This week, Arsenal supporters had their dream come true: Arsene Wenger announced that he would be resigning from the club the end of the season.
The long-running #WengerOut campaign has spanned years, becoming one of the biggest memes in soccer.
There have been silverware droughts, a string of fourth-place finishes and last year’s ignominy of finally finishing behind rival Tottenham in the standings for the first time in decades.
But what shouldn’t be forgotten is how much Wenger changed this club. Arsenal was in a bit of turmoil, with Wenger becoming the third manager in three years when he joined from Japanese club Nagoya Grampus Eight.
He installed a more attacking style and brought in several French players that would go on to be club legends, like Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry on the cheap. His shrewd business would become his calling card for years, before finally starting to break the bank later on in his tenure.
His biggest accomplishment was the Gunners’ “Invincibles†run in 2003-04, going undefeated for the entire season on their way to the title. Arsenal also finished either first or second in eight of Wenger’s first nine seasons at the club and was the toast of London, this coming before the big-money takeover of Chelsea and with Tottenham never able to measure up to its North London rival.
But shortly after, the major cup drought kicked in, with Arsenal lagging behind the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool, as well as new-money clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City.
It was these failures that weighed on supporters, who would be quick to forget the past triumphs. But that’s the thing about sports: It’s more ‘what have you done for us lately’ than ‘thanks for all of great memories.’
While Wenger’s legacy will never be in doubt, let’s hope it’s more for the good than the bad. More ‘Invincibles’ than puffy jackets and memes.
For what it’s worth, the odds-on favourite to replace Wenger is Vieira, currently plying his trade at NYCFC, who is listed at 4-1. There’s also former Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel at 5-1 and Joachim Low at a rather ironic 7-1. Of course, we could see Brendan Rodgers return to the Premier League, but that might cause even more headaches for supporters.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Raheem Sterling, and the rest of Manchester City for that matter, had a great game against Swansea this weekend. For the second game in a row, the English winger chipped in a goal and an assist – and actually could’ve had one more.
If not for Swans keeper Lukasz Fabianski stopping Gabriel Jesus’ penalty, Sterling would’ve had another assist. And considering that Bernardo Silva buried the rebound on the attempt,
Sterling has had one of the quietest 18-goal, 14-assists there has ever been. It seems like we only hear about his misses, rather than his numerous triumphs.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Arsenal didn’t mess around in the first game after Wenger’s big announcement. West Ham did hold strong against its London rival for a while, but the Gunners piled it on at the end for a 4-1 scoreline … Alexandre Lacazette is finally living up to his pricetag, scoring four goals in the past four games. We wonder how Arsenal’s next manager will utilize Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang up front … West Brom is undefeated under interim manager Darren Moore, but it’s a shame that it was just too late to save the Baggies. Saturday’s comeback draw against Liverpool only delayed the inevitable drop … Mohamed Salah didn’t have his best game, but his goal gave him 31 on the season, tied for the most in a campaign he still has three games to play … It turns out that crappy Monday night football games aren’t exclusive to the NFL. Did anybody really want to watch a 1-0 game between midtable sides Everton and Newcastle? … The final is set for the FA Cup with Manchester United and Chelsea to do battle in a few weeks’ time at Wembley. Both of these clubs desperately need to hoist some silverware to get even a little bit of a good feeling about their disappointing, drama-filled seasons.
THE LAST WORD
Looking below the Premier League, there are a few interesting stories in action.
Sunderland has been relegated for the second consecutive year, dropping out of the Championship and will have to fight its way out of League One next season. A sad fall from grace from a Premier League mainstay for years.
Perhaps one of the reasons why the Black Cats were relegated once again:Â No Sunderland player has more league assists than Adam Johnson with five since 2015-16. Johnson has been in prison for a variety of sexual offences involving minors for more than two years.
Millwall is fighting for a spot in the Championship’s playoff and doing so without splashing much cash. In fact, Millwall’s record signing remains Paul Goddard, who the Lions signed in 1989 for 800,000 GBP. We’re certain that if it makes the Premier League that record will be broken several times over.
Two former Premier League mainstays – including a former champion – have all but sewn up their moves back to League Championship. Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers are sitting pretty in first and second, respectively, and should gain automatic promotion.
Finally, we’d like to welcome back to the flight, Wolverhampton. This season’s runaway winner of the Championship have a ton of top talent and should be able to keep its spot for a while. Wolves currently has a 12-point lead on Cardiff City and also leads the league in goals while allowing the fewest.
Key midfielder Ruben Neves has already pledged to stay with the club as well, instead of spurning it for a bigger side – which he could surely fit into.
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