D-DAY FOR WENGER
Under-pressure Gunners boss admits this is it for Arsenal’s season and his future... and failure is not an option
ARSENE WENGER accepts Arsenal’s season will be judged on the outcome of tomorrow’s final game.
The Gunners boss needs a miracle to qualify for the Champions League – they must beat Everton at home and hope Liverpool or Manchester City slip up. But the now mandatory “lap of appreciation” which has become part of Premier League tradition in recent seasons, will fall flat if Arsenal fluff their lines themselves. Arsenal still have the FA Cup Final, but Wenger’s barometer has always been reaching the top four and he will look on it as a personal failure if they miss out. He said: “It depends what will happen. If we don’t win the game I’ll be sad. If we win, I will feel we have done the job. After, the season is not over and we have to focus on the Cup Final. “What is most important for me is to do the job well and finish the season as strongly as we can. If we finish the job well, it can be a maximum of one point short. “After, we look where did we waste this point and you find many reasons where you lost this point. That’s part of it. I’m not here for personal glory, I’m here to do the job.” Wenger also believes both Middlesbrough at Anfield and Watford against City will try to get results which will give Arsenal a chance. “What you want is that they have a go and they fight,” said Wenger. “I think, traditionally in England, you have that. Hopefully that will be the case. “Everybody will be under scrutiny so you just want the teams like Everton to fight against us, Middlesbrough will fight against Liverpool, Watford will fight against City. “That’s what you want. If you want to be in the best league in the world, you should not even question that.” Wenger refused to discuss whether it was his last game at the Emirates because, deep down, he is preparing to stay, but is not about to change his weekly script now. There has been a sense of negativity overhanging from this season’s disappointments which even Arsenal’s winning run – seven victories in eight games in all competitions since switching to a back three – has not erased. It all comes down to finishing in the top four and winning the FA Cup. The uncertainty over star duo Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez has also clouded the horizon with both having a year left on their contracts. Arsenal are now building for next season with new transfer targets – Monaco’s Thomas Lemar, Lyon’s Corentin Tolisso, Malaga midfielder Pablo Fornals and Antonio Rudiger of Roma – but face an even bigger issue with Ozil and Sanchez. Ozil has been offered £280,000 a week while Arsenal are confident that no club – outside China – have offered Sanchez more than what is on the table, believed to be in excess of £250,000 a week. They are genuinely doing the sums and unless they receive a crazy £80m-plus offer, they may allow Sanchez to see out the final year of his contract if it means he stays and then is entitled to a lucrative free transfer. But Wenger insists they are still playing for the shirt and hopes they will stay even if they miss out on the top four, pointing out that the squad must take responsibility themselves. He added: “They are part of the results as well. Like I am. Overall, I think first of all they are under contract and secondly they behave like they want to be in the Champions League and like they want to be at the club. “They don’t behave like players who are disinterested in the future of the club. I don’t question, at the moment, their focus an their determination because every game they turn up and give strong performances.”