Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger gives passionate plea to carry on after FA Cup success: 'I love my job. I love to win, I love to build, I love what I do'

  • Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday evening 
  • Arsene Wenger has guided his team to three FA Cup wins in the last four years
  • He admits he doesn't know whether the Arsenal board will allow him to continue
  • It is incredible that the Gunners seem to exist in a permanent state of crisis
  • Who is out there capable of extracting more from the players than Wenger did?

And on it goes. The grand saga of Arsenal. Everything's a saga at Arsenal, haven't you noticed? Arsene Wenger's future, will Alexis Sanchez stay or go, whither Mesut Ozil, will Alisher Usmanov depose Stan Kroenke? Just about every other major club in Europe works with a director of football but, at Arsenal, the very mention induces months of agonised uncertainty.

Yet here's the strange thing. Where's the plot? Where's the beef? Peel it all away and where is the tension in this story? We know that, deep down, Wenger wants to stay. We know, similarly, that the club want to keep him. There is no market, right now, for Ozil. Kroenke won't sell.

And the director of football would serve Wenger, not the other way around. It is incredible that Arsenal seem to exist in a permanent state of crisis when open the window and all you hear is the chirping of crickets. 

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger celebrates with Alexis Sanchez after winning the FA Cup final

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger celebrates with Alexis Sanchez after winning the FA Cup final

French manager Wenger lifts the FA Cup trophy at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening

French manager Wenger lifts the FA Cup trophy at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening

The 67-year-old Wenger has now won the FA Cup seven times for his north London club

MATCH FACTS 

ARSENAL (3-4-3): Ospina 6.5; Holding 7.5, Mertesacker 8.5, Monreal 7; Bellerin 7.5, Ramsey 8.5, Zhaka 8, Oxlade-Chamberlain 7 (Coquelin 83min); Ozil 8, Welbeck 6.5 (Giroud 78), Sanchez 9 (Elneny 90).

Booked: Ramsey, Holding, Xhaka, Coquelin.

Scorers: Sanchez 4, Ramsey 79. 

CHELSEA (3-4-3): Courtois 7, Azpilicueta 5.5, Luiz 5.5, Cahill 7; Moses 4, Kante 4.5, Matic 5 (Fabregas 62, 6), Alonso 6; Pedro 6.5 (Willian 72, 6), Costa 7 (Batshuayi 88), Hazard 6. 

Booked: Moses, Kante. 

Sent off: Moses.

Scorer: Costa 76.  

Man of the match: Alexis Sanchez.

Referee: Anthony Taylor 7.

Ratings by Jack Gaughan 

 

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Why do they do this to themselves? If there was even the remotest chance of a P45 being handed across the table, it helped Wenger that on Saturday Arsenal gave one of those performances that raises the question: who better?


Who is out there capable of extracting more from the players than Wenger did in 90 minutes at Wembley? True, a few coaches would fancy their chances of getting Arsenal higher than fifth this season, and ahead of Leicester a year ago — Roberto Mancini has been angling for Arsenal all season. Yet a one-off game and a trophy at the end of it can mask a number of shortcomings. Ask Jose Mourinho.

Even so, it was impossible to begrudge Wenger his place in the history books as the winner of a seventh FA Cup, and his third in four years.

Despite the luck afforded by referee Anthony Taylor's mistakes for the first goal — Sanchez handled and Aaron Ramsey was offside — Arsenal were worthy winners. They were the better team, never behind, and could have been coasting before half-time with better finishing.

Wenger puts his arm around German playmaker Mesut Ozil after Arsenal's Cup success

Wenger puts his arm around German playmaker Mesut Ozil after Arsenal's Cup success

Wenger admits that he doesn't know whether the Arsenal board will allow him to continue

Wenger admits that he doesn't know whether the Arsenal board will allow him to continue

Asked whether he would be brandishing his winners' medal or giving a presentation when the board convene on Tuesday, Wenger was cool. 'The best presentation,' he said. 'Watch the game and there can be no doubt.'

Yet there it is again, the saga. Tuesday. Why Tuesday? Plenty of people work at weekends or on bank holidays. Why can Arsenal's directors convene only like nine-to-five clerks?

Manchester City have already signed one of Monaco's finest players, Bernardo Silva, yet Arsenal still cannot say with absolute certainty who the manager will be next season. Executives insist, rather smugly, that this is the Arsenal way; they conduct business in their own time and will not be rushed. And that's fine if there is no negative effect.

