With what now surely must be Arsenal Arsene Wenger’s final season in charge at the club, we thought we would take a look at five possible candidates to come in and take over from the 66-year-old Frenchman.
Arsenal of course are still in the Champions League for this week at least, but should they fail to overturn a two goal deficit from the first-leg at the Emirates when they play Barcelona at the Nou Camp Wednesday night, Arsenal’s dream of European glory is nothing more than just a dream.
Domestically it is of course mathematically possible that the Gunners can still win the Premier League title but trailing Leicester City by eight points seems like a bridge too far.
Now it is time for the board to make a decision and listen to the fans who have been calling for Wenger to step aside and let a younger man take over.
He is a look at five possible candidates should a position open up at the Emirates following yet another disappointing season for Arsenal.
1/ Steve Bould
Positives – Knows the players and club inside out. He has won various trophies, including the Premier League title, during his playing career with Arsenal.
Negatives – He has no experience of managing a senior side.
2/ Frank De Boer
Positives – The Dutchman has enjoyed success as both a player and manager. He won the European Cup, among other trophies, while playing at Barcelona and has won four Eredivisie titles as the manager of Ajax.
Negatives – Has never played or managed in England before, meaning that it would be a big step up to go from the Eredivisie to the Premier League.
3/ Brendan Rodgers
Positives – The former Swansea and Liverpool man has experience managing in the Premier League.
Negatives – He has never won a major trophy either as a player or manager. The Northern Irishman wasn’t good enough for Liverpool in the end, so unlikely to be so for Arsenal.
4/ Manuel Pellegrini
Positives – Hugely experienced, has managed numerous large clubs including Man City and Real Madrid. He has won the Premier League as a manager. He will be available in the summer after having been let go in favour of Pep Guardiola.
Negatives – Man City’s awful form this season shows Pellegrini is also not without his faults. He failed while in charge of Real Madrid and will be seen by Arsenal fans as one old fart replacing another.
5/ Diego Simeone
Positives – Hugely successful while at Atletico Madrid, has managed to beat Barcelona and Real Madrid to win La Liga in 2013/14. Likely to be interested in moving clubs considering dominance of big two in Spain and lack of funds at the club considered to be Spain’s third choice team.
Negatives – Atletico Madrid will unlikely to want to let him go. He has a completely different style of play to Wenger, which would make it difficult for Arsenal players to adapt. He also has no experience of playing or managing in England.
