Wenger stepped aside to unite Arsenal fans

Aaron Ramsey has urged his teammates to end the season with a string of victories to provide departing Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger with “the flawless send-off”.

Giving his first news conference following his announcement on Friday that he will end his reign at Arsenal after a 22nd season in charge, Wenger initially said he did not want to elaborate on the reasons for his decision.

Wenger has found his position at Arsenal under increasing scrutiny in recent seasons with many speculating when he would finally step aside.

Perhaps inspired by Wenger’s half-time words, Monreal broke the deadlock six minutes into the second period, running onto a Granit Xhaka corner and volleying left-footed past Joe Hart from near the penalty spot.

The 4-1 winning scoreline flattered Arsenal, with three goals in the final eight minutes ensuring victory over David Moyes’s team. FA Cup wins aside, Wenger can not escape the charge that Arsenal have regressed as Premier League and Champions League contenders, though the Europa League still holds out the possibility of a magical valediction.

West Ham, who had dominated much of the first half, drop to 15th place, six points from the drop zone. In the last few seasons the likes of Southampton and Watford come to the Emirates expecting points. In the course of those two decades, the Frenchman revolutionised the football club, and the Premier League as a whole, winning three league titles and seven FA Cup titles in the process.

Arsenal, who have one home league match remaining this season, were pegged back just past the hour mark when Arnautovic fired a superb effort beyond Ospina after collecting substitute Manuel Lanzini’s toe-poked pass. “That is basically all you need”, Wenger said when asked about the decision.

“For kids who play in Africa and China and America”.

Elsewhere, Stoke missed the chance to give their hopes of survival a major boost when they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Burnley.

Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker has made 220 appearances for the club, all with one man in charge of the Gunners: Arsene Wenger. We just tried to be professional and do our job even when the circumstances are different.

“If you look at what it was when I arrived and what it is today, I think we’ve gone a good way together”. “This is a good way to prepare – scoring goals against a strong West Ham team who have done well recently”. “And I know that I will not get that anymore in my life. I told the players at half-time that if we keep the discipline we’ll find space, and that is what we did in the second half”.

“The biggest compliment I always had when I used to play for Arsenal was people telling me “we like the way you play”, it was never “you won this, you won that, you stayed unbeaten”.