ARSENE WENGER, THE END OF THE ROAD

ARSENE WENGER, THE END OF THE ROAD by Valentine

Like I said on Sunday after the 1st of 2 matches in 4 days in between Arsenal and Man City, Arsene Wenger’s time at the helm in Arsenal is finally over after 22 years.

*Why did the Arsenal Board keep him for the last 6-14 Years?*
1. *FA Cup Haul* Because he has consistently delivered the FA Cup at least every other year and let’s face it the FA cup is an illustrious trophy,. regarded as the oldest and most prestigious FA trophy in the World. Let’s not undermine this trophy because of Arsene and give credit where it is due because fewer coaches have won it in the EPL at least for that long (although some will say that Arsene has been there longer than most, but it’s okay. Go Arsene! Go Arsene!!) The FA Cup still comes with prestige and money so kudos to the Board.* Trophy Haul:* 7 times, since 1996, the last one coming against Chelsea last year at Wembley.

2. *Top 4/Champions League* He has consistently maintained consistency in playing in this tournament despite the fact that they are out by the Quarters all these years save the year that they got to the final with Barca. This also comes with Money but not Prestige for dropping out early. The Board would take the money, leave out the prestige bit. Kudos to them.

3. *Winning the League (EPL)*
His early success, a year after joining the Club in 1996 at Arsenal was phenomenal, winning the League (EPL) and FA cup double in 1997-98 & 2001-02 seasons and then winning the league for the last time in 2003-04 season (Les Invincible) was enough to win and melt the hearts of die hard fans, the Board and even eagle eyed watchers in London as well as coaches and even referees. He was the cynosure of all eyes that threatened the legacy of the Legendary Sir Alex Ferguson (SAF) usurping him 3 times and even going one better than SAF in winning the 2003-04 season unbeaten with a then record 26 Wins & 12 Draws. The highly decorated former Manchester United Manager in all his years of glory never got to the finishing line unbeaten and why this seemed to have sparked a resurgence of sorts and a need to consistently reinvent himself to take Man United to the next level. This level of success sparked the opposite response in Monsieur Wenger as he became complacent and began to take himself too seriously. He failed to realise that with success came responsibility and the bigger the success the bigger the responsibility. He failed to reinvent himself in the modern game.

Arsene began to see himself as the most important and single fabric in the Arsenal textile and he began to sell very key, important and influential players and Leaders both in the dressing room and on the pitch such as Alexander Hleb, Mathieu Flamini, Thierry Henry and the likes. The effect is that there were no more leaders in the team and it is quite instructive that Cesc Fabregas, purchased from Barcelona as a young teenager became the leader of the pack with amazing skills on the pitch but with little leadership experience to impart. It would become apparent over the years in the team that leadership as much as skills has a major role to play in the course of a season.

Though there were FA cup successes here and there but the lack of Premier League success also began to take its toll on the the team. The success of Leicester City as EPL Champions did not help matters at all and confined one of Wenger’s famous excuses to the garbage heap; on how spending too much money on players was hurting the EPL and Leicester did the unthinkable and unimaginable and won the League anyway without spending a fraction of what Arsenal spent on their own players. What that meant was that they used Monsieur Wengers age long philosophy about spending less and discovering talent to win the league that Wenger himself, the owner of the philosophy, last won in 2003-04 season. The BoD were watching. With Leicester’s triumph, I will not be drawn into the issue of money bags winning the league for 2 reasons;

1. Leicester won it without Money bags.
2. Arsenal has the financial power, muscle or clout to compete with any club in the top 6 and I think Arsene has been too modest when he gives the impression that Arsenal cannot compete financially just to support his declining position.

I would also not be drawn into The New Stadium (The Emirates) issue because Arsenal could still have stayed competitive without selling their best players at the time. They could have staked their gate takings as equity coupled with any financial technicalities and wizardry a handsomely paid consultant could muster. Sorry, Monsieur Wenger, no dice.

