A 22-year reign at North London and Arsene Wenger finally announced his retirement as the manager of Arsenal. Of course talks of a replacement have long been speculated upon and former Barcelona boss, Luis Enrique has been pegged to be a heavy favourite to land the job.
The Frenchman decided to end ties with the club due to insufficient job security beyond this season. Even after he leaves, replacing a man of Wenger’s magnitude would mean for the club to go through a thorough transitional period, similar to what Manchester United have experienced for the past 6 seasons.
Despite all his shortcomings, if there is one thing Arsene Wenger has done well for certain is the way he has treated developed the youth system. The Frenchman has always shown remarkable enthusiasm to sign raw talent and to develop them into full-fledged professionals of on of the highest pedigree.
Things at the club otherwise have not really gone down well in the recent years. The club has been deprived of success in terms of silverware and with majority of their key players leaving almost every other transfer window. Questions have raised over Arsenal’s eligibility as a top European club and whether they can really challenge the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea for the top league position.
Despite such overwhelming pressure from fans as well as critiques, it has been astounding to see Wenger stick to his principles and try to win games just based on the purity of the football they play. The adaptability quotient was lacking in the 68-year-old and that might have been the sole reason for such a tragic drop in his competence.
Enrique had performed brilliantly with Barcelona, winning nine trophies during his 3-season-stay at Camp Nou. He was key in transitioning the tiki-taka style of play to a more rhythmic and fast-paced brand of football with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar up top.
His contributions have helped the Catalan giants place a significant amount of pressure on their bitter rivals, Real Madrid in both the domestic and the European stage. He was a prime successor to Pep Guardiola and will be ending his sabbatical period soon.
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It remains to be seen what lies in the future for the Spanish manager in perspective of a move to the Emirates but we can all agree that his nomination for the job is certainly well earned.
