I raised an eyebrow when I read the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was voted coach of the decade ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. This doesn’t come from a person who doesn’t respect what Arsene Wenger has done for the North London club, but a sheer observation at how trophy shy the Emirates cabinet is compared to that of Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and the San Siro.
Wenger has helped improve English football and Arsenal massively whilst incorporating an impressive brand of football – but can a manager who hasn’t won anything since 2005 be considered manager of the decade?
I think if there was an outright vote right now, Wenger would probably be placed behind Mourinho and Fergie, however the award was given on the basis of totaling up all of the votes from the past ten years – meaning that Wenger has been the most consistently placed manager since 2000. In this time Wenger has notched up the following trophies in comparison to Mourinho and Ferguson:
Wenger: 2002 Premier League, 2002 FA Cup, 2003 FA Cup, 2004 Premier League, 2005 FA Cup
Mourinho:2003 Portuguese Liga, 2003 Portuguese Cup, 2003 UEFA Cup, 2003 Portuguese Super Cup ,2004 Portugese Liga, 2004 Champions League, 2005 Premier League 2005 League Cup, 2006 Premier League, 2007 League Cup, 2007 FA Cup, 2009 Serie A, 2010 Serie A, 2010 Coppa Italia, 2010 Champions League
Ferguson: 2000 Premier League, 2001 Premier League, 2003 Premier League, 2004 FA Cup, 2006 League Cup, 2007 Premier League, 2008 Premier League, 2008 Champions League, 2009 League Cup, 2009 Premier League, 2010 League Cup
For all Wenger’s qualities as a coach and what he has done for Arsenal, in terms of trophies – both Ferguson and Mourinho have bettered the Frenchman. But is it all about trophies? Arsenal fans often speak of their net spend in comparison to United’s and Chelsea’s, which is far lower:
I’m sure you’ve seen the graphic doing the rounds on the forums/blogs (RoM had a similar graph on there, although slightly inflated without the Ronaldo sale!), so I thought I would replicate it in this piece. United have spent, since the start of the Premier League £107million more than Arsenal, whilst Chelsea have spent £334million more than (stats up to 2010) Arsenal. It is something that UEFA president Michel Platini has spoken about in the past (talking about English clubs in 2008):
‘You can’t be buying players on credit and simply running up huge debts. Clubs are not competing on a level playing field and that is not right.’
Wenger has obviously had an impressive ROI on a number of players (including trophies) he bought for a fraction of the price (Anelka, Toure and Adebayor) and since moving to their new stadium has been quite cautious (although not as ‘tight’ as some might think with Vermaelen and Arshavin).
Now, in the past decade there have been some (as Danny Dyer may put it) some ‘right tear ups’ between United and Arsenal, with it coming to a head in the 2003/04 game at Old Trafford. The managers weren’t much better at times, which included a monumental row between the pair following the 2004/05 game at Old Trafford (where United ended Arsenal’s 49 game unbeaten domestic run). I do realise from doing blogs in the past (that mention Arsenal) that relations ‘aren’t too friendly’ – to put it mildly – but this honestly isn’t a dig at Wenger as a coach or his Arsenal team. He has developed a number of youngsters into superb players, whilst maintaining his footballing ethos. ‘Wenger is a gracious winner, but an awfully bad loser – which rubs off on some of his players at times’. I actually read that quote from physiologist (who works at Arsenal) who was talking to Champions magazine. I would generally agree with that and again that isn’t a criticism because if you think about it, who likes losing?
However, lets get to the real debate – is Wenger the coach of the decade? I think he has done a wonderful job at Arsenal (and couldn’t understand the fans calling for his head) on a tight budget and has overseen their move from Highbury to the Emirates. Having said that, football – at the end of the day – is about winning trophies. In terms of the big trophies, Ferguson has won one European Cup and six League Championships (in ten years) whilst Mourinho has won two Champions League trophies and won the League Championship in three different countries. Wenger has built an empire at Arsenal (and I do put the development of the new stadium down to his vision and ambition) and continues to promote good football – but does his two League Championships compare to that of Ferguson and Mourinho?
I’d like to think this is a balanced article that is generally offering an opportunity for a good old debate and I welcome all comments. Some of you may think that Mourinho and Ferguson have ‘bought’ their trophies, whereas some of you may claim that Wenger’s reluctance to spend is a mere excuse at the fact that his side hasn’t won anything since the 2005 FA Cup final. Tell you what, I reckon all comments should start with ‘[manager] is the coach of the decade because…..’ – I’ll go first.
Just for reference, here is the final result:
1. Arsene Wenger France 156
2. Sir Alex Ferguson Scotland 148
3. Jose Mourinho Portugal 135
4. Fabio Capello Italy 120
5. Guus Hiddink Holland 112
6. Carlo Ancelotti Italy 108
7. Luiz Scolari Brazil 101
Marcelo Bielsa Argentina 101
9. Rafael Benitez Spain 97
10. Marcello Lippi Italy 88