RTÉ soccer analyst Richie Sadlier believes that Arsene Wenger should walk away from Arsenal, in order to protect his legacy at the club.
Wenger’s side suffered a humiliating 5-1 UEFA Champions League last-16 first-leg defeat to Bayern Munich, effectively ending their interest in the competition for another year.
The Arsenal boss is already under pressure at the Emirates with more and more of the crowd turning against the manager who has been in charge since 1996.
Arsenal have not won the Premier league since 2004 and have failed to progress past the round of 16 in the Champions League in the last seven years.
Under Wenger, the Gunners consistently qualify for Europe’s top competition and while that may keep the owners happy, fans are increasingly unhappy.
Sadlier believes that Wenger’s decision to stay or go will be his alone and said: "It’s yet again knock-out stages of the Champions League, so if you’re of a view that that represents success, tonight’s performance won’t change the owner’s view.
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"Because it was so bad, it was so embarrassing, it was so disappointing and there were so many failings that we’ve seen in previous years, those people are calling for Wenger to leave will get noisier and angrier than they’ve ever been.
"It’s going to be a very difficult place to be in the Emirates. There was a Premier League game at the weekend and thousands of paying customers didn’t show up.
"I think you’re going to see more and more of that, unless he announces that he’s going to go."
The former Republic of Ireland international believes that Wenger should announce his intention to leave at the end of the season.
"If he says he’s going to go at the end of the season, there’ll be tributes to him all season ‘what a great man’ and people will respect what he’s done only if they know he’s going."
However, Eamon Dunphy does not believe that Wenger will make any such announcement and that to do so would effectively end Arsenal’s season.
“If he says he’s going to go, they won’t get top four so that’s not going to happen,” Dunphy insisted.
Where now for Arsene Wenger? @RichieSadlier believes the veteran manager should fall on his sword to secure his reputation. pic.twitter.com/Camvvrlpqj
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) February 15, 2017
