History is supposedly written by the victors, yet even if celebrations in Manchester and Liverpool went long into the night, it will be the sound of no hands clapping in north London that will make the most noise on Monday morning.Liverpool holding their nerve against Middlesbroughand Manchester City giving the impression they were not in possession of any at Watfordrendered Arsenal's spirited victory over Everton to be academic. For the first time in 20 years, they have failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.Thursday night football did not exist in 1997. Both Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp will feel a huge weight lifted having avoided it, Arsene Wenger never heavier.For the best part of a decade now Europe's premier club competition has flirted with ditching a complacent Arsenal, but even when it has previously gone to the wire, it has always somehow seemed an idle, empty threat. Like a downtrodden wife too tired to leave a complacent husband, finally she has. Arsenal supporters will love nothing more than penning Jilted John letters longer than the Bible.Even an eternal optimistic like the Frenchman will be acutely aware that, in his position, a step backwards always leaves a bigger footprint than one forward. It's a peculiar world we inhabit where an FA Cup victory would likely not be compensation enough for the solitary point difference that separates Arsenal in fifth from Liverpool in fourth over a 38-game season.Danny Blanchflower will be turning in his grave, even if it is the old enemy being afflicted with a skewed sense of glory. As might Wenger's grandfather, who used to say: "I don't understand, at the 100 metres, one runs in 10.1 seconds and the other one in 10.2 seconds, both are very fast. What's the point'"Wenger, philosophical to the last, will likely in time heed the words of Dr Seuss and just grin and bear Arsenal's situation in Europe: "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."Perhaps that's the same message somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 Arsenal supporters were trying to convey when voting with their feet in boycotting Tuesday night's win over Sunderland at the Emirates. Nobody wants a messy divorce, even if a fair number have long-since arrived at the view Wenger has idealised his relationship with the football club out of all proportion.Even those still advocating Wenger's reign must feel a little uneasy at his insistence he will wait until the end of the season before shedding any authoritative light on what the future entails. There's no doubt this lack of transparency has cast a shadow all term, with Wenger having been under pressure since late January when a home defeat to Watford started to unravel the club's season. It has all felt uncharacteristically self-indulgent. Had either Guardiola or Jose Mourinho been so evasive, they may well have been chased out of Manchester with pitchforks.For the first time, on Sunday, Wenger admitted uncertainty over his role has contributed to Arsenal's failure, adding, "Yes, of course" when asked whether he took responsibility for the negativity inside the stadium."I believe since January we have played in a very difficult environment for different reasons," he said, per the BBC."Psychologically the atmosphere was absolutely horrendous. It has been difficult, yes, and certainly my personal situation has contributed to that, but you can never question my professionalism or commitment."If it's an ego thing, his attempt to create a "chase me" style scenario with the club's supporters has proved the worst Benny Hill episode of all-time. Nurses have been replaced with middle-aged blokes outside the Emirates shouting into YouTube to large applause. A couple of years ago, their only audience would have been exasperated bus drivers and the moon.In fairness, after Sunday's 3-1 victory over Everton that saw Arsenal make light of Laurent Koscielny receiving a 14th-minute red card for a wild if not seemingly malicious tackle on Enner Valenciawhich rules the Frenchman out of the FA Cup finalthe players, and by extension Wenger, received generous applause. They head into next week's curtain call with Chelsea on the back of five successive league wins and seven victories from eight in total. Worryingly though, Gabriel picked up a second-half knee injury that looked serious and only exacerbates Wenger's problems at the back. Per Mertesacker was summoned from the bench for his first appearance of the season and may now be required to start at Wembley. He'd better set off now if we wants to catch Eden Hazard.The venom inside the Emirates had shifted from Wenger to Stan Kroenke, the majority shareholder.Maybe the fans have decided the best way to get the monkey off the club's back is to convince the organ grinder to shoot it."Stan Kroenke, get out of our club," was a repeated verse, with the hands-off American tycoon having seemingly shown little interest in the $1.3 billion bid (which falls below the $2.02 billion valuation Forbes gave 12 months ago) tabled by fellow shareholder Alisher Usmanov on Friday, to take over Arsenal. From afar, Kroenke is a Wenger acolyte, most probably because prior to this season the beleaguered boss had filled the club's coffers with Champions League bounty for a couple of decades uninterrupted. Usmanov, who hankers after adding Kroenke's 67 per cent stake in the club to his own, is one of the continent's richest men and less devout in his affections towards Wenger.Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wenger, reportedly on a salary of just under 9 million a year, definitely doesn't think any of this is Kroenke's fault, per the BBC."I respect Stan Kroenke a lot. He is not at fault if we did not reach the Champions League. It is the technical department who is responsible for that."If there is an offer on the table, Wenger may be wise to sign it now. Even if, as stated on Sunday, he has over the years, "said no to every club in the world."It looks increasingly unlikely, but if Wenger hasn't made up his mind, the FA Cup final potentially provides him with the perfect platform to bow out a hero. Even a valiant defeat against Chelsea would allow him to leave through the front gate with his head held high.Self-preservation of his reputation, though, has never seemingly been the motivating factor in any decision to prolong his stay. If that were the case, he'd have left at the end of either the 2013/14 or 2014/15 campaigns, with an FA Cup under his arm replete with gilded epithets.Even at 67, Wenger remains obdurate to the point any criticism will only strengthen his resolve to extend his tenure. In an ingenious interview he gave in 2015 to L'Equipe Sport and Style, with the finesse of a Savile Row tailor, stitch-by-stitch,he pulled apart the idea there was something tangible Arsenal "must" achieve season after season."'Must' can be used for death. We must all die one day. In my life, I prefer replacing 'must' with "want". Wanting more than having to."If you tell me, you have to go out tonight, I don't want to go out as much. If you tell me do you want to go out' Yes, I want to! That's love for life. Must, must I mustn't do anything!"The French for "you can stick your aeroplane banner up your arse" is just so much more eloquent.That on Sunday he stood back when his players did a lap of honour at full-time, thus turning down the opportunity for what could have been a final goodbye to the home Arsenal crowd, said so much more than any interview did or didn't.In his post-match briefing, Wenger definitely seemed more defiant than deflated. He was keen to stress how the 75 points they finished with eclipsed last season's tally when they ended up second. Indeed, 75 is two more points than the most that has ever previously been required to qualify for the Champions League since it opened itself up to non-champions. From 1996/97, the average number of points required to qualify from the Premier League is 67.From a purely numerical perspective, it would be hard to label Arsenal's campaign disastrous. In 25 seasons under Wenger, only on eight occasions have they won more than 75 points. But then if football were maths, Carol Vorderman would be England manager. That said, Sam Allardyce was pretty good at adding up 400,000 for doing not a lot was decent numbers, so perhaps not.There is no getting away from the fact this is something seismic for Arsenal. Europa League participation will likely go one of two ways.Either Arsenal will thrive in the novelty provided by something new, with that something new almost certainly now not going to be in the dugout, or Europe's little brother competition will hold a mirror up to reveal some uncomfortable truths. Maybe both.There's definitely a possibility they may luxuriate as a thoroughbred in the Europa League, having for so long in the Champions League been mere also-rans in repeatedly struggling to progress beyond the round of 16.If nothing else, watching Alexis Sanchez attempting to feign enthusiasm for a Thursday night away day in Bulgaria will be a thing of singular beauty.Over the weekend,Wenger found an ally in former sparring partner Sir Alex Ferguson. The Scot has softened his stance on the Frenchman to the extent he quite regularly speaks of him with a reverence that privately will almost certainly infuriate Mourinho."The ridiculous situation with the sort of pressure that Arsene is under, I wonder, really, do they realise the job that Arsene has done'" Ferguson told Sky Sports."He has come through a forest of criticism for months now and he has never bowed. He has sailed right through. He has shown a determination, a stubbornness. That is a quality."If stubbornness is a virtue, then Wenger could still be in the dugout at 70. For now, though, right up until beyond the FA Cup final, it