Is it time for Wenger at Arsenal?

When you think of Arsenal, you think of Arsene Wenger. The 67-year old frenchman has been the manager of Gunners for 20 seasons now, making it a club record. Sir Alex Ferguson still holds the record of  9704 days as a manager for Manchester united from 1986-2013, still 2000 days longer than Wenger's reign in Arsenal so far.

Before signing with Arsenal, Wenger had coached in the French Ligue-1 leading AS. Monaco to victory in the Coupe de France, and two seasons in Japan as manager for the J.league team Nagoya Grampus Eight. When Wenger first arrived in London 22 September 1996 he wasn´t well known to the English football world and many supporters and even players were asking "Arsene who?". Wenger's first major move after joining the club was to make dietary changes for the players such as forbidding them to drink beer on their days off, preferring white meat over red meat, and suggesting that pasta would be the new pre-match dish. Wenger was also given control over the clubs players contracts, training sessions and transfers for the club, unlike any of his predecessors.

Arsene Wenger has been with the club for 20 seasons ©Getty Images

The new foreign approach to English football brought by Wenger, and the changes he made in the team had paid off already in his second year at Arsenal, as the Gunners managed to win both Premier league and the FA-cup in 1996-1997 making Wenger the first foreign manager to win the double. Five years later the Frenchman lead Arsenal to their second double in 2001-2002 defeating arch rivals Chelsea 2-0 in the FA-cup final. In 2003-2004, Arsenal won the Premier league without losing a single match during the whole season, an accomplishment only Preston North End had achieved 115 years earlier. Since then Arsenal has not won a single league title in the command of Wenger and questions are being raised about continuing Arsene Wenger as the head coach of Arsenal tend to pop up in the beginning of each season nowadays. 

Wenger has lead Arsenal to three league titles and six of both FA-cup and Community shield trophies during his 20 years of service, making him the most successful manager in the club`s history but not being able to win the Premier league title for 12 consecutive years is starting to turn into a bad habit for Arsenal, Can he get Gunners back to the title race? Calls are being made that the London club should at least consider the possibility of bringing someone at the club who has new ideas to contribute to the team in a better manager. Can he get the club back to their golden era? 

Is Arsene Wenger's time with Arsenal finally up? Even if Wenger's reign in London would end in the near future, he will surely be remembered by every Gunners fan because of  his incredible input for the club throughout the decennials.