To say Arsenal are struggling under Arsene Wenger is a bit of an understatement, but if the club do decide to change manager, who could come in to replace him?
Before Arsenal can move on from Wenger, they need to have an idea of who is coming in.
They don’t want to end up following Manchester United in hiring the next David Moyes or Louis van Gaal.
Let’s take a look at some options available to them at the moment:
Luis Enrique
Most recently the manager of Barcelona, Enrique has also managed Celta Vigo and AS Roma.
The 47-year-old is currently taking a break from management, after leaving the Catalan club last summer.
During his three-year spell with Barcelona, Enrique won La Liga twice, the Copa del Rey three times, the Supercopa de Espana, the Champions league, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Nine trophies in three seasons and a 76.2% win ratio wasn’t enough to keep his job.
Barcelona under Enrique played fast, attacking football, so he’d probably fit in well at Arsenal.
On the other hand, some fans believe the club need a more defensive manager next, to balance Wenger’s attacking side.
From that point of view, the Spaniard probably wouldn’t fit the bill, as he’d be more of the same.
Carlo Ancelotti
For many, Ancelotti is the safe choice for Arsenal.
The 58-year-old has a massive amount of experience, having managed Juventus, Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
The Italian manager has also been very successful in picking up trophies. He lifted at least one with all of the above clubs, including the Champions League on three different occasions. He also won the league with four of his last five clubs, only failing to do so with Madrid.
Since joining Chelsea in 2009, his win ratio with each club has never been less than 60%. Wenger’s current ratio with Arsenal is 57%.
The Gunners have already lost more games this season than Ancelotti lost in his entire spell with Bayern Munich. Although, in fairness, that isn’t saying much.
Like Enrique, Ancelotti is on a leave of absence from management, after leaving Bayern Munich in September.
He should be available this summer, if the board want to make a change.
Laurent Blanc
Blanc is another manager currently on a career break.
He left Paris Saint-Germain back in June 2016. Despite the long gap, he still might be worth considering for Arsenal.
The 52-year-old has managed Bordeaux, France and Paris Saint-Germain so far in his career. With Bordeaux, he won Ligue 1, the Coupe de la Ligue and the Trophee des Champions twice.
Then, on his return to club management three years later, he picked up the Ligue 1 title three more times, Coupe de France twice, and Coupe de la Ligue and Trophee des Champions thee times each.
PSG reached the Champions League quarter-finals three times under his management, but never made it further. In fairness, that’s still more than Arsenal have achieved recently.
The main criticism of Blanc is that he had massive funding at PSG in an otherwise weak league. It shouldn’t be hard to succeed under those circumstances.
Diego Simeone
A favourite among Arsenal supporters who want Wenger out, Simeone has undoubtedly been a big success with Atletico Madrid. He managed a number of other clubs between 2006 and 2011, before eventually linking up with his current side.
Despite Barcelona and Real Madrid dominating in Spain, Simeone managed to overcome them both to win La Liga in 2013/14. He also won the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de Espana, the Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup. Individually, he received the La Liga coach of the year award three times between 2012 and 2016.
The cherry on top would’ve been a Champions League trophy, but his side finished runner-up in both 2013/14 and 2015/16. That’s still a massive achievement considering what he was up against.
The trademark of Simeone’s managerial style is a solid defensive base, exactly what Wenger’s detractors say he’s lacking. 24 matches into the 2017/18 season, Atletico still haven’t conceded double figures for goals. Arsenal have conceded 10 league goals since the turn of the year. Perhaps those detractors have a point.
The tactic works as well. Atletico may have scored fewer goals than six teams in La Liga, but they’re second in the table. The only team ahead of them are Barcelona, who haven’t lost a single game and are still only seven points clear.
Simeone signed a new contract with the club in September, lasting until 2020.
It remains to be seen if he could be tempted to end that contract early.