Former Arsenal star Ray Parlour believes the Gunners must resist the urge to sack Arsene Wenger because of the lack of world-class candidates to replace the Frenchman at the club.
Wenger has come under intense pressure from some fans in recent weeks as Arsenal have gone from challenging for the Premier League title to falling behind and fighting for third place in the standings.
Wenger’s current contract at the club will expire in May 2017 but, despite calls from some supporters for Arsenal to find a new manager this summer, Parlour believes the Gunners should stick with the Frenchman for another season.
“I don’t think he’ll leave, I think he’ll be there next season,” Parlour, who was speaking on behalf of Vauxhall, the England team sponsor, said.
“It’s a situation where Wenger will decide when he leaves, and he’s been there so long he probably deserves that.
“But it might be his last season next year, at the end of his contract. At the moment it’s going to be difficult for the board to get rid of Arsene.
“You always worry about which manager comes in next. Who would you have? Jurgen Klopp’s gone to Liverpool, Pep Guardiola to Man City. There isn’t a huge amount of managers out there.
“It’s a big decision they’ve got to make. If you’re going to sack a manager you’ve got to have a plan. And if they don’t have a plan then they’ve got to keep him.”
Leicester are on course to win the league title this term, although Arsenal’s fierce rivals Tottenham remain in the hunt as they sit just five points behind the Foxes in the table.
The Gunners have failed to win the top-flight crown since Parlour and the rest of the Invincibles side went unbeaten on their march to the title in 2004.
And Parlour puts Arsenal’s failure to challenge Leicester and Spurs this season down to the mentality of the players.
“Sometimes you have to look at the players and whether they’re strong enough mentally,” he said.
“Maybe it’s not the little tricky players you want to get, but those strong players like Tony Adams at the back.
“When you’re up against it it’s down to the players to sort out what’s wrong. We did that when we played. There are not enough characters like that on the pitch at the moment.”
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