Wenger surprised by Guardiola departure

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he was surprised by Pep Guardiola’s decision to walk away from Barcelona at the end of the season.

Days after their elimination from the Champions League, Guardiola announced on Friday that he would step down as Barca coach after four successful seasons at the Camp Nou.

But Wenger, who is in his 16th season at Arsenal, said he hoped the Spaniard was not rushing his decision after the let down of losing to Chelsea.

“It comes as a surprise to me, because when you make a decision after a big disappointment like you had in the last week it is not the right moment to make this type of decision,” Wenger said.

“I think the philosophy of Barcelona has to be bigger than winning or losing a championship. Pep Guardiola represents this philosophy and made this philosophy triumph.

“I would have loved him, even if he had a disappointing year, to stay, come back and persist with his philosophy at the club. That would be interesting as well.”

Arsenal face a challenging trip to Stoke in the Premier League on Saturday as they push for a Champions League berth next season, and Wenger admitted his side has struggled in the past to deal with the Potters’ physicality.

“I believe Stoke are always a difficult opponent for us, for everyone. Every big team that goes to Stoke knows they’ve had a game,” he said.

“From our side we are in a position where we want to win our remaining games. We have our future in our hands at the moment, but only if we win the three games that are remaining.

“That starts with Stoke and that means we are completely focussed on Stoke. We are going to cancel their strong points, but of course we want to score goals because that’s what we need to do to win the games.”

Skipper Robin van Persie has played a massive part in Arsenal’s resurgence in the second half of the season, having scored 34 goals for the season, and Wenger is confident he can convince the Dutchman to extend his contract beyond the end of next season.

“I’m confident, I want to convince him (van Persie) to stay here and to extend his contract and secondly he is not free at the end of the season, he has a year left on his contract anyway.”