It is looking very likely (barring a Wenger miracle) that Arsenal are going to finish in the Europa League positions this season after 20 years in the Top Four, but a Top Six finish and a possible FA Cup triumph would be considered by most teams in the Premiership as a successful season. The ex-Man United star Gary Neville certainly thinks so. “If they won the FA Cup this year, would that be seen as a successful season? I’d say probably yes.
“People will argue their league performance has been the worst it’s been for 15-20 years but maybe they are allowed a blip.”
But whatever happens, Neville is certain that there will be no announcement about Wenger’s future until the season is over for the Gunners, and that means after the FA Cup Final on the 27th May which is the week after the final games of the season. Neville also doesn’t think a win or a defeat at Wembley will make any difference to Arsene’s decision after 20 successful (debatable) seasons at Arsenal. “I don’t think it leaves Wenger in a different position,” he continued.
“There won’t be a straw that breaks the camel’s back with Arsene Wenger. It’s a more the long term principle of whether the board and the manager feel it’s the right time – and no-one knows the answer to that. We’ll just have to wait and see – it is a unique situation where a manager has been there for so long.
“The board have got an incredible amount of loyalty to him and rightly so. The manager seems to be in a strong position, where he can almost dictate when he finishes. Everyone wants an answer today but I can’t see that happening while the FA Cup and league campaigns are still going on.”
So we have at least 25 days to wait to know what next season has in store for us. Can we be patient until then?
Admin
Fans still do not get it…..even if we change the manager 20 times we will still not attain success
We need to change the board and the players too
It’s not like that buddy… Sir Alex Ferguson or may be Jose are the men who can still win league or any other competition with this Arsenal… Now some will argue why Jose??? Look at United who struggling like us.. But I would like to make a pointt that we have seen Jose’s playing style with Chelsea with his 1st spell at Chelsea and with Porto, Real Madrid but the thing is Jose is try to mould himself they Man Utd… Currently Man Utd Playing football the way they were used…. Jose is changing his philosophy because United’s history… I would have bet that if Man Utd would have played the way Jose then Currently they would been ahead of Tottenham as well in league… And there is no need to say about Sir Alex Ferguson… He was the best manager in history British Football… Faults are at Manager and not players…
Managers like Wenger, Mourinho, Ranieri and Ferguson will not be able to win against managers like Pochettino, Simeone, Guardiola and Conte from an open play. They can only win if they use “parking the bus” tactic (defensive counter-attack like Leicester City), penalties, set pieces and luck.
Wenger, Mourinho, Ranieri and Ferguson were not successful as players, unlike Pochettino, Simeone, Guardiola and Conte that learned from their experience as players for top European clubs and their national football teams, played in elite European and international competitions. Hence these hungry young managers are highly adaptive to difficult situations and have got great football philosophies.
Arsenal should look for managers that have football philoshopy like this:
“en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauricio_Pochettino#Managerial_style”
““Where did I get the idea we had to (press)? It’s about your personality, who you are. You show on the pitch who you are. If you are brave in your life, you cannot behave in a different way on the pitch. I don’t understand how to play in a different way. Always, be brave. I like to be brave.”
— Pochettino on his coaching philosophy”
“Pochettino favours a very high-pressing, attacking style of football. He often employs a 4–2–3–1 formation at the clubs he manages. While doing so, he instructs his team to build from the back, intimidate and unsettle opponents with a quick press system and work the ball into the box.”
“Pochettino’s team selection tends to include quick players with excellent stamina, likely due to those players having the attributes to excel in a high press system. He is also hailed by many pundits for his focus on developing local players from the clubs’ youth academies.”
Now how can Arsenal’s current players play with this kind of football philoshopy and build the attack from the back, if most of them cannot even possess the ball longer than two touches, before panicking and quickly release the ball to their nearest teammate?
Watch the next Arsenal’s, Tottenham’s and Barcelona’s games, then count their players number of touches. You will see why Arsenal (and the other Premiere League teams) keeps losing against the other top European teams.
