Arsene Wenger has been an institution at Arsenal for over twenty years. Taking over the club back in 1996/97, Wenger revolutionised things at Arsenal and arguably in the Premier League in general, introducing drastic changes in areas such as nutrition, and he’s been massively successful too, winning the league in 1997/98, 2001/02 and 2003/04.
Recently though he’s come under a lot of fire despite keeping Arsenal in the Champions League spots for the entirety of his reign. This season will be the first under Wenger that the club are guaranteed to finish behind bitter rivals Tottenham, and it may well be the first time that they slip from the top four too.
Extra Cover: 5 clubs who will gladly take Arsene Wenger if he leaves Arsenal
With the Frenchman’s contract expiring at the end of this season, the big question is whether Arsenal should offer him a new deal. Personally, I don’t think they should, and here are five reasons why.
#1 Long-term managers have become antiquated
When Wenger took over Arsenal in the late 1990s, the idea of the managerial merry-go-round wasn’t really vogue in England, particularly within the top clubs. While perennial relegation battlers would chop and change managers quickly, the longevity of clubs such as Liverpool – with their “boot room” system through the 1970s and 80s – and Manchester United with Alex Ferguson’s legendary dynasty was seen as the way forward.
Now though, 20 years later, short term managers are all the rage. Whether it’s the idea of a mega-rich chairman wanting instant success, as at clubs such as Chelsea or Real Madrid, or having a Director of Football in charge of general operations above the manager/coach, as with Txiki Begiristain at Manchester City, long-term managers who work almost like a dictator just doesn’t cut it these days. Instead, clubs prefer the short-term success that is almost guaranteed by a boss like Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho.
Is this a good idea? I’m not so sure, personally, I’d like less chaos within a club, but to get with the times it’s probably the best thing that Arsenal could do right now. Dispense of Wenger and replace him with a modern, short-term manager like Unai Emery for instance, and hope for the best.
#2 Every season under Wenger follows the same pattern
Ever since their 2006 move to the Emirates Stadium, every Arsenal season under Wenger has followed a similar pattern. It goes something like this: sell a top player or two to a richer club – perhaps a rival – in the close season and replace them with cheaper alternatives while Wenger promises that he has the squad depth to cope. Start off in ropey fashion, hit form in the autumn, wildly crash in the winter months and appear to slide down the table before a late surge takes them up the table and into the top four.
Sure, it’s good enough for a Champions League finish each season, but a club the size of Arsenal should have higher ambitions, namely winning the Premier League and attempting to win the Champions League too.
The fact is that Arsenal’s seasonal slump usually coincides with the knockout stages of the Champions League – witness their awful capitulation against Bayern Munich this year – and also with the most important stage of the league season. It means they’ll probably never win the league while the pattern continues.
To break the pattern, the London club simply must dispense of Wenger. As the old saying goes, only a fool keeps repeating something that doesn’t work, hoping for different results. And to get different results, a change at the top is needed.
#3 He’s lost the respect of the top players
Like Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, at one time it was the cult of personality of Arsene Wenger that allowed him to sign a top player over and above another club. Wenger had such respect within the football world that merely the prospect of working under him enticed a top player into signing for Arsenal. It’s how he was able to attract the likes of Marc Overmars, Sol Campbell and Thierry Henry.
These days though it’s very different. While Arsenal have been able to bring in world-class talent over the past few years – namely Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Granit Xhaka – they’ve been finding it increasingly hard to keep hold of them too.
Speculation is currently flying around over the future of both Sanchez and Ozil, with Sanchez refusing to sign a new contract and Ozil consistently being linked with a move to Bayern Munich. This isn’t a new thing either, as Arsenal have lost key players such as Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri relatively recently too.
The fact is that in terms of respect amongst the world’s best, Wenger has slipped in the pecking order dramatically. The likes of Guardiola, Mourinho, and perhaps even Conte, Pochettino and Simeone have leapfrogged him. By keeping him, Arsenal are signalling that they’re no longer a go-to club for the world’s greats.
#4 Arsenal need a change
In football, 20 years is a ridiculously long time. Think about this – the season that Wenger joined Arsenal saw a Cantona-inspired Manchester United win the league, Alan Shearer finish as the league’s top scorer, and Coventry City – recently relegated into England’s fourth tier – finish seventeenth. This season’s big signing Shkodran Mustafi was just four years old when Wenger was appointed!
Sure, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Wenger is completely past it, but even the greatest things grow stale with time. While other clubs have made huge leaps forward in the years that Wenger’s remained in charge – Tottenham, for instance, finished 10th in 1996/97 while Manchester City were languishing in the second tier – Arsenal have remained the lone constant and in the past couple of seasons I’d argue that they’ve finally stagnated.
With this season looking like the one where they finally miss out on the Champions League, it feels like the right time for Arsenal to freshen things up and make the big change. It wasn’t plain sailing for Manchester United but then Alex Ferguson won the league in the year he left Old Trafford – an improvement on this season would be a success for a new Arsenal manager and that’s achievable.
#5 He’s in danger of spoiling his legacy
It might sound strange but you could make an argument that Arsenal dispensing of Wenger could actually be the best thing for the Frenchman himself. After all, it’s better – particularly in sport – to go out on top in a blaze of glory rather than simply fade away as a shadow of your former self.
Wenger’s old rival Ferguson is the best example of this – he walked away after winning the league in 2012/13, but it could definitely be argued that he chose that time specifically because he felt his grip on both Manchester United and the Premier League weakening due to an inferior squad.
Wenger doesn’t quite have that opportunity simply because Arsenal have slipped much further than Ferguson’s United ever did, but without Champions League football next year, things could get even trickier for Arsenal, especially with clubs such as Tottenham and Liverpool looking to consolidate themselves as European powers and the likes of Everton chasing those top four spots too.
I’m sure Wenger would like to be remembered as the man who led Arsenal to a remarkable title victory in 1997/98 and the man who masterminded the Invincible season rather than the man who was in charge as Arsenal finally slipped out of their perennial Champions League spot.
While he might believe he can still turn things around, it just wouldn’t be that easy. Which is why Arsenal should make the decision and save his legacy for him before it’s too late.