seems he will stay true to his ethos of living only in the present. The rest of us will have to wait to find out what the future holds for both him and Arsenal."The only possible moment of happiness is the present," he went on to explain to L'Equipe Sport and Style. "The past gives you regrets. And the future uncertainties."Man understood this very fast and created religion. It absolves you of what you've done wrong in the past and tells him not to worry about the future, because he'll go to paradise." For Wenger, there is only one religion. Leaving Arsenal of his own volition would be like a priest giving up thechurch.Best of the restIt was fitting that in the weekTwin Peaks returns to our screens after a 25-year absence the Premier League served up fare so weird it would not have been a surprise had the Match of the Day credits confirmed David Lynch as director.ArsenalFan TV regulars will almost certainly consider the likely decision of the club's board to offer Wenger a new contract as being the biggest mystery since Laura Palmer's body was found wrapped in plastic, while at Stamford Bridge, all that was missing from John Terry's choreographed exit (his own routine, apparently) in the 26th minute of his 717th and final Chelsea appearance, via a guard of honour, was a dancing dwarf.Original plans to have Elton John land on the centre circle via a zip wire attached from the top of the Shed End, simultaneously singing about "England's rose" while releasing doves from his backpack, had to be shelved due to health and safety concerns.As arguably the club's most important-ever player, perhaps Terry deserved a send off as grandiose as his ego commitment. A 19-year association sees the 36-year-old bid farewell to Chelsea with a trophy haul that reads five Premier Leagues, five FA Cups, three League Cups, one Champions League and one Europa League.Still, when considering Chelsea's relationship with Terry, a line from F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night comes to mind: "If you spend your life sparing people's feelings and feeding their vanity, you get so you can't distinguish what should be respected in them."Terry's tears deserve more than our laughter, but that's all they're going to get.It shouldn't get lost in the fawning over Terry how Chelsea's 5-1 victory over Sunderland was a record 30th victory in a 38-game season, with the 93 points accrued over the campaign the second highest ever in Premier League history. Antonio Conte, take a bow.Only Mourinho's Chelsea class of 2004/05 with 95 points have more, which will delight the Portuguese probably even as much as the fact his Manchester United side that beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at Old Traffordhad an average age of just 22 years and 284 days. It was the club's youngest in Premier League history and third youngest ever in the competition.He gave full debuts to four Academy graduates, while Angel Gomeswho replaced Wayne Rooney in what felt symbolic in what is likely to be the captain's last-ever game at Old Traffordbecame the first player born in the 21stcentury to play in the Premier League. In the process, the 16-year-old became United's youngest player since Duncan Edwards made his debut in 1953.Mourinho probably spent the early hours of Monday morning scripting a diatribe in which he will accuse the media of bias for not comparing his policy of blooding youth favourably with Sir Matt Busby before him.Elsewhere in what really was a remarkable way to conclude a campaign unfairly maligned by many as being boring, a season-equalling high of 37 goals were scored.Harry Kane followed up the four goals he bagged againstLeicester City in midweek with a hat-trick in Tottenham Hotspur's 7-1 win at Hull City.For the second season in a row, Spurs have recorded the best goal difference without winning the titlethe first time this has happened in 70 years (according to The Times'Bill Edgar). That Mauricio Pochettino's side finish the campaign with the best attack and stingiest defence can only bode well for going one better next season.A fourth Premier League treble of the calendar year that has seen only six scored in total took Kane to 29 goals (in just 30 matches) and cemented a second Golden Boot in as many seasons. He's simply a magnificent footballer. As is Sergio Aguero, whose double at Vicarage Road took him to a career best of 33 for the campaign. As bad as Watford wereand they were really, really badManchester City were electric in taking them apart to the tune of 5-0. Gabriel Jesus was again nothing less than sensational.Guardiola still seems to have reservations about them in tandem, even if in the last couple of games they have linked up with genuine promise. Only a genius or a madman would even consider selling Aguero. Guardiola may well be a little bit of both.It should be an interesting summer.
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