about taking over the club in the summer. Enrique has been linked with the Arsenal and Chelsea jobs quite heavily in the last few months. He was originally believed to have agreed to join Chelsea but the rumour changed and he was then said to be hoping for a call from the Gunners.

Interested to see if Enrique had even spoken about Arsenal prior to being linked to the job in 2018, I came across an interview with Arsene Wenger about the Spaniard.

Speaking in March 2017, Wenger was asked his opinion on Enrique, who had just announced he would step down from Barcelona at the end of that season.

Overseeing one of the greatest Champions League comebacks that saw Barcelona overhaul a 4-0 defeat against PSG to win 6-5 on aggregate, Wenger said of Enrique, “It just sums it up that two weeks ago he was an idiot and everyone said you have to leave, so he said, ‘OK, I go.’

“Today he is a hero.

“That sums up the job.”

The fickle nature of pundits and fans has always been something that irked Wenger who urged people to look at the bigger picture, especially in the aftermath of the stadium move.

But that overview seemed to escape his own attention in his final season when it came to Arsenal’s slide in form.

15 defeats but the same set of excuses from Arsenal

For some time now I’ve been talking to the Daily Cannon team and people on Twitter about how Arsene Wenger seemed to see defeats in isolation, ignoring the pattern they formed.

I decided to look back over Arsenal’s defeats this season to see what, exactly, was said after every match.

Read on and see for yourself how many times Wenger said it was very unusual for Arsenal to make mistakes, how often he blamed luck for our defeats, and how he refused to accept there is a fundamental problem with his squad, tactics and approach to games.

I haven’t included all the post-match quotes, some I have just referenced in the key points, but they are all available on Arsenal.com in the match section for each game.

First up, Stoke, Liverpool, Watford and Manchester City…

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