Admirer Dyche happy to laud Arsene’s great achievements

ARSENE WENGER admits his last home date with his beloved Arsenal will be full of ‘sadness’.

The Emirates curtain falls on the departing Gunners boss this afternoon – with Burnley in town for his final act on the stage he built.

Further underlining the personal pain of his near 22-year reign drawing to a close, Wenger is expecting it to be an emotion-charged goodbye with the masses later today.

And coming so soon after the agony of losing to Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-finals will only make the occasion harder to stomach.

Asked how he will feel during his last 90 minutes in The Emirates dugout, Wenger likened it to breaking up with the love of your life.

The Arsenal boss, 68, said: “It will be dominated by sadness because it is the end of a love story – certainly the end of my contribution to Arsenal.”

Yet, as ever, Wenger is retaining dignity. Despite his own heartbreak, he is the first to acknowledge the honour of having been at the helm of the Premier League giants for more than two decades.

And he is urging everyone at the club to be positive as they begin to plan for life without him.

“It will also be gratefulness for having had this chance to be with the club I have cherished so much for such a long time,” Wenger said.

“Hopefully, I have tried to make people happy. Now I wish just that the people who love this club will be happy in the future and get what they really want.

“This is also a very good opportunity for the club to look in a different way – with new people and new ideas trying to move the club forward.

“I want the fans to identify with the club and to enjoy a positive future.”

Wenger, with three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups during his time in north London, will receive a guard of honour from both teams before kick-off.

After the match, a host of former Gunners stars will be involved in a parade around the pitch to celebrate those record-breaking achievements.

Wenger, who has fielded 222 players during his reign, added: “I’ve met so many nice people on a daily basis who appreciated what I did.

“It’s also my opportunity to say thank you to those who were so faithful.

“I had the luxury to play for 22 years with a sold-out stadium. That’s a real luxury in this job. “Until now I have been only focused on the future and tomorrow.

“Now, when I look back, it was a privilege to have so many great people and players.

“Most of the time the two very much gravitated together.

“I believe Arsenal is a special place for players to be.”

As for assessing his immense impact on the club, he concedes that is impossible at this moment – as he battles to come to terms with last Thursday’s defeat to Atletico.

Wenger, whose troops lost 1-0 on the night in Spain and 2-1 on aggregate, said: “The disappointment from that game is still too much for me to be able to reflect on such a long period in charge of this club.

“But I will certainly do so in the future,

I promise you.” Nov 2017: Burnley 0 Arsenal 1 Jan 2017: Arsenal 2 Burnley 1 Oct 2016: Burnley 0 Arsenal 1 Jan 2016: Arsenal 2 Burnley 1 Apr 2015: Burnley 0 Arsenal 1

Arsenal – 50 wins Burnley – 33 wins Draws – 21 EMOTIONAL FAREWELL: Wenger is ready to wave goodbye to The Emirates SEAN DYCHE has admitted that he was a couch Gooner in midweek cheering on Arsenal in the Europa League.

The Burnley boss would have loved it if rival boss Arsene Wenger could have lived the dream and reached the final.

Instead, former Chelsea star Diego Costa’s winner for Atletico Madrid meant Wenger will leave The Emirates this summer without a single European trophy in his 22-year reign.

And for that unhappy ending, Dyche confesses that he was “gutted”.

He will hand over a souvenir memento to Wenger in honour of his formidable Arsenal managerial career after today’s game.

But Dyche (above) knows only too well the only thing the Frenchman would have loved to get his hands on was some European silverware. Dyche said: “It’s a funny one watching on TV as you end up partly wanting it to happen because it just ends an unbelievable 22 years. “You’re willing it to happen. And then it doesn’t and you’re a bit gutted with that really. “But then there have been similar fairytale moments, with the Invincibles and all of that. “I’ll take him something privately from the club on behalf of all of us. But no big public thing. “I got him something when he was up here to mark 20 years.” Dyche admits that he has had long chats with Wenger in the past and he was not slow in coming forward to pick the great man’s brains.

He added: “It wasn’t an advice thing. But I’m always interested in asking him questions about Arsenal and how it moves forward.

“And they’re quite intrigued by our stories as well.

“I found him to be a really good fella, very open.

“Yes, Arsene’s certainly up there with all the top managers.

“But while it’s all active, because of the madness of football life, they’re weirdly not deemed as good as how they come to be seen.

“I think in 10 years’ time, people will look back and go, ‘Oh my goodness, that was unbelievable’.

“Sir Alex gets that now because they’ve suddenly realised how hard it is to do that. That might happen at Arsenal.”