Wenger - Managers need time to succeed

Arsene Wenger wants Premier League clubs to resist the pressure to change their managers - and give them more time to develop and succeed.

David Moyes became the 10th top-flight boss to lose his job this season when he was sacked by Manchester United this week, just 10 months after replacing Sir Alex Ferguson - who filled the Old Trafford hotseat for 26 years.

Wenger was saddened by Moyes' departure and is increasingly alarmed by the rate at which clubs dispense of their managers. As it stands, the Frenchman's tenure at Arsenal is almost as long as those of his 19 top-flight rivals combined.

"I'm sad that he [Moyes] wasn't given time and I wish him well," said Wenger. "I think it's just part of what the modern game is now. There is no time available for people to do their job and that is a big threat for our game.

"What I mean by that is that if you want quality people in any job, you need to give them time to develop and to become good, or people with the quality will not come into our job anymore.

"The average [job life] expectancy of an English professional club [manager] at the moment is 11 months, and that is quite unstable. Every guy who is married, has a family, will have a big hesitancy before he goes into that game.

"That means the quality of the coaching and the quality of the managing is under threat, because it will not attract quality people anymore.

"It's the first time since I have been in England that [10 Premier League managers have lost their job in one season], and the trend is that rotation will become quicker and quicker.

"You know, if you get to a point where you sack your manager with every defeat, the guy who comes in will lose games as well. So that trend will become quicker and quicker. We are living in a society now where it is every time quick, the quick intelligence is dominating the slow intelligence. That means every time after the game it is quick sanction, quick judgment, and there is no distance anymore with the event."

Wenger believes the onus is on clubs to stem the tide of managerial sackings, and pointed to Arsenal’s own record of sticking to its beliefs and principles over time.

"The solution is that the clubs internally will need to be much stronger than before, to resist that immediate pressure," he said.

"The strengths, the belief, the vision inside the clubs, will be tested much more than before. And the strengths needed inside the clubs will need to be much better."