After two defeats in two games prior to the Boxing Day win over West Brom, the voices of discontent towards Arsene Wenger had a good spring board. In fact, the win over West Brom came pretty late and even though the Baggies have done well this season, the folks at Emirates expected a smoother ride than what transpired.
Arsene Wenger’s contract is set to expire next summer and that’ll bring a 21-year association to an end, an association that was laden with success in the first nine years or so but hasn’t been the same in the last decade as Arsenal have faltered quite a lot of times and only have a couple of FA Cups to show.
Wenger has delayed contract talks and will only decide on his future in April according to latest reports. The gaffer is under a lot of pressure and unless Arsenal go really close, the fans will not be pleased. The question is, though, who can really replace him?
One of the names could be Juventus manager Max Allegri. A report by Football Italia claims that all is not well between the Juve board and the gaffer and they are looking at Paulo Sousa as a potential replacement if Allegri leaves, with Arsenal are being touted as a potential destination.
When Allegri took over from Antonio Conte at Juve, there were quite a lot of detractors but he immediately won them over with his pragmatic approach. Where Conte failed, Allegri shined as Juventus made it to the finals of the UEFA Champions League but failed at the final hurdle as they came up against a Barcelona side who were playing the best football at the time.
Allegri’s ability to get the best out of his team is a pretty well-known fact. His spell at Cagliari showed he was ready to take the hot seat at the bigger clubs and when Milan came calling in 2010, it was a match made in heaven. Allegri halted Inter’s hegemony in Serie A while at Milan but he couldn’t hold on to the trophy the following season as the club sold their better players. Despite that, Milan managed to finish in the Champions League places before he was relieved of his duties.
With a lot of experience of managing the top clubs in the Serie A and good Champions League performances, Allegri could be a good choice for the Arsenal job. His approach, as mentioned before, is pretty pragmatic and he has shown a lot of tactical versatility, something Wenger necessarily hasn’t in the last few years.