Wenger is the face of Arsenal FC he runs the club from the bottom to the top.Yes the owner and board are to blame of course they are but Wenger is the BIGGEST problem at Arsenal.It’s because of his stubbornness,arrogance and crappy ego that Arsenal is where it’s today.The 1st and most important change at Arsenal would be with Wenger without a doubt.
managers make a difference even without new players. How many new players did Chelsea buy? Did Everton have a squad overhaul? Look at what Big Sam did at Palace. A manager who knows what he is doing can make a big difference. Even if the board and owner stay the same.
I think Wenger will announce his resignation if Arsenal win the FA Cup. He knows that next season would be more difficult to compete with the younger managers, so winning the FA Cup would be a good chance for him to leave sweet remembrance to the fans.
If Arsenal win and he does resign, I will remember him as the greatest Arsenal manager ever. So everybody, please pray for Arsenal to win the FA Cup!
Its not hard to compete
The problem is hes too soft and always stick to the players that doesnt perform
No plan B
Fergie at 72yo still lash out and axed his players
I’ve already come to terms with AW staying for at least another 1-2 seasons. I just don’t get the uncertainty?! Maybe he knows lots of fans would rejoice and party at his resignation and that would hurt him – it would be a liberty but understandable given the current situation. Likewise if he announces his inevitable renewal then fans would go ballistic! – which is again understandable given the teams poor form/run of results
I would like him to bow out in a blaze of glory winning 1 more league title but that seems unrealistic! So hopefully we can win the FA cup and AW would then be leaving us as the most successful manager and team in FA cup history, which is no easy feat! That way AW could say “yeah I had our worst season at the club out of 20+ years but even under such circumstances I still managed to win the cup (and maintain the top 4 record)
Neville has got the context all wrong. Of course teams are allowed blips, having up and down seasons here and there, but Arsenal never have any ‘up’ seasons, that’s the problem! Chelsea were shocking last season, but had won the league the previous season, and will probably win it again this season. Those are the kind of ups and downs I want, not playing for fourth all the time!
I do however agree with him that Wenger will not announce his future plans until after the cup final.
He’s staying, he’s too stubborn to leave and he considers Arsenal his personal club.
The only reason he’s waiting till the last game of the season (FA Cup) is because after that there is very little if not, no fan backlash. The season is over.
Win the FA and he’ll claim a succcess. Loose and he’ll claim that ‘at least we got to the final’.
Arsene doesn’t care what is fans think, he has thick skin, he’s already proved to be the most stubborn man in football. The only way Arsene leaves is if the Kroenke family decide enough is enough – or not enough ($)…
For years I have heard fans moaning that they would rather finish 4th than win the fa cup. But this season if we win the fa cup and finish 4th it still is not enough.
The fact is we could win the fa cup and finish 4th 5th or 6th. Whereas Liverpool, man city and hopefully spurs will finish without a trophy, but with arsenal’s coveted champions league place and people are complaining. Only mourinho is guaranteed a trophy this season so far, cos he already has it.
What I find unforgivable, is that Wenger’s indecisiveness, is contributing to hurt the future of our club.
At the moment we have a practical civil war brewing between the fans, that is the AOB vs WKB. The players seemed to either stopped playing for the manager or their heads have been turned by resigning themselves that their future lays elsewhere. At the same time, other rival clubs are planning to strengthen their teams by propositioning prospective talent with a view to lure them to their club with the strong bargaining chip of guaranteed champion’s league football next season. As it stands I cannot see how we would be an attractive proposition to any “top” player to consider aligning their future with.
Maybe Admin can run a pole on how many Arsenal fans actually believe this will be Wenger’s last season. It is quite clear the majority of us accept it should be his last season, but I for one have no illusion that this man will leave.
Is there anyone who actually believes he will not sign a new contract?
True… It’s very difficult to envisage Wenger not being in charge next season, given the arrogance and stubbornness that he’s demonstrated despite Arsenal’s continued mediocrity for so long.
Having said that, I think this is the most pressure he’s ever been under. With talk of Kroenke-Junior wanting to bring-in a Director of Football, increasingly angry protests from fans, and the outside-the-top-four league position, I’m beginning to think “Maybe, just maybe…”