Barclays disclose Player and Manager of the Season Nominess
5. Arsene Wenger
The only reason why Wenger made this list according to me is the fantastic run his Arsenal team had in the latter stages of the season where they went 8 games without losing anyone and winning every single one of them.
It has been a tendency of Arsenal every season where they will start the season in a horrible and uninspiring manner, losing points and dropping out of the title race and they will finish the season with a flourish, but unfortunately by that time the title is out of reach and all they have is the Champions League position to fight for.
With some sensible signings like Sanchez, Wenger has been able to balance the squad a bit this season. His win against Manchester City at the Etihad is one of the best Arsenal performances I have seen in quite a while, where he suspended the free flowing football and deployed a pragmatic approach which kept City at bay and the Gunners won with a sublime counter attacking fashion.
With such performances it may seem Wenger is at last shedding off his idealistic approach of football and accepting pragmatism as the central theme in the contemporary football. According to me, he may have an outside chance of winning the award.