Luis Enrique believes that it would be ‘impossible’ for a manager to reign in Spain for 20 years as Arsene Wenger has done at Arsenal.

The Barcelona boss was speaking ahead of the latest instalment of the Barcelona-Arsenal Champions League saga.

With pressure mounting on Arsene Wenger, Enrique was asked what he thought of the Arsenal boss and was full of praise for his opposite number while adding “that would be impossible here” about Wenger’s length of tenure at one club.

“To be at the same club for so long shows his quality as a manager and also his desire to keep going in the job,” Enrique said.

“I cannot talk about his current situation but if he has been there for that long, it says something about his capability.

BARCELONA, SPAIN - MARCH 15: Head coach Luis Enrique of FC Barcelona faces the media during a press conference ahead of their UEFA Champions Leage round of 16 second leg match against Arsenal FC at Ciutat Esportiva on March 15, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Radical plans (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

“The thing is there are ever more coaches around and only the same number of clubs as ever, so there’s so much competition.”

Enrique also revealed that he would only offer coaches six-month contracts (we’ve only ever heard that advocated for players like Theo Walcott, who play better when a contract is up and that was because we said it).

“I have quite a drastic view of this [ideal contract lengths]. I would only give out six-month contracts. If you’re not absolutely happy, you go. And it would be cheaper for clubs, too.”

Difficult to argue with that logic on face value, of course, but then not all clubs are Barcelona and many need to build stability to succeed – that comes with a manager knowing he will be given time to do what he needs to do.

We can’t all just do whatever we want regardless of the cost.

Remembering that there’s an actual game of football to be played, reporters got round to asking him about that.

“It’s obvious that the result we got there influences this second game, but we won’t change anything about the way we train nor the way we are preparing it. The tie is not sealed and Arsenal are a dangerous team,” Luis Enrique added.