Arsenal: Arsene Wenger's Pep Guardiola Snub Has Positive Subplots

Arsenal could be managed by Pep Guardiola right now, had Wenger not blocked it, so they say. This is actually a really good thing and we should be thankful.

Arsenal’s managerial situation is getting tense. Arsene Wenger is dallying over his new contract offer from the board and we are all left to wonder if we will have to suffer through the same old collapse for another two or four years.

And then the reports surfaced that Pep Guardiola could have been the Gunner’s manager right this moment.

According the the Sun, Arsene Wenger blocked the board’s approach for Pep Guardiola last summer so that Le Prof could see out the last year on his contract.

Naturally, some people aren’t too pleased with this, as Guardiola was identified as a solid successor to Wenger by numerous voices out there due to his success at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

However, I’m not sold that what Wenger did is such a bad thing. Guardiola is having his struggles at Manchester City, which was to be expected. He hasn’t been the savior he was touted to be just yet. Plus, it’s impossible to ignore that the success he found at Barcelona and Bayern Munich wasn’t something unique. He walked into a footballing masterclass and coached it to more success.

Coaching a Premier League team to success was never going to be that easy and he is feeling that now.

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Guardiola has done some positive things, such as benching a struggling Sergio Aguero, but overall, he hasn’t been a godsend to the Mancunians just yet.

But that isn’t the subplot that I am most interested in with Wenger supposedly warding off Guardiola. I am interested in how Wenger does have the power after all, and not our hapless board.

It has always been said that Wenger will pick his successor, but if this report is true, then we finally have our confirmation of that and honestly, I’m perfectly fine with that. Why? Because who would you rather have picking our next manager? A board with no footballing experience or Arsene Wenger, who loves the club more than anything else in the world?

I had just covered how I was worried about Allegri coming to Arsenal because the Italian is not like Wenger, but that is no longer a concern if Wenger has such a big say in the next manager. He isn’t going to pick a project manager. He isn’t going to make a Yaya Sanogo-like appointment. He loves the club too much for that.

Next: Arsenal's Potential Starting XI Under Max Allegri

Despite how frustrated we are with him and how much we know he needs to step down, I have confidence that the man who loves the club the most will make the best decision possible to move the club forward after him.

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Arsenal: Arsene Wenger’s Pep Guardiola Snub Has Positive Subplots

By Josh Sippie | Mar 9, 2017

Arsenal could be managed by Pep Guardiola right now, had Wenger not blocked it, so they say. This is actually a really good thing and we should be thankful.

More from Pain in the Arsenal