Although there were new quality, world-class additions to the Arsenal team such as Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, after the exodus of quality players, but the old problem still remained. The Coach had suddenly become stale overnight and that filtered to the boys on the field with a penchant for unseriousness, lackadaisical attitude and to prove that, talented young players in their generation such as Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere and even Aaron Ramsey peaked at an early stage in their careers without knowing that they had peaked because there was very little coming from the coach. Giroud, Ozil & Sanchez and the others who came in later could not witness any resurgence in their careers under Wenger and the highbrow televised transfer of Sanchez from Arsenal to Man Utd did not go unnoticed by avid football followers.

*Wenger’s Regress*
Wengers early successes had now become his nemesis and if you trace when the real issues started you cannot be too far off from the last time he won the league in 2003-04 season. Well some can argue that he still won 3 FA cups after that but remember, *“The Fan blade does not immediately stop when you switch off the power, it will still rotate for a while and slowly come to and end”* and I suspect that the end is near for Wenger to quit at the end of this season either willingly or forced.

*Wengers Exit*
The Son of the major stakeholder at Arsenal coming to London for a few months on a fact finding mission may just herald the beginning of the change of Guard in handing over the baton to a new generation of personnel; Directors and Head Coach/Manager inclusive but I suspect mostly the latter.

Ancelloti as new Head Coach Manager will not be a bad idea since he is a a proven winner in the Premier League and will target a trophy highly coveted by Arsenal, and whether he wins it at first trial is a topic for another day but the Coach with the best fit for Arsenal is none other than Luiz Enrique. But he is no longer available and rumoured to be heading towards Stamford Bridge but Arsenal will do just fine with Ancelotti despite the fact that other reputable coaches such as Joachim Loew (Germany), Leonardo Jardim (Monaco), Julian Nagelsmann (Hoffenheim) and even Arsenal’s mostly illustrious Son, Thierry Henry have all been touted for the job.

Arsene Wenger will not be disgraced at his duty post, far from it because his early successes ensures that ,and he has earned the right to move and his next move is very crucial and predictable – to the Directors box Upstairs. Shifting upwards will be a win-win for all parties concerned because Arsenal would have it no other way; as ensuring equity and fairness to all parties concerned, rather than taking the bull by the horns, is what has kept Arsenal in this same position in the first place.

Story/ Report by
*Valentine Egbiremon*
Unofficial Correspondent/Sports News Director
Federal Government College Idoani
Class of 88
Nigeria

52 Comments

    1. What’s wrong with Ancelloti????
      THREE time Champions League winner and Premier League Champion as well as Serie A, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga Champion among other trophies.
      He is one of the best managers of all time

      1. He just failed with Bayern Munich and they are much better now without him. Got sacked by Chelsea and Real Madrid

        1. ” Got sacked by Chelsea and Real Madrid” and therefore not good enough, is your bizarre comment. Those corrupt clubs would sack God himself if the President and Abramovitch, both ego maniac dictators ,saw fit. Ancelloti is a world level long term proven top manager and only fools deny it. However, my personal choice would still be Enrique or Simeone , though both are unlikely as not likely to be free. Two years ago Guardiola was there for the taking but this stupid, inept and corrupt club FAILED to act. Quelle surprise!

          1. haha, exactly. Chelsea and Madrid love to sack, and his time at Bayern was still decent. Pep’s wasn’t much more successful. I’d take Ancelloti easily. Arsenal need a man manager for sure and someone with experience. Wouldn’t be my first choice but he’s still a good choice.

          2. Agreed on all your points
            Missed the chance with pep
            Would take Ancelloti in a heart beat.
            He would turn this squads losing mentality in to winners
            Dump a few and add some steel and quality
            Henry as number 2 .. would love to see viera to be no.2 so he could take over in a few years after he had learnt the finer tricks of the trade but couldn’t see him there as a 2
            Out with the old in with the new
            The king is dead long live the king

      2. Too buddy buddy .
        We need a proper leader.

        Someone who will make the tough decisions . Undo all the wenger isms of past decade

        Ancelotti great manager : not what we need

        1. How can someone ever think of Ancheloti over ARSENE!!! The guy’s been sacked every two years and has managed previously assembled squads. Arsene has been let down by the players – highly paid pros who have no soul for the club, hope he benches these dudes and plays the reserves/academy guys, at the least they will try for their honor and future. I’d choose only Allegiri to replace Arsene once he has honored his contract or decides to move up the hierarchy.

