Arsenal board ready to end Wenger reign
ARSENAL will review Arsene Wenger’s position this summer — with the prospect of ending the Frenchman’s 22-year reign now emerging as a genuine option. The Gunners have already started compiling a list of potential candidates to replace Wenger if time is called on his tenure at the end of the season. Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim, Germany manager Joachim Low, Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers and Manchester City coach Mikel Arteta are among the early contenders. Sources insist Wenger, whose position is under more scrutiny following Sunday’s feeble Carabao Cup Final defeat by Manchester City, will fight to see out the final 12 months of his contract, at the very least. But Sportsmail understands there is growing support among Arsenal’s power brokers for Wenger to leave north London at the end of this season. The end-of-season review will be key to deciding whether Wenger is afforded the chance to stay for another campaign, with the forthcoming appraisal expected to be honest and frank. It leaves Wenger facing serious questions about what has so far been a below-par season. Much will depend on whether Wenger can lead the club back into the Champions League, though achieving that feat will not be the only factor considered in the summer. A route into Europe’s elite looks unlikely through the Premier League; the Gunners are currently 10 points adrift
ONE of the lasting impressions of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup surrender to Manchester City was of Arsene Wenger asking the fourth official for more added time.
It was typical of the Arsenal manager. The game was up but Wenger was still convinced he could make a difference, if only he was given a few more minutes.
Wenger is a failing modern football manager and has been for a while. But like a gambler desperately chasing his losses, he cannot accept that his time is up.
‘This sounds cruel but Arsene is like the bloke playing the one-armed bandit while the queue builds behind him,’ said one person who knows him.
‘He’s running out of money and common sense tells him it’s someone else’s turn. But he is convinced the machine is about to drop its jackpot so he ploughs on. Until there is nothing left.’
For Wenger — deep now into his 22nd year at Arsenal — there really is nothing left. Only stubbornness and a fear of life without football continues to glue him to the club that is his life.
If Arsenal lose to leaders City in the Premier League at the Emirates on Thursday, the gap between the teams will be a staggering 30 points.
Not since the club finished 12th in 1995 has an Arsenal team been so adrift.
That year, Arsenal’s strife was born of the mid-season sacking of George Graham and addiction problems that forced Paul Merson to take time away from the game. The club’s problems were exceptional.
Almost 23 years on, Arsenal’s problems are not exceptional but entirely predictable.
THIS crisis has been building for years at the hands of a manager who cannot bring himself to let go of the wheel. This summer, it seems the Arsenal board may finally cut loose a club legend. They will have to because Wenger, blind to his own failings, will not walk.
‘He doesn’t want to leave because he can’t cope with the thought of leaving,’ another Arsenal source told Sportsmail.
‘But what about the club? If he can’t put Arsenal first then he is in danger of appearing selfish.’
Wenger fears retirement and he will manage again on leaving Arsenal. When his future was being discussed last year, he told
a friend: ‘Don’t worry, I will be working next season, somewhere.’
At the Emirates, however, all attempts to help him and his team out of a slump that goes back four or five years have failed.
Changes behind the scenes in recent times have been widespread. Scouting, fitness, psychology and player recruitment have been overhauled to give Wenger the best chance of rediscovering what he once had.
Arsenal have many more support staff than, for example, a club like Tottenham but at firstteam level improvement has not arrived — partly because of Wenger’s blind faith in his ability to turn things around.
All great coaches have trusted allies by their side and watching their back but Wenger, 68 now, has never been a great communicator.
As former goalkeeper Jens Lehmann — now a coach at Arsenal — wrote about his time as a player: ‘Arsene does not argue but — builds incredible pressure through his silence and perfectionism.’
Wenger does still trust longterm confidant Boro Primorac. The Bosnian watches games from the stands but often converses with Wenger before the manager makes his half-time address.
But another assistant coach from Wenger’s early years revealed yesterday that the manager sometimes pays only lip service to new ideas.
‘He would seem to listen but then nothing in training would change,’ he said.
Coaches at Arsenal can be unsure of offering strong opinions. They are not always confident these are welcome.
In terms of the team, Lehmann also wrote in his book about what life was like at Arsenal during the glory years.
‘A team functions like a wolf pack,’ the German wrote. ‘If one member falters, he will be driven away by teeth and claws.’
What must Lehmann have thought at Wembley on Sunday?
Where there should have been teeth and claws there were players rolling over to have their tummies tickled.
Now it appears other players are keen to follow the recently departed Alexis Sanchez to the door while, in the background, players who once served Wenger with distinction line up to judge.
Ian Wright, who loves Wenger more than most, said in the media at the weekend that the Frenchman needs someone to throw the towel in for him. Thierry Henry appeared to pitch for his old manager’s job live on Sky television.
As preposterous as that notion is, this is the point to which Wenger has brought his career, his reputation and his club.
Wenger still works as hard as ever and his commitment has not waned. On a Friday after training, for example, he will almost always watch the Under 23s, even if he has a coach to catch for an away game.
Now he will attempt to circle the wagons ahead of Thursday’s game. It is his way.
As a manager who doesn’t even like injured players to enter the dressing room, he will approach another clash with Pep Guardiola’s City side convinced that his team can win and scornful of those who suggest otherwise.
At least there is a sense now that the end may be nigh, even if someone else has to make the big call for him.
It is known that when Wenger drops a player from his team, the news is always delivered with a coating of sugar. It is not his way to seek confrontation or hurt feelings.
The Arsenal board cannot afford to view the club’s current predicament the same way.
It is time to drag the gambler away from the tables.