Wenger a dead man walking
ARSENAL BOSS AT ODDS WITH HIS STAR MAN SANCHEZ
Chilean winger and his manager may both leave the club.
Radiating anger and resignation in equal measure, Arsene Wenger wore the exasperated expression that has become all too familiar to Arsenal followers during their club’s futile attempts to conquer Europe.
Wenger’s frustrated demeanour on the touchline at the Allianz Arena last month was provoked by the sight of Arsenal being outclassed by Bayern Munich – again – in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Each Bayern goal was a fresh twist of the knife for Wenger and by full-time Arsenal had been hammered 5-1, a chastening loss that seems certain to make tonight’s second leg at the Emirates Stadium a mere formality for the Germans.
There was an unmistakeable feeling of deja vu as Wenger and his players trudged back to the change-room, once again assailed by the harsh realities of Europe’s elite club competition.
Arsenal have been eliminated in the first knockout round of the Champions League in each of the last six seasons, twice by Bayern, and Wenger appears no closer to solving the problem.
This season’s likely exit would sting even more for Wenger because it could prove his final taste of the Champions League after 21 years as Arsenal manager.
Amid mounting speculation Wenger is ready to quit when his contract expires at the end of the season, the Frenchman has refused to give a firm assurance he will return next term.
If that is the case, his failure to master the unique demands of the Champions League will surely be Wenger’s biggest regret.
He was just 14 minutes from lifting the trophy in 2006 when Arsenal led Barcelona despite the dismissal of goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
But Sol Campbell’s goal for the Gunners was relegated to a footnote as Barca’s pressure finally paid off with late strikes from Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti.
Arsenal can still dazzle when they reach top gear, but their attacking style is an open invitation for the likes of Bayern and Barca to run riot.
Never was the disparity clearer than in this season’s first leg against Bayern when Carlo Ancelotti’s team enjoyed 75% of the possession and made full use of it.
Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Liverpool left Arsenal outside the top four and an embattled Wenger with some explaining to do after leaving star man Alexis Sanchez out of his starting line-up.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Sanchez walked out of training and was involved in a bust-up with angry team-mates days before the match.
The confrontation could, the paper said, hasten his departure from Arsenal at the end of the season, with PSG Juventus eager for his signature.
The Gunners’ only other Champions League semifinal appearance came in 2009 and again ended in recriminations as Manchester United, holding a slender 1-0 lead from the first leg, shattered Arsenal’s optimism with two goals in the opening 11 minutes of the second leg in north London.
But, fatally, his stubborn streak ensured he would continue to construct his teams without the necessary steel required to snuff out the world’s best attackers.
Having won three Premier League titles and six FA Cups, Wenger can leave with his head held high whenever he calls it quits, but barring one of the alltime great escape acts tonight, his struggles in Europe will always haunt him. –