The Arsenal manager shunned his usual approach against Liverpool to counter Jürgen Klopp’s pressing tactics but Sánchez’s pace could have been valuableIf this proves to be Arsène Wenger’s final season as Arsenal manager, the 3-1 defeat against Liverpool may be remembered as his most damaging loss. It would be a peculiarly unfitting finale, as the focus here was almost entirely upon Wenger’s shock decision to omit Alexis Sánchez, the Premier League’s top goalscorer and Arsenal’s most dangerous attacker. Wenger later claimed this was a decision made for purely tactical reasons, which would rank as the most atypical selection decision he has made during his two decades in charge of Arsenal.Wenger is not, in simple terms, a keen tactician. His basic...
Arsenal’s away form against the other five leading clubs has been inadequate, with three wins in five seasons, and they travel to a fretful Anfield in search of a long-term sparkWhen Arsène Wenger took Arsenal to Liverpool in September 2012, he watched two of his summer signings, Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla, score the goals in a 2-0 win. It got the club up and running for the season after a couple of disappointing draws and it felt like a spark.Liverpool had a new manager in Brendan Rodgers and he was struggling at the time with various problems. The result meant Rodgers had presided over the club’s worst start since 1962-63 and his team would finish in seventh – one...
The German is trusted to return past glories to Anfield but cracks are showing before the visit of Arsenal, whose fans’ quest for managerial change recursIf Claudio Ranieri’s dream died when he was sacked before the end of the season, it has taken less than a week for a nightmare to move into its place. Somewhere in Rome the former Leicester manager has probably been waking up screaming at the indignities he has suffered over the past few days.Based on results, the boot ought to have been expected, for dreams of longevity are not permissible for teams near the bottom of the Premier League who are scoring no goals and picking up no points. Leicester’s recovery once he had left...
Manager has time to relax as Arsenal’s much-changed team avoid major upset against non-league Sutton United to reach FA Cup quarter-finalsFor all the talk of Cup magic this was in the end an orderly out-ground experience for Arsenal, a 2-0 fifth-round victory that felt by the end like a gently convalescent night out in the southern suburbs. Gander Green Lane is a clattery low rise lodged between rows of pebble-dashed semis, its edges marked out by a row of scaffold-pole huts and the remains of a venerable wood and ironwork stand. Before kick-off Arsène Wenger could be seen signing autographs in the car park, smiling fondly on the touchline and generally looking like a man rather enjoying being in such...
The struggles to replace Sir Alex Ferguson is a cautionary tale that ought to be heeded by those who want Arsène Wenger to leave ArsenalIt probably won’t surprise anybody who has followed the life and times of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to know that when he was rich enough to afford the house of his dreams in Malmo – a mansion, painted pink, “as big as a castle” – it didn’t particularly bother him that somebody was already living there. Ibrahimovic, as you may have gathered, is not short of self-confidence and turned up one day with his partner, Helena, to knock on the door and introduce himself. “We’re here because you’re living in our house,” was one way to break the...