Arsene Wenger ranks among the all-time great managers, but has the time come for the Frenchman to leave Arsenal?
When Wenger arrived at Arsenal in October 1996 there were a lot of question marks over his appointment. Many asked who this man was coming in from Nagoya Grampus Eight in the Japanese J League to take over the reins of one of the top English clubs.
Over the course of more than 1,000 games since then, the 65-year-old has moulded the club and reinvented it. He has overseen a huge transformation during his time in charge, with the modern-day Arsenal moving from Highbury into the fantastic Emirates stadium.
It cannot be argued against that Wenger boasts an impressive record at Arsenal. He won the Double in 1998 in his first full season and repeated that feat four years later in 2002. In the 2003-04 season, Arsenal won the Premier League without a single defeat; that team is now known as 'The Invincibles'. Over the 38 games played during that season, their league record stood at 26 wins, 12 draws, and 0 losses. In total, Wenger's Arsenal have won three Premier League titles (1997-98, 2001-02, 2003-04) and five FA Cups (1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014). Under his stewardship the club have qualified for the Champions League group stage for 17 consecutive seasons, with the recent 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund taking the club into the last 16 for the 15th season running. However, there are many who still focus on that nine-year barren run without a major trophy before the FA Cup win in 2014.
This season though has been the second worst start to a league campaign under Wenger, with 23 points from 15 games (in 2012-13 Arsenal had 21 points at this stage). Some fans are becoming increasingly frustrated with Wenger, he is perceived as being too stubborn to see that he has got it wrong, there is a feeling of it's the same old story every season and that the same mistakes are being repeated over and over again. A 'Wenger Out' campaign has started emanating among some sections of the Arsenal supporters, unveiling a banner at a recent match asking Wenger to quit and many of them taking to Twitter to voice their discontent with #WengerOut trending.
If Wenger is to go, then the Gunners would need to ensure that they replace him with equal quality or better, and there are not many of those managers around. The top candidates seem to be Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola, Borussia Dortmund's Jurgen Klopp and Atlético Madrid's Diego Simeone, but as seen with David Moyes taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson it is not easy for a new manager to replicate their predecessors legacy.
So for all those Arsenal fans calling for Wenger to go, the real question has to be; who could you get to do a better job?
Source: DSG
