Arsène Wenger tackles elephant in room over reasons for leaving


Arsenal manager seizes opportunity to talk about how worldwide image of the club has taken a battering, not helped by fans inside the Emirates

It was never going to be a totally normal day. Even if so much of it slipped into the old routines – Arsenal played with every typical Arsenal characteristic and the crowd watched on without getting overly dramatic – there was a surreal sense that underneath it all nobody quite knew what to do about the bombshell. It felt like that quintessentially English thing of having a cup of tea or talking about the weather rather than delving into the deep emotional consequences of a turn of events everybody really cares about.

During the game itself Arsène Wenger tried to do the same, focusing on the job still at hand and not much else. But afterwards, entering the press room to face his first inquisition, feeling the intense currents coursing round as the questions rattled from the floor in search for finer details surrounding Wenger’s big decision, the man himself began to open up.

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