Should Everton consider Arsene Wenger?

There’s been yet more talk this week about who might replace Sam Allardyce at Everton and one name that has come into the frame is the Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

A story in The Daily Star mentioned this as a possibility. And while to be fair to him Allardyce must be fed up with it, is Wenger the man to revive the club and bring trophies back to Everton?

Let’s consider his legacy at Arsenal and what it means for Everton.

Older readers might remember when Wenger arrived at what was then Arsenal’s home of Highbury in 1996 the club had been league champions five years earlier in 1991.

They had also won the FA Cup and then the European Cup Winners Cup in 1993 and ‘94 respectively.

He inherited a team with a strong and experienced defence led by captain Tony Adams and an attack built on the striking talents of Ian Wright.

It was then a side that was still very competitive in the embryonic Premier League.

Crucially he also had a brilliant Dutch forward called Denis Bergkamp who had joined the Gunners just before Wenger took over.

Over the next few seasons Wenger successfully grafted several outstanding players onto that solid base by adding individuals such as Patrick Viera, Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars.

And of course he also signed French forward Thierry Henry who went on to do alright!

With these players Arsenal won two Premier League and FA Cup doubles in four seasons and established a new reputation for the club as an attacking and entertaining side. Gone were the old days of ‘One nil to the Arsenal’.

But although the club did achieve an outstanding unbeaten season in 2003-04 winning another championship, that ‘Invincibles’ side remains the last Arsenal team to lift the Premier League trophy.

The past few seasons have seen Arsenal in steady decline relative to the other so-called ‘big clubs’.

This season it seems a certainty that the Gunners will miss out for the second year in a row on qualification for the Champions League.

After another run of poor results and performances there is increasing speculation he will be leaving The Emirates stadium after this season, despite his having just signed a new two-year contract in 2017.

In some ways it’s hard to judge Wenger accurately. Is the real Wenger the one who so astutely put together those title and cup winning sides of the late nineties and early 2000’s?

Or is it the man who has become increasingly stubborn in his attitude, wedded to a purest style of possession football and apparently blind to the ever more obvious flaws in his sides?

Whatever the truth he has certainly had a profound impact on English football and when he does finally leave Arsenal his legacy will be a substantial one.

But from Everton’s point of view Wenger doesn’t seem to me to be the right man to take over the reins at Goodison Park.

Recent results and performances have underlined in neon lights the chronic lack of backbone and consistency in his side. And too often Arsenal’s big players seem to go missing in run-of-the-mill Premier League games.

But it’s these sort of matches that are critical to competing for and winning championships.

To be honest I feel these rumours are another example of the way the Everton hierarchy seem to be focussed on past reputation rather than future potential.

And Wenger at 68 hardly represents a youthful, long-term alternative to Allardyce.

I feel that the Board need to focus on those younger managers who are perhaps looking to move on at some point and prove themselves at a club such as Everton.

There is I think a case for Sean Dyche or Mikel Arteta but another possible candidate who might be worth considering is Eddie Howe the Bournemouth manager.

Howe’s side certainly plays an attractive brand of positive and attacking football, although they also have a tendency to leak a lot of goals. And he is also I believe an Evertonian too.

http://www.evertonfc.com/news/2018/03/06/watch-evans-nets-dazzling-free-kick-in-under-23s-win

Next: Everton to sign another striker?

Perhaps it’s time for the club to give a young, highly regarded British manager the chance to come and build a strong, long-lasting legacy at Everton.