Title pressure at fever pitch for Arsenal’s Wenger – this may be his last, best chance

Greg Lea writes the past days – Pep Guardiola's confirmed move to Manchester City, Tuesday's frustrating 0-0 draw against Southampton – illustrate that it looks now or never on a final league title for Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger Manager shown during his team's Premier League match against Southampton on Tuesday night. Mike Hewitt / Getty Images / February 2, 2016

“He is a novice,” sneered Alex Ferguson of Arsene Wenger in April 1997, chopping down the man who would become his fiercest rival for much of the next decade. “And he should keep his opinions to Japanese football.”

It was a cutting remark. Wenger, who had suggested a few days previously that the authorities had given in to the Manchester United manager by extending the domestic season to ease his side's fixture congestion, was on the receiving end of the Scot's sharp tongue for the first time.

It was also a comment that reflected the general suspicion, scepticism and, in some cases, casual xenophobia that surrounded Wenger in the months after his appointment as Arsenal boss in September 1996.

"Arsene who?" read the now infamous headline in the London Evening Standard when it was revealed that the man in charge of Japanese outfit Nagoya Grampus Eight would be taking the reins at one of English football's most storied clubs.

Read more: Greg Lea on how Arsenal are in the title race as long as Alexis Sanchez is in the picture

In some ways, such a reaction was understandable.

Wenger was one of just two non-British or Irish managers in England's top tier back then – Chelsea's Ruud Gullit was the only other foreigner prowling Premier League touchlines – and his installation at Highbury was an example of Arsenal breaking new ground.

Things have changed a great deal in the two decades since, with 12 of the Frenchman's 19 current counterparts born overseas. Next season, the most famous manager in the world yet to work in the Premier League will be joining the division's foreign legion as head coach of Manchester City.

Monday’s announcement that Pep Guardiola will take over from Manuel Pellegrini at the end of the campaign was merely confirmation of what many had suspected for months.

For Wenger, who has seen virtually everything in his two decades in English football, the news would have come as even less of a surprise.

In the shorter-term, though, this week’s developments have increased the pressure on the 66-year-old to win the Premier League this term.

Tuesday's 0-0 draw with Southampton saw Arsenal slip to fourth in the table, five points adrift of Leicester City at the summit.

“It is [very frustrating],” Wenger said after the game. “The quality of the chances we created was high but the quality of our finishing was poor.”

Despite fashioning multiple opportunities, Arsenal turned in a rather edgy performance on a night in which their three title rivals all picked up victories.

Manchester City, 1-0 winners at Sunderland, may benefit from the scrutiny being lifted on Manuel Pellegrini, whose future no longer depends on the outcome of his side’s season.

Fellow contenders Leicester and Tottenham Hotspur are also operating under less pressure than would ordinarily be expected. Both teams, after all, have already overachieved by simply being in the race in the first place.

It also looks probable that the 2016/17 championship will be more difficult to win than the current one.

Unlike when Wenger first arrived in England 20 years ago, followers of the Premier League are well aware what Guardiola brings. There will certainly be no opponents dismissing the two-time European champion and five-time league title winner as a novice.

Coupled with their significant spending power, the identity of City’s next coach already makes them favourites to triumph next time out.

Chelsea and Manchester United, perhaps both with new managers of their own, will also be stronger, so too Liverpool after a full pre-season under Jurgen Klopp.

If next year’s potential championship chase is thus a tantalising thought for football fans in general, Arsenal supporters are probably a little less enthusiastic about the prospect.

City’s appointment of Guardiola proves that, while the English game now struggles to attract the very best players on the planet, it has little difficulty in bringing the greatest managers to its shores.

It has also increased the pressure on Wenger, the great veteran of the Premier League, to add another title to Arsenal’s trophy cabinet this term.

He may never get a better chance.

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