There have been thousand of Arsenal rumours regarding whether Arsenal will still be at the Emirates next season, and most pundits have said that he wouldn’t consider leaving while the Gunners could still have a chance of winning a trophy (i.e. the Europa League!) but Charlie Nicholas has a completely different view of this.
The ex-Arsenal striker seems pretty convinced that Arsenal will win easy against AC Milan. He said: “Well after the shambles of Arsenal’s last home game in this competition, when they nearly blew it against Ostersund, Arsene Wenger will play a strong line-up with a free weekend to follow.
“This team still have issues despite the 3-0 win at the weekend but they are slowly getting a response.
“I do think at close to even money it is a great price on Arsenal to win given the quality of players who should play and it is another opportunity to build momentum, and get the fans that are there on side.
“I’m actually going a step further and backing Arsenal to win by three or more goals against this bog-standard Milan side.”
BUT he still thinks that Wenger will announce that he will be stepping down at the end of the season, especially if the Emirates is still half empty on the night. Nicholas continued: “However, I also have a feeling that there might be an announcement by the manager either on Friday or over the weekend to confirm that he is going to step down in the summer, perhaps going upstairs, easing the tension and allowing the team to have a go for the Europa League without the same strain.
“He knows the fans don’t hate him, they’re just angry with him, but it was the first time I’ve heard him use the word ‘hate’ and I just think he’s realising he needs to do something to ease the anger.
“I think when he looks up and sees 25,000 fans in the stadium he created that he’ll come to a decision that something has to change.”
It is certainly an interesting theory, and it may well encourage the fans to stay away in bigger numbers if they thought it was a real possiblity. Could the empty stands really persuade Wenger to make his decision?
Darren N