Simeone is taking on Arsenal this week. He should be taking over next season
FOR Arsene Wenger, a victory in the Europa League final in Lyon would be the perfect send-off.
His Arsenal side are capable of giving him that, too.
But just because they could do it doesn’t mean they will do, and I’m afraid to say I just do not see them getting past Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid in the semis.
Over two legs, it is going to be very difficult for the Gunners against a side that is battle-hardened in Europe.
Yes, Arsenal can beat anyone on their day, but as we have seen their days are getting fewer and further between.
That’s why I am going for Atletico to win a low-scoring affair which sees the Spaniards keeping one clean sheet and maybe even two.
I see them doing a professional job on the Gunners, offering up further proof that Simeone is the only man Ivan Gazidis and Co should be targeting as they step up the search for Wenger’s successor.
I have long maintained that and, even though the Argentinian is about the only big-name manager not being touted, nothing has changed my mind on that. OK, so the much-vaunted Luis Enrique is a very good coach but, like Pep Guardiola, he inherited an incredible Barcelona side.
I know you have to put your stamp on a team like that but how much do we really learn of someone as a manager while they’re in such jobs?
What Enrique did at the Nou Camp was pick up the baton and run with it, but that’s not the job at the Emirates.
It’s a rebuilding job in North London, a job which needs a man with an iron will and iron fist who will get hold of those nice boys and really shake them up.
Simeone has had another great season in La Liga with a top-two finish on the cards and, really, what more do the Arsenal board want?
Actually, they probably want someone who is malleable, not ballsy, someone who’ll just do as Wenger has done while keeping the cash tills ringing.
Someone they can mould rather than someone who comes in and says, ‘Right, you have been doing this, this and this is wrong, now it’s time to do it my way’.
If Wenger can surprise me by guiding his side past Simeone’s men this Thursday and next, then I will doff my cap to him just as I did when he announced he was leaving.
I joined in the thank yous to Le Professeur on Instagram and Twitter, but I drew the line at calling him a revolutionary, as some people did, because I know Pete Edwards brought in good nutrition at Nottingham Forest well before Wenger arrived at Arsenal.
I’m sure others were doing it, too.
In his 22 years in England, his sides have struggled in Europe really, getting to two finals, and losing both. But a win now would throw down the gauntlet to the next man and say, ‘You go and take them to the next level’.
Wenger has done much for Arsenal and it would be a cherry on the top of his work for the club.
I hope he can do it, even if I’m not sure he will.