Arsenal should not let United’s post-Ferguson struggles stop them from sacking Wenger

Arsene Wenger might have tried to tell the press and the public that the questions he was being asked were a farce. He might have felt they were reasonable, but knew that he could not admit, ahead of the game against Barcelona and before the title run-in becomes even more pressured. Or, which is possibly worse, he might really have thought the questions building around his leadership really were without merit. Either way, for as long as Wenger is in charge, the same problems will continue to hamper Arsenal.

Arsenal may regret not taking matters into their own hands, next season particularly. Manchester United seem likely to give Jose Mourinho the job of replacing Louis van Gaal, ahead of Ryan Giggs. Even if it does go to Giggs, he cannot be any worse than Van Gaal, and could not do a worse job with another hundred million pound recruitment drive. If it is Mourinho, then he will have the full force of Jorge Mendes behind him to build a United time with leaders. Or if not leaders, very effective ****houses.

Leicester will almost certainly drop off, as miraculous as their season has been. Indeed, as seen from their last few outings, they look dreadfully tired, if not less committed to the cause. It would not be a surprise to see Spurs overtake them. Spurs may have more games than Leicester to come, and may already have more miles on the clock in 2016, but they are playing with a sense of momentum that Leicester is not. Regardless of who wins the title, if it is one of those two sides, then Spurs seem likeliest to establish themselves in the Champions League. They have a chairman who is happy to spend money in return for fair reward, and they have a manager whose achievements demand further financial support. There is also a hint that with Mauricio Pochettino, his is the more sustainable achievement.

There will be no easy displacing them, by Arsenal, United or Chelsea.

Chelsea, too, should radically improve with Antonio Conte at the helm. Not quite a discilplinarian in the Mourinho tradition, but nonetheless there is a fair chance that Conte will bash the existing squad into shape, kick out the deadwood and add some new players, perhaps even Paul Pogba from Juventus, if they are lucky enough to sneak past Barcelona and Real Madrid for his signature. It might take more than a season to challenge for the title, but certainly not for the top four.

Of course, the biggest worry for Arsenal is that if they foul up their chance of lifting the league trophy this season, then Manchester City will kickstart an era of dominance with the assistance of Pep Guardiola. He may have failed to win the Champions League with Bayern Munich so far, but the side he has built is still capable of astonishing. He is one of the best, if not the best, coaches in the world, working for the best funded football team in the world (except perhaps PSG). With human rights to apologise for and distract from, and world influence to build with these kind of exercises, Guardiola should be able to attract any player that he wants. It would be foolish to bet against him building a third great side, and leaving a leagacy for City to build on when he likely leaves in a few years.

It shouldn’t be the competition from Chelsea, United, Spurs and Liverpool (maybe) that winds up Arsenal the most, it should be that of City’s. Because Guardiola would have been extremely tempted to take the Arsenal job had it been offered to him. It is an open secret that he and his wife were attracted to life in London more than in Manchester. You can argue whether or not that’s the correct opinion, but it’s moot.

Obviously, the offer that Arsenal might have made could still have fallen short. As long as City are the richest club in the world, and if Arsenal really are at their spending limits under Wenger - which seems unlilkely - then Guardiola might still have preferred to try his hand with the loaded dice at the Etihad.

Realistically though, any club that has the chance to sign Guardiola should take it unless there are exceptional circumstances. The only exceptional circumstances about Arsenal is that they have allowed Wenger to underperform for a decade. That they appear set to do the same, again, in the same manner as ever, really should bring his Emirates career to a close.

Some people point out the similarities between Alex Ferguson stepping down and what might happen with Wenger. The only similarities between the two is that they have more control than is healthy for a club, and that they have managed at the same club for more than two decades. Where they differ is that Ferguson was a great manager with several great sides built in different eras, under different owners, with radically different budgets. Wenger had a single, fleeting great side, and has notably failed in Europe, and has notably bottled its chances to achieve anything worth mentioning post-Henry.

The situation is posed as a problem, as a warning about what might happen to Arsenal if they ditch Wenger after so long. Well, if they follow United and appoint David Moyes - perhaps the equivalent would be Remi Garde - and buy only a lanky incompetent in the transfer window, they will struggle. If they then appoint a belligerent but out-of-date manager to replace Garde - Marcelo Lippi, maybe - and let a clown in a suit be in charge of transfers, they will struggle. If Arsenal are planning to do that, fine, keep Wenger. They should, though, back themselves to achieve more than a catastrophe, and ditch Wenger as soon as it is possible.