Arsenal legend Ian Wright has pleaded with long-serving manager Arsene Wenger to ignore reported overtures from England due to how much pressure he would be under.
Wenger achieved a landmark 20 years in the Arsenal job this weekend and marked the anniversary with a dramatic, late 1-0 victory at Burnley on Sunday.
Sam Allardyce’s acrimonious departure from the Three Lions job this week has triggered widespread rumours that Wenger, who called England a “paradise for football” this week, could be approached for the vacancy.
But Wright, who played under Wenger for the Frenchman’s first two years at Highbury, believes his former coach would get too much criticism from expectant England supporters for him to enjoy it.
“[I’d tell Arsene] don’t do the England job, because it’s too much pressure,” Wright, who is now a television pundit, told BBC Sport on Sunday. “He’s going to get so much stick.
“You see the amount of stick he getting from Arsenal [fans] when he’s trying to do his stuff. I wouldn’t like to see him go through [these] 20 years, and then the last 10 years it’s been [like this] for him.
“And then go to England and it not quite work out and you get that kind of stick as well… That’s a selfish reason, personally.”
Wenger’s Arsenal are placed third in the table heading into the international break, two points adrift of Manchester City at the summit and one point behind Tottenham in second.
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