Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger needs Jack Wilshere, Shkodran Mustafi and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to morph into Patrick Vieira, Sol Campbell and Thierry Henry.. they won’t
WHEN it finally happens, the farewell will be a real tear-jerker.
A long-serving, loyal member of Arsene Wenger’s staff will help him lug a few items down from his office at London Colney and load them into the boot of his Lexus.
Patrick Vieira was the rock Arsene Wenger built much of his success aroundGetty Images - Getty
Some old VHS videos of German Third Division matches, the evergreen Japanese pot plant that had been plonked on his desk, an Invincibles (2004) mug.
The tea leaves make grim reading for Arsenal’s beleaguered manager.
It will take more than a chat over a brew to explain the depressing mood hanging over Arsenal’s training ground since they were battered three-zip by Manchester City on Sunday.
People are stewing around here.
Jack Wilshere has returned to fitness but is no match for Patrick VieiraGetty - Contributor
Shkodran Mustafi has been a liability at the backGetty - Contributor
Wenger lost the fans in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley, with barely a soul left in the Arsenal end when ref Craig Pawson blew the final whistle.
If they could, they would call time on Wenger.
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The clock is ticking until chief executive Ivan Gazidis makes his end-of-season recommendation to majority shareholder ‘Silent Stan’ Kroenke.
Unless Wenger qualifies for the Champions League by scraping through a perilous Europa League draw, with AC Milan awaiting them in the last 16, then Wenger will go from Gooner to goner.
It will not be pretty. In fact, it will be pretty sad.
Sol Campbell was a key part of the Invincibles back lineGetty Images - Getty
Arsene Wenger is coming under fire after falling off the pace in the leaguePA:Press Association
Wenger, even with those three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, lost the right to leave on his terms a long time ago.
It is shaping up to be a nightmarish finale, with the manager refusing to accept his 21-year spell at Arsenal is finally coming to an end.
There are still plenty around — media included — who would dearly love him to pull it out of the bag again by bringing home another trophy at the end of the season.
That, somehow, Shkodran Mustafi, Jack Wilshere and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will morph overnight into Sol Campbell, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry.
Not going to happen.
The manner of Manchester City’s destruction of Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final, the mental disintegration among the players wearing those red shirts, was further evidence of that.
This lot are born losers.
They are miles off City — Arsenal will be 30 points behind in the league if Pep’s men win at the Emirates tonight — and there is no chance of them bridging the gap under Wenger.
A one-off result beating City, as they did after extra-time in last season’s FA Cup semi-final, would not get Wenger off the hook any more.
It has gone way beyond that after those painful defeats to Tottenham, Ostersunds and City.
Wenger still believes, but everybody else at the Emirates and around that training ground is deserting him.
Gazidis has brought in new head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat, legal and commercial expert, Huss Fahmy, once of Team Sky, and Raul Sanllehi from Barcelona as head of football relations.
And Silent Stan’s kid Josh Kroenke is now living in London carrying out a review of the club. Wenger’s power is not what it was.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been brought in to take Arsenal back to the topGetty - Contributor
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has proved to be irreplaceableGetty Images - Getty
Frenchman Wenger said: “You have to accept City are a quality team.
“The fans knew at 3-0 there was no way back — but if it was 2-1 they all would have stayed.”
Instead, they turned their backs on them. They could not get out of the place quick enough after David Silva scored City’s third following 65 toe-curling minutes watching Arsenal wilt.
If City score first tonight, it will not be long before those fed-up fans are on Wenger’s case again.
To his credit, Wenger brazens it all out — fronting up when every former Arsenal player is queuing up to put the boot in.
Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, Tony Adams and the rest of the gang openly challenge his authority these days, questioning Wenger’s ability to master his art.
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The Arsenal boss added: “In life you focus on the quality of your job — how well you commit and how hard you work. You try to master what you can master. My job is to protect the players and get them to focus on the next performance.
“I am responsible. I get the plaudits when it goes well and take the bad when it does not go well.”
It is not going well at the moment.
Yesterday, Wenger was trying to convince himself as much as anybody else he has earned the right over the last 21 years to have another go.
It is a crying shame for him that others do not see it the same way.
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