Wenger to quit as Arsenal manager
LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is to stand down at the end of the season after a reign of almost 22 years during which he redefined the Premier League club and became their most successful boss.
The longest-serving current manager in English soccer, with 1,228 games in charge, had faced increasing criticism from fans, however, for the Gunners’ failure to sustain a serious title challenge in recent seasons.
“After careful consideration and following discussions with the club, I feel it is the right time for me to step down at the end of the season,” the 68-year-old Frenchman said in a statement issued by the club on Friday.
“I am grateful for having had the privilege to serve the club for so many memorable years. I managed the club with full commitment and integrity,” added Wenger, who urged the fans to stand behind the team and end the season on a high.
Wenger signed a two-year contract extension in 2017 and had said he planned to see it out despite calls for him to be replaced.
“My personal situation is not so much my worry at the moment,” he had told reporters on Thursday when asked about his future.
London:arsenewengerannounced on Friday he is bringing down the curtainon22yearsatarsenalthathave been full of trophies but tarnished by struggles in recent years to challenge for the Premier League title.
The 68-year-old arrived at the London club in 1996 a relative unknown but leaves widely hailed as the greatest manager in Arsenal’s history after three Premier League titles and a record-breaking seven FA Cup triumphs.
Wenger, who completed the Premier League and FA Cup double in his first full season in England, was hailed as an innovator in his early years and his spiky clashes with former Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson became the stuff of legend.
Yet despite cup success in recent years, fans have become increasingly frustrated by the club’s inability to challenge the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea for the Premier League title and a failure to reach the sharp end of the Champions League.
The longest-serving current manager in English soccer, with 1228 games in charge, had faced increasing criticism from fans, however, for the Gunners’ failure to sustain a serious title challenge in recent seasons.
“After careful consideration and following discussions with the club, I feel it is the right time for me to step down at the end of the season,” Wenger said in a statement posted on the club’s website.
“I am grateful for having had the privilege to serve the club for so many memorable years.”
The Frenchmen arrived at the Emirates with Ferguson’s United at the peak of their powers but immediately threw down the gauntlet, winning the Premier League and FA Cup double in 1998, before repeating the feat four years later. But perhaps the most remarkable achievement of his long reign was going through a full league season unbeaten in 2003-04, with his “Invincibles” playing a captivating brand of fluid football.
LIKELY TO MISS CL SPOT
But after an incredible 19 successive years in the Champions League, Arsenal, in sixth place in the Premier League, could miss out for the second consecutive year after a disappointing league campaign.
Their only realistic chance of qualifying for next season is by winning the second-tier Europa League -- the Gunners face Spanish giants Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals -and Wenger has urged the fans to get behind the club. “I urge our fans to stand behind the team to finish on a high,” said Wenger. “To all the Arsenal lovers take care of the values of the club. My love and support for ever.”
FRUSTRATION
Wenger took charge with Arsenal in the doldrums in October 1996, but quickly set about a revolution in English football by overhauling players’ diets and bringing an end to the drinking culture that had dogged the club.
Results soon arrived on the pitch as Wenger’s men beat an all-conquering Manchester United side to the title in 1997-98 and won the league again four years later. Despite their constant presence in the Champions League Wenger was never able to end Arsenal’s quest to win the competition for a first time.