          1. Oh my god!! After all that has been SEEN WITNESSED TELEVISED REPORTED DISCUSSED BLAH BLAH BLAH ETC ETC ETC there is always someone.
            Pal -Wengers players Wengers tactics Wengers coaching Wengers motivation.
            Accept it -WENGERS GONE

            1. Just when you think the Arsenal fan world is united on his demise, up comes an idiot , in this case Gunner 22, to argue black is white! There is always one, as the saying goes!

          2. I will try to be diplomatc
            Ancelloti is not a long term fix but he is a serial winner
            We need winners and bringing back the winning mentality
            A good no.2 to learn the trade and take over if need be.
            It gives us long term stability if required and not chelski situation but saying that they keep winning
            AW HAS LET HIS SELF DOWN by not changing
            I was once a AW in but unfortunately you can’t teach an old dog new tricks if he doesn’t want to learn and AW falls in to that category
            Neville made a good point when he said we could forgive the losing as we still played beautiful football. We don’t do that any more.
            It feels like really bad saying he needs to go but put it this way
            Your grandad who you truly love. Has been great to you all your life. Given you everything but he starting piss*** a few times everywhere and you had to clean it up which you did t like but accepted. He is now crapping everywhere and it is time you have to stick him in a home for your own sanity.
            He can’t help it as it is down to old age
            The king is dead
            Long live the king
            We move on

      3. My point is that whereever he goes, he wins trophies. He has won the league Title in Spain, France, Italy and England (which is the most important. Actually he won the double with FA Cup too. ) And again he won three Champions League trophied. I think he may be the only person to do that. Dude wins trophies. That’s what we need. Also, in our situation going from Wenger to Ancelloti won’t be that bad of a leap. Hell at this point Id jump from Wenger to Benitez. At least he has won CL lol

    1. But this wa written by;

      *Valentine Egbiremon*
      Unofficial Correspondent/Sports News Director
      Federal Government College Idoani
      Class of 88
      Nigeria.

      So it obviously carries more weight than other articles.

      1. How does “unofficial” carry more weight, his head must be huge so, a big Rigobert song forehead.

        1. It just made me laugh, the most convoluted tilte I’ve seen since Idi Amini gave himself every honour he could think of lol.

  1. Was about to say that I broke the news of Wenger leaving months ago.He will step down at the end of the season but likely to be sacked if Arsenal don’t win Europa.The following are Arsenal’s transfer targets for the season including the managers.The rest are rumours.We will likely sign one for all but possibly 2CB signings.
    Managers:Ancelotti,Henry,Viera,Tuchel,Nagelsmann(recommended by Minslintat)
    GK:Lafont,Schmeichel,Timo Horn(likely)
    RB:Hysaj,Sidibe,Tete
    CB(2):Diallo,Alderweireld,Manolas,Sarr,Koulibaly,Upamecano,Diop
    LB::Grimaldo,Ghoulam
    CM/DM:Ndidi,Fabinho,Kondogbia,Ndombele,Doucoure,Meyer
    Wonderkid:Leon Bailey(recommended by Minslintat)

    1. – Managers: I only like Henry
      – GK: No Schmeichel please
      – RB: Whatever coz Bellerin really needs a strong competitor
      – CB: Anybody that plays for a top European club currently, except Alderweireld
      – LB: Better allocate the fund for something else
      – DM: Ndidi or Jorginho would be good
      – Bailey: Get him ASAP before City or MU snap him

    2. Hysaj and Koulibaly could be good additions, they already play together for Napoli and getting them both may be difficult as they respect Sarri a lot plus Napoli are doing better than us ATM and most likely be getting UCL football next season unless they go on a major losing streak… Not like wenger is managing them so I doubt that.

