After a Carabao Cup final that made the vast chasm between Arsenal and the rest of English football’s top clubs even more painfully prevalent than the eight points separating them from fifth place in the Premier League table, the question is no longer whether the Gunners should part with Wenger at the end of the season. That now seems somewhat inevitable, even in light of the faith Arsenal’s board have blindly placed in Wenger previously.

Indeed, the conundrum facing the north London club is what direction they should take next, and who on their shortlist of replacements has the talent, ingenuity and personality to occupy the void of a manager who has been in charge for 22 years, overseeing an incredible 1218 games and weaving his ideology into every aspect of the club from the academy setup to the design of the Emirates Stadium.

Manchester United’s struggles following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement serve as a glaring warning and although Wenger would leave Arsenal in much worse health than the title-winning side that remained at Old Trafford in 2013, it’s clear the departure of such a long-standing manager, regardless of recent successes or failures, can have an instrumentally debasing effect on a club of Arsenal’s grandness and stature.

There’s inevitably a vacuum that one man struggles to completely fill, which is perhaps why the Gunners brought in a new chief scout, Sven Mislintat, and head of football relations, Raul Senllehi, in November – two men with ideas and talents that can help bridge the void.

But those concerns and comparisons with Manchester United ring particularly true with one of the names reportedly in contention to replace Wenger – Brendan Rodgers. No doubt, the Irishman is a talented manager; he’s made incredibly light work of Scottish football during his time with Celtic, adding eye-catching football to their relentless accumulation of trophies, and showed he can challenge for honours in England as well while serving as Liverpool manager – once again with a strong onus on a brand of football that mimics the current philosophy at the Emirates Stadium. The leap from Wenger’s way of thinking to his own is small enough to avoid a painful transition process.

And yet, that’s not necessarily a good thing – something David Moyes’ torrid tenure at Old Trafford pays direct testament to. The now-West Ham manager’s ultimate failing as United boss was a failure to differentiate between himself and his predecessor; the only real addition to the team was Marouane Fellaini, there were no significant changes in philosophy and there were unavoidable similarities in personality as two dour, no-nonsense Scots. Consequentially, the only discernible difference between Moyes and Ferguson as the months dragged on was the effectiveness of the football they played, and consequently the results.

For all intents and purposes, Moyes became Ferguson-lite, an imitation that just couldn’t copy the sugary goodness of the original, and that’s exactly what Rodgers would be at Arsenal as well; a manager who maintains the Wenger ideology despite lacking the masterful knowledge of his predecessor and without addressing its most fundamental and outdated flaws.

Yes, Rodgers’ possession-based game is a more modern approach than Wenger’s, but it stems from the same school of thought and the Irishman has shown both with Liverpool and Celtic that he shares the Arsenal gaffer’s biggest weakness – an inability to organise teams as a coherent defensive unit.

During his time with Celtic, that’s been most obvious in the Europe, where the Scottish champions have struggled to switch between their possession-based dominance domestically and the need to be more pragmatic against top-quality opposition, but it was a problem at Liverpool for Rodgers as well.

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Throughout his entire career, Rodgers’ sides have conceded nine more goals in Europe (including qualifying) than they’ve scored and performances at that level remain a worrying blotch on the 45-year-old’s CV. Arsenal fans will already be more than aware of how Wenger has struggled on the continent over the last decade too.

But as much as Manchester United’s failure to adequately prepare for Ferguson’s departure serves as a warning, it also gives Arsenal an insight into how they can avoid a similarly erroneous follow-up to Wenger. While the Red Devils may still not be the same force of old, and while a large section of fans remain dissident and underwhelmed, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho have at least won silverware by taking the club and the first team in their own directions.

The former’s dogmatic philosophy provided the first trophy of the post-Ferguson era in the FA Cup, and the latter’s unwavering pragmatism has returned United to the Champions League and produced their most convincing title challenge without Ferguson yet this season – even if Manchester City have made the title race a non-contest.

Rather than appointing someone like Rodgers, who could only ever offer continuity of the Wenger way, Arsenal need a successor who is prepared to imprint new ideals onto the team, who has the personality and vision to create a new interpretation of the Arsenal identity, who will place as much emphasis on correcting the club’s weaknesses as further embellishing its strengths. Arsenal need a fresh way of thinking; Rodgers is merely an updated version of what they’ve already been doing.

Arsenal, don’t find your Moyes and write the chaotic, unsuccessful epilogue to the Wenger years. Find your van Gaal, find your Mourinho, and start a new chapter in the history of what should be one of English football’s most competitive clubs.