The bitter end was such a far CRY from his glory days
DESPITE 2017 FA CUP VICTORY, WENGER WEPT WITH INDECISION OVER HIS GUNNERS FUTURE AS FURIOUS FANS TURNED ON THEIR ONE-TIME HERO
DESPITE enjoying one of his greatest triumphs, Arsene Wenger was crying in the dressing room.
He had just won the FA Cup last May, and held it aloft in the Wembley sunshine in front of the same fans who had been calling for him to be sacked for most of the season.
Arsenal’s players thought his emotion was because he was about to quit when the reality was that the Frenchman was torn over whether to stay or say a glorious farewell.
Wenger, 68, of course was a glutton for punishment and, in retrospect, staying probably proved to be the wrong decision. It was one contract too far.
It has been heading in the wrong direction for a few seasons and amid acrimony some people forgot Wenger was a revolutionary, a visionary and the greatest manager in Arsenal’s history.
Back in his day, he was Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson all rolled into one.
Transforming the days of ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ into freeflowing football, building a winning machine with the Invincibles and lifting three
Premier League titles in seven years. He took over in 1996 when Arsenal had a drinking culture and a dressing room full of big characters who were sceptical of this little known Frenchman, looking more like a geography teacher than football manager.
But within days, Wenger had got his stopwatch out, transformed training into short bursts and drills, got the likes of Steve Bould and Tony Adams doing prematch stretches.
It was all about diet, massages and banning booze and Mars bars.
He ruled the French transfer market, plucking the likes of Patrick Vieira and Nicolas Anelka for bargain prices and turning them into superstars.
The trophies followed, Arsenal fans had never had it so good and Wenger himself was the darling of the English media.
But the Invincibles season of 2003/04 was the high point and, two years later, the club moved from Highbury to the Emirates when Wenger became as much accountant as coach.
It was nigh-on impossible to compete, with so much of the club’s money paying the mortgage for the stadium, and the emergence of Chelsea under Roman Abramovich. Arsenal have rarely been genuine title contenders since.
They have won three FA Cups in the past four years yet the supporters have become frustrated, almost bored, and the clamour for change has grown.
Wenger has even struggled to eat in peace at his favourite restaurant near his home in North London because fed-up fans give him stick. It was the same at the Emirates, spectators close to the dugout shouting poisonous abuse. It has hurt, even though he wouldn’t admit it.
Wenger has struggled to move with the times both on the pitch and off it. When he got fed up of all the talk about big-money transfers and players leaving last summer, his solution was simple. He banned Sky Sports News being shown in the medical room.
He struggled with the Alexis Sanchez situation and regretted not selling him last summer. There were similar mistakes. Wenger was losing his grip.
He has maintained the support of majority shareholder Stan Kroenke but it has been the old guard on the board – led by chairman Sir Chips Keswick – who called for change. They wanted him out last summer but Kroenke held firm. Wenger knew they were even more keen to change it this summer.
Effectively, he has decided to jump before he was pushed. Arguably, it would have been more “grownup conversation” than brutal sacking.
Arsenal have changed the set-up behind the scenes. In head of recruitment Sven Mislintat and former Barcelona director of football Raul Sanllehi they have people in place to make the right appointment.
All the next man has to do is follow a legend.