      I would prefer not to see AFC sign a LB, as @gotanidea said, much prefer to see the funds spent on more important issues.

      I would like to see Mustafi sold and would be nice to see Manolas as his replacement, about the same as as Koulibaly and as such capable of forming a partnership for 5? years…

      For DM, I would like to see either Fabinho or Kondogbia from that list. If I could dream then sign them both, sell Xhaka and ElNeny. Could also throw in Ramsey into the sale list. Diamond 4 man mid?

      Team so far…
      GK
      Bellerin(Hysaj)/Manolas(Chambers)/Koulibaly(Mavrop)/Sead(Monreal)
      Wilshere(Willock)
      Kondogbia(AMN)/Fabinho(???)
      Ozil(Mkhi or Nelson)

      ???= New signing or instead of a def B2B we could play Ozil or Mkhi here against weaker oppositions that we are expected to dominate possession against.

      Instead of Bailey I would like to see Martial be bought, he is EPL ready and he has been scoring this year, Alexis joining UTD has upset the Att balance and he may be willing to come to us…

      CF 2 from;
      Auba/Laca/Martial/Nketiah

      Bahhh I know I am dreaming XD

  2. – Ancelloti: He just failed with Bayern Munich and they are much better now without him. Got sacked by Chelsea and Real Madrid

    – Enrique: A flop at AS Roma, bought several low quality players at Barcelona (Andre Gomes, Alcacer, etc) and did several weird experiments in his last season at Barcelona. Taking risk by hiring this erratic manager would not be worse than keeping Wenger and he could instill Barcelona’s football philosophy into Arsenal

    – Loew: We have many senior players and staffs that speak German, so he could be suitable for Arsenal. He also seems to know how to maximize Ozil’s abilities

    – Jardim: He is used to work with smaller budget and his team plays with attractive football. Good option

    – Nagelsmann: Too young to gain respect from our players and no great achievement yet

    – Henry: Does not have any experience as a manager, but he played in several major leagues and he is an Arsenal legend. Taking risk by hiring him would not be worse than keeping Wenger

    – Arteta: Same as Henry, but he has worked with Moyes, Wenger and Guardiola, so maybe he knows their methods, strengths and weaknesses. I prefer him than Henry because he has been learning directly from Pep

    – Sarri: Another manager that likes to show attractive football. Another good option

      1. He implements boring football and most of his opponents seem to know how to deal with his 3-4-2-1 already

    1. Enrique(not true),Loew(not interested in job),Jardim(maybe outside target),Arteta(not interested in job),Brendan Rodgers(not true),Sarri(maybe outside target.

    2. i agree that ancelotti shouldnt be a first choice, but pretty silly you are throwing out these statements without context. He won UCL the season before he got sacked, and won EPL/FA double before Chelsea sacked him. Two clubs that love to sack managers, don’t make him look worse than he is. He’s easily one of the most successful managers in the modern game. But I agree, not what Arsenal need at the moment, but just had to get that out there.

    3. Enrique, Sarri and Jardim would all get me excited, obviously not at the same time XD

      Enrique did get more points per game at his time with Barca than Pep, slightly better scoring with a slightly worse def.

      Sarri has built a solid def at Napoli and he has the respect of his players, pinching him might be the catalyst for signing some of Napoli better def players.

      Jardim has done well on a low budget, making profit so this will please Silent Stan and Gazidis. We have been rumored to be interested in Martial and rumors of him looking elsewhere as Alexis turned up could be good for us. AFC also have some top youths who could benefit from Jardim and how he has been getting players to step up past potential, we could have our very own Mbappe with Nketiah…

      Being able to look at multiple managers and see benefits… There isn’t a lack of top managers around, we should look to get one of them.

  3. Even Merson reckons we’ll lose tomorrow. I’m dreading it….. I’d rather watch it alone, but will watch it with my family (Liverpool, man city, man United, Chelsea supporters) I’ll end up having a meltdown….. then write on here as you people feel my pain ☹

    1. My whole family are Arsenal supporters so we are ALL depressed and miserable. At least you have a few smiling faces in yours.

