Wenger in the line of fire after another Arsenal Euro flop
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RETURNING to London after UEFA Champions League elimination at Barcelona’s hands, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger faces more uncomfortable questions than ever before about his stewardship of the club.
A season that was still full of hope at the turn of the year is now unravelling in all-too-familiar fashion, with Arsenal out of Europe, out of both cup competitions and trailing Premier League leader Leicester City by 11 points, albeit with a game in hand.
It remains on course for a top-four finish, but Champions League qualification is losing its consolatory effect on the club’s fans, many of whom have come to see it as a sign of the culture of mid-level achievement that Wenger has allowed to take root at the Emirates Stadium.
“I think the natives have turned. There’s more people who want the boss out than want him in,” former Arsenal striker Ian Wright said on BT Sport after Arsenal’s 1-3 loss to Barcelona on Wednesday, which completed a 1-5 aggregate defeat.
“I’m not sure if he still will be there in the summer, if they don’t win the league.”
With Chelsea floundering, Manchester City fatally inconsistent and both Liverpool and Manchester United in transition, this season had held the promise of a first league title for Arsenal since 2004.
Instead the Gunners have failed to grasp the nettle, with outsider Leicester and — worse — arch rival Tottenham Hotspur surging past them to fight out the most improbable English title duel in recent memory.
“This was the perfect year for Arsenal to win the Premier League and they’ve missed it,” said Emmanuel Petit, another former Wenger protege.
FA Cup wins in 2014 and 2015 ended Arsenal’s nine-year silverware drought and indicated that the club was reacquiring the trophy-winning know-how that characterized the first eight years of Wenger’s tenure, which yielded three Premier League titles and four FA Cups.
The signings of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez also hinted at a new dawn, but Arsenal remains bedevilled by the same frailties: recurrent injuries, exacerbated by unaddressed weaknesses in key areas of the squad, tactical naivety and, crucially, a bewildering lack of backbone.
The achievements of Wenger’s 20-year tenure — notably the successful move to the Emirates — have earned the 66-year-old Frenchman iconic status at the club and there is no suggestion that he is in danger of the sack.
But fan discontent is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore and reports this week suggested it could prompt Wenger to walk away from his post before his contract expires next year.
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