■ FA Cup: Arsenal v Manchester City, Sunday at 6pm UAE time on BeIN Sports
“That shows you that at even at my age you can change,” smiled Arsene Wenger on Monday.
It felt a message to Arsenal’s chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, who had said, amid the calls for the manager’s departure, that the great constant had to be a “catalyst for change.”
As Wenger selected a side with a back three for the first time in 20 years, the dinosaur showed he could be a chameleon.
Beating Middlesbrough was accomplished with the aid of an unexpected switch. Facing Manchester City brings questions about the nature of change, whether it is sustainable and meaningful.
Even Wenger’s sternest critics ought to concede that the FA Cup, a competition he has won twice in three seasons and a joint record six in total, offers few reasons for regime change.
__________________________________
Read more
■ Diego Forlan: Barca have no time to mourn with El Clasico up next
■ Europa League: Expect Manchester United to meet Lyon in the final
■ Uefa Champions League: Atletico out for Real Madrid revenge
__________________________________
Meanwhile Wenger’s newfound fondness for the fashionable 3-4-2-1 formation should be tested on Sunday.
More than any other Premier League manager, Pep Guardiola likes quick wingers who he uses high up the pitch and close to the touchline.
He engineered Manchester City’s December win over Arsenal by deploying Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane as such in the second half.
Wenger chose Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as a wingback on Monday and, quick as the midfielder is, it would represent a risk to pit him against Sane, a scorer in both league games against Arsenal, at Wembley.
Change is most required on such stages: in the major matches the implication for securing silverware is greatest and where Arsenal are judged against their peers.
It is here that Wenger has tended to fall short in the second half of his reign in charge of the London club.
His record against Guardiola is a case in point. They have met in five different seasons, when the Catalan was at three clubs.
In each case, Wenger has secured one positive result, while emerging a loser on aggregate. He has two wins and three draws to Guardiola’s five victories.
The younger man has served to stifle ambitions, eliminating the Frenchman from the Uefa Champions League three times.
Even as Wenger’s side came from behind twice to draw 2-2 in the Premier League earlier this month, the comeback came in oddly chaotic fashion and the result did Arsenal few favours.
The change Arsenal require involves proof they can win on such defining days, along with evidence that Wenger can outwit managers of Guardiola’s ilk.
The City man’s half-time switch in December, when he shifted Sterling to the flank and played without a specialist striker, confounded Arsenal.
It was a triumph of imagination and execution of the sort Wenger, who switches tactics mid-match rather less often, rarely enjoys.
The change of the last week brings a challenge to Guardiola. If Wenger persists in playing both Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez between the lines, does the City manager require two out-and-out defensive midfielders? If so, it may come at a cost to Yaya Toure.
But the summer threatens the wrong sort of change for Arsenal with the catalytic Sanchez seeming likely to depart, potentially to City. Arsenal have had an unwanted status as City’s feeder club in recent years.
It is a reputation they want to shed. Wenger is losing part of his, for forever keeping Arsenal in the top four while resisting change.
That era seems to be ending. It means there is a greater onus on the guarantee of predictability reinventing himself.
He has to offer evidence he could change the balance of power among the elite clubs. Springing further surprises may be essential if he is to change fortunes that seem to be on the wane.
The personification of the ancient regime may have to be a revolutionary force again if he is to change minds.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
