The talk of Arsene Wenger leaving Arsenal this summer hit fever pitch after the Gunners loss to Bayern Munich.

The talk of the Frenchman’s departure has lead to pundits and journalists to warn Arsenal fans that the grass might not be greener at the Emirates, if Wenger does indeed head for the exit door.

One main argument I’ve seen, is that Arsenal may suffer from the same hangover Manchester United did when fellow legendary gaffer Sir Alex Ferguson left his job at Old Trafford in 2013.

United are now onto their third manager since Sir Alex left and have failed to win the Premier League since his final title during his last season.

Now I’m not saying getting rid of Wenger will guarantee success at Arsenal but I also don’t think there’s much similarities between his potential resignation and Fergie’s retirement.

The only real similarity is the length of time served at their clubs. But the situations are very different.

Yes Ferguson left United as a champion but he also realised that his team’s cycle had ran it’s final race and he would need to change his squad yet again and that would take time and a lot of effort. At seventy-one years of age, Fergie felt the project was too big, he needed to have a rest and spend time with his family.

Arsenal don’t need to totally rebuild the current squad, they just need to add a few capable reinforcements, tie down their best players and get the best out of their current pool.

Wenger has said a few times this season that his players haven’t been up to it mentally.

Discussing the Bayern collapse, he stated his players were:

“mentally very jaded”

Now that may be true but surely it’s Wenger’s job to make sure his side aren’t so mentally fragile. Is he basically admitting after poor results that he’s not done all he can to get the best from his squad?

The Arsene Wenger that turned up in England back in 1996 was meticulous in everything he did. He wouldn’t have allowed such a weakness to creep into his team.

I don’t think Arsene has lost the dressing room, not for a second, the players respect him and all he has done. I do worry that he struggles to get fire into his player’s bellies and get the best performances from his stars in the bigger games.

Arsenal continue making the same mistakes they were making three and four years ago, that shows us that Arsene can’t solve the issues that have hampered his team for a few years now.

I’ve said it before but I truly think Arsene has lost his cutting edge at the Gunners.

It happened after the move to the Emirates and he had to work on a tighter budget than the rest of the title challengers. His main objective seemed to be qualifying for the Champions League every season. To be fair to him, his team would meet that objective every season.

That’s kept up the club’s profile and brought in great revenue streams. But Wenger has failed to get his side back to thinking like champions.

I don’t think Wenger would necessarily be finished as a football manager if he were to quit his Gunners gig. I could see him going elsewhere and doing well in whatever role he would take up next.

At United, Ferguson didn’t have the same constraints Wenger had with a stadium move. So Sir Alex never lost the ruthless desire to win things at all costs. That desire is hard to replicate and it’s also extremely difficult to follow on from, especially if the team needs a whole lot of changes.

So for me, I don’t think Arsenal as a football club would have the same problems replacing Arsene Wenger that Man United had when filling the void left by Fergie.

As I’ve already said, the Arsenal side are actually pretty good. They just seem to need more belief, better preparation and a few more top stars.

That could be an ideal job for a hungry successful coach but only if Wenger decides he’s had enough and calls it a day at the Emirates.

Posted on February 20th, 2017 by scott
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