Will 5-1 mauling see Wenger walk?
LONDON – As Arsene Wenger the job of re-energising his players after their mauling by Bayern Munich, English football wondered whether its longest-serving manager, whose contract is up at the end of the season, might be the real casualty of Arsenal’s Champions League humiliation.
The 67-year-old Frenchman was stunned almost into silence after Wednesday’s game, answering just three questions.
Wenger is due to speak publicly again today, by which time he will have had time not only to digest the 5-1 defeat but also the hostile reaction from pundits and former Arsenal players predicting his demise when his contract expires this June.
Such is Wenger’s standing at the club he has presided over for 20 years, he will effectively decide his own fate. A new deal has been offered but Arsenal legends Lee Dixon, Ian Wright and Bob Wilson all said they felt Wenger might decide to walk away.
“I doubt he will sleep very much between now and a horrible [FA Cup]
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game on an artificial pitch at Sutton on Monday,” said Wilson. “He might say enough is enough.”
Critics were quick to point out that Wenger’s explanation for the Munich mauling – that his players were “jaded and lacking organisation ”– reflected his own managerial shortcomings.
The only support seemed to come from Bayern manager Carlo Ancelotti. “This is football,” he said. “I think Arsene has a lot of experience, the experience to manage this moment, this result and look forward to the next game. It’s only one game.” The trouble is, it isn’t.
Six successive eliminations at the same stage do not suggest coincidence and a tactically disjointed Arsenal side were well beaten by opponents below their best.