      1. andcliff…. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at your comment! Hopefully we won’t be miserable for too much longer ?

  4. It’s been long I posted comment here. . .

    The last Arsenal game I saw was against Everyone, we won the game comfortably.

    Wenger has made some of us tired and weary. We are a joke of a club currently.

    It’s time to Go Wenger.

  5. A major component of Wenger’s demise has been the loss of tall physical agressive players to augment the smaller technical players. Arsenal has been too often bullied by better teams and kicked off the park by lesser teams. In his earlier sides with Bould, Keown, Adams, Dixon, Campbell, Gilberto, Viera, Parlour, Petit and Bergkamp the team could mix it technically and physically. The opposition, even Manchester United, knew they were in for a fight. Wenger’s later teams are comparatively a pack of pussies.
    As well as that Wenger does not encourage strong leaders, because he dislikes conflict on the pitch, at the training ground and in the dressing room. His earlier teams had many strong characters, who would sort each other out if performances were not up to the required standard.
    Just look at the recent captains Arsenal has had, including non playing Mertesacher and Walcott.

    1. Bergkamp was a rare playmaker that has a combination good stature, sublime ball control and excellent vision

      It would be difficult to find someone like him again, even Cazorla could not handle the pressure when playing behind the striker

    2. Wenger does not like anyone strong enough to ‘threaten’ his position of supremacy. Players and coaches. Steve Bould (so called assistant manager) is a tough guy and a great ex defender. Is he allowed to coach much ? NO

  6. Yeah, you forgot Kierian Gibbs as captain (for the very first time) vs Bayern Munich, with Karl Jinkinson at right back. Laughable and pathetic!

  7. Everything changes with time and that change has to come for Arsenal Wenger is a spent force and the sooner they get rid of the better we will be

  8. Its a shame.
    A legend who didn’t know when it was time to call it a day.
    I just hope that it is a dignified end from all parties and he leaves on good terms.
    Surely he must know it is at an end..

    1. I couldn’t care less if he gets a dignified exit. For years he has been bringing this on himself / on the players / most of all on the poor bloody fans.

  9. fans saying aceloti needs to think twice. because he just got sacked from byern were there is no competition, an easy league were there is no competition doubt if he can survive the premier league,where the hell is Enrique of baca,, pep Thks for sacking wenger

  10. Many managers have been sacked following a heavy loss.He shd have been fired
    2001 following the 8-2 massacre. To the best of my knowledge there has been any top team conceding 8 repeat 8 goals.Before the game he need not want to buy anyone.
    Following the loss he brought in 5 players.
    I believe he shd go asap .Otherwis e Arsenal risks becoming irrelevant and becoming
    just another epl team. Arsenal is apremium brand whose value and status has diminished
    under Wenger. At any other top team it would not have been tolerated and he would have been axed 10 years ago.

  11. I think the board should put Arsene out of his misery and terminate his contract now and get a caretaker manager in.; it was their mistake giving him a new contract. Getting a caretaker manager in might be the board’s only hope of rescuing Arsenal’s season via the Europa league, or grabbing 4th place. Currently we are on course to being out of any European competition next season (Arsexit).

  12. Diego Simeone for me, he will sort out the rot that has developed in the past few years. If they don’t play for him and the team they’re benched and he doesn’t massage egos either. Failing that I would love to see Patrick Viera (a REAL Arsenal legend) back, I know it’s a risk but look what happened when Barca gave Pep a chance. As for Henry he’s too nice and totally inexperienced.

    By the way who put Brendan Rogers in the frame it’s not April 1st. is it? Stay at Celtic, you can win the league every year with no hassle.

  13. Jardim ticks all the boxes and is highly regarded by a certain Mr. A. Wenger who unfortunately will not be asked to resign by what is a weak bunch of Directors.We will be going over the same ground with AW next season,just wait and see.I hope I’m proved wrong.

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