Wenger has now guided the Gunners to three FA Cup triumphs in the last four seasons

Wenger has now guided the Gunners to three FA Cup triumphs in the last four seasons

Arsenal's 69-year-old American owner Stan Kroenke wears a pinstripe suit to watch his team

Arsenal's 69-year-old American owner Stan Kroenke wears a pinstripe suit to watch his team

Yet Wenger admits the ambiguity around his future has harmed the players this season and Saturday's display suggests that, with less distracting speculation, Arsenal were surely one of the top four teams in the Premier League.

They have made a mess of it, Wenger and his employers, introducing doubt where there should have been none. 

It may not cost them Wenger, but it certainly cost the Champions League and could still cost Sanchez; in the form he showed against this season's champions that would be a giant loss.

Sanchez ran and stretched a surprisingly lacklustre Chelsea in the way Antonio Conte's forwards did not sufficiently test Per Mertesacker, returning for his first start since April 30 last year.

Per Mertesacker produced a towering performance to help Arsenal beat Chelsea on Saturday

Per Mertesacker produced a towering performance to help Arsenal beat Chelsea on Saturday

Sanchez sprays champagne  as his team-mates jump around behind him on the pitch

Sanchez sprays champagne as his team-mates jump around behind him on the pitch

Sanchez got the man of the match but, in the circumstances, it was hard to see past Mertesacker — outstanding against Diego Costa, marshalling from the heart of Arsenal's defence. 

'He has an unbelievable attitude, he is a fantastic example for any young professional football player,' Wenger said. 

'When he was not selected he worked even harder. That's why I pay a special tribute to him.'

And it is easy to see why players respond to Wenger, too. He made Mertesacker his captain, even though he knew he would hardly play this season; he stuck with David Ospina as his Cup final goalkeeper even though he is to be sold to Fenerbahce for £5m, and Petr Cech clearly expected to be given the call.

Why stay loyal to a player who will not be with you next season, at the risk of alienating one on whom you rely? Wenger will argue he gave his word, and then stuck to it. There are worse failings for a manager than honesty.

Chilean star Sanchez put the Gunners ahead in the fourth minute, with the Blues dismayed

Chilean star Sanchez put the Gunners ahead in the fourth minute, with the Blues dismayed

Victor Moses is sent off in the 68th minute, picking up his second yellow in 13 minutes

Victor Moses is sent off in the 68th minute, picking up his second yellow in 13 minutes

Perhaps this explains why Wenger is so resistant to the control of a sporting director. Any interference, however well meant, will disrupt his unique style. 'I don't change my commitment,' he said.

'I worked until the last day of my contract, which is basically today. I'm not a young man. Well, I feel a very young man, but I don't look very young. That's the difference. I have the desire. I love my job. I love to win, I love to build, I love to get people going. I love what I do; it's as simple as that.

'We live in a society that always wants change. There's a kind of violence in our society now where everybody has opinions and we have to live with it, but football and every company is about making the right decision. That's why I say it's not about popularity, it's about competence.'

Chelsea's N'Golo Kante (left) goes up for a header with Arsenal's Granit Xhaka (No 29)

Chelsea's N'Golo Kante (left) goes up for a header with Arsenal's Granit Xhaka (No 29)

Diego Costa grabs the Chelsea badge as he celebrates his 76th-minute goal at Wembley

Diego Costa grabs the Chelsea badge as he celebrates his 76th-minute goal at Wembley

Arsenal's competence was not in doubt at Wembley on an afternoon when they were defensively tighter and more potent on the counter-attack than Chelsea, and when Granit Xhaka dominated N'Golo Kante in midfield. Perhaps it was simply harder for Conte to keep the momentum going 15 days after Chelsea clinched the title.

The last two teams to let the Double slip also had long lead-ins to the FA Cup final: 13 days for Manchester United in 2007, 21 for Liverpool in 1988. Conte had given a wider group a chance against Watford, he had indulged John Terry's ceremony against Sunderland.

Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey celebrates making it 2-1 after heading home in the 79th minute

Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey celebrates making it 2-1 after heading home in the 79th minute

A jubilant Hector Bellerin slides on his knees to celebrate Ramsey's crucial goal at Wembley

A jubilant Hector Bellerin slides on his knees to celebrate Ramsey's crucial goal at Wembley

Chelsea did not look themselves; they looked like they had knocked off. Ramsey's winner came 21 minutes later than any goal of significance — a match-winner or equaliser — that had been scored against Chelsea in the league all season.

Yet Chelsea's failings do not diminish Wenger's glory. He has transformed Arsenal's shape and form in the final stages of the season; too late to give them what they needed in the league, but in time to win one of only five trophies available to English clubs. 

That should be enough to secure two more years, even if all he is signing up for is another saga. 

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