Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has used Barcelona’s incredible 6-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain to make the point that managers need to be given more time.
Barca boss Luis Enrique had been under huge pressure after a 4-0 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie,
and announced shortly afterwards that he’d step down from his position in the summer.
Wenger has come under similar pressure at Arsenal after another disappointing season, but says that this phenomenal Barcelona result shows that things can change very quickly in his profession.
‘It just sums it up that two weeks ago he was an idiot and everyone said, “You have to leave.” So he said, “OK, I go.” Today, he is a hero. That sums up the job,’ Wenger said.
‘I watched it. I stayed with it even when it went to 3-1 because it is interesting, on a psychological front, to see how they respond. I wanted to see how Barcelona finished the game and, in fact, they had half-given up.
‘I looked more at it from a tactical point of view – what is going on mentally in the head of the players.
‘At the end of the game, even when you have been so long in football, you sit there and think, “How could this happen?” Is the first penalty a penalty? The second one? Honestly…?
‘It was fantastic.’
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