Shots fired at Gunners’ Arsene
LONDON: Arsene Wenger’s future as Arsenal manager will be decided at the end of the season, the BBC reported yesterday without citing sources.
There was currently no prospect of Wenger leaving before the summer, it said, hours after Arsenal were thrashed 5-1 away to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, leaving them needing a miracle at home next month to avoid going out at this stage for the seventh straight year.
Wenger is out of contract at the end of the season and has yet to accept fresh terms on offer. The decision on his future was expected to be taken mutually by the manager and the club, the report added.
Wenger and his team woke to the expected torrent of criticism following another awful display.
Four second-half goals lifted Bayern to the victory and brought out the critics’ knives.
“Spineless!” British newspaper the Daily Mail said, while the Daily Telegraph ran the headline “No Way Back.”
The Daily Express said “Gutless Gunners Cave In” alongside a photo of a pleading Wenger.
Arsenal are a “laughing stock” and Wenger’s best days have passed him by, according to Henry Winter, chief football writer for The Times.
“He has lost his leadership skills, there’s no invincible streak in him any more,” he wrote. “From top to bottom there’s no leadership. They have a silent owner who is sleepwalking towards the abyss.
“Wenger has been overtaken by (Antonio) Conte, (Juergen) Klopp and other managers.”
A dejected Wenger, 67, offered little in a post-match news conference that lasted about three minutes, the amount of time between the second and third Bayern goals.
“The real problem we faced was after the third goal, because we lost our organization and we looked mentally very jaded,” he said. “From that moment on, the last 25 minutes were a nightmare for us because we looked like we had no response.”
Former Gunners defender Martin Keown recently said he expected Wenger to stay for one more season but had questions after the debacle.
“It’s almost embarrassing,” he said on BT Sport’. “They’ve been outclassed and outplayed. It’s 20 years and, seriously, Wenger now must be considering his future because that was embarrassing.
“I can’t ever say I’d like to see him go (but) this is his lowest point ever as Arsenal manager.”
Lee Dixon echoed the sentiments of his former teammate.
“That is the first time where I’ve seen him where I’ve thought: ‘He thinks it’s time’,” the ex-defender said on ITV.
“The fact that he hasn’t been able to get a response from the players in the last few weeks might be the final straw.”
Former goalkeeper Bob Wilson, who worked as a coach under Wenger, wondered if the result was the thing to tip Wenger over the edge.
“His longevity in the job, 20 years, seems to be a little bit like a millstone round his neck when things go wrong,” he told BBC Radio.
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Arsene might just look at that and say enough is enough. I think as a human being you can only take so much.” – Reuters/dpa