Today’s game marks an amazing stat as far as Premier League Managers go, Arsene Wenger will preside over his 800th game as Arsenal manager. He has maintained this club in the top four of the finest football league in europe and was the first non british manager to win the double. He has stood toe to toe with his nemesis Sir Alex Ferguson who the football world have unamimously acclaimed as the best ever manager in the Premier League. Well yes the stats do numerically confirm that in terms of trophies and Champions league victories SAF is without doubt the most successful manager in the Premier League. But I beg to differ when one looks at the bigger picture, when observed with all of the competing factors inserted then Arsene Wenger’s reign taken within this financial context is far superior.
Let’s crunch some numbers then……
Arsene Wenger’s overall win % is 58.2 having arrived at Highbury on 30/9/1996 some ten years after Fergie was installed at Man Utd. He has P 799 W 465 D 185 L 149
| Wenger’s RECORD AT Arsenal (Up to and including OcT 3, 2010) | ||||||||||||||
| Competition | P | W | D | L | F | A | ||||||||
| League | 531 | 310 | 134 | 87 | 1,004 | 479 | ||||||||
| FA Cup | 72 | 50 | 12 | 10 | 131 | 53 | ||||||||
| League Cup | 48 | 30 | 3 | 15 | 99 | 66 | ||||||||
| UEFA Champions League | 131 | 65 | 34 | 32 | 207 | 126 | ||||||||
| UEFA Cup | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 11 | ||||||||
| Charity/Community Shield | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 5 | ||||||||
| Total | 799 | 465 | 185 | 149 | 1,474 | 740 | ||||||||
Arsenal
Winner
- Premier League (3): 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04
- FA Cup (4): 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05
- FA Community Shield (4): 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004
Runner-up
- UEFA Champions League (1): 2005–06
- Premier League (5): 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05
- FA Cup (1): 2000–01
- League Cup (1): 2006–07
- FA Community Shield (2): 2003, 2005
- UEFA Cup (1): 1999–2000
Arsene Wenger’s brand of attacking football has meant that the scoring success is 50.2% Many of Arsenal’s players do not carry big price tags when they arrive under Wenger’s care, but their value and technical ability vastly increases which secures their future elsewhere when they leave. On can look down the leagues and also in the European leagues abroad and see the names many ex Arsenal youngsters who have made successful careers.
Compare those stat’s with Alex Ferguson’s record…
Remember we are talking about the world’s richest club with a massive global brand in Manchester United. It would be difficult not to be successful given that kind of financial clout, yet SAF has managed to win Championships against the odds, and back to back which is something that Arsene Wenger has failed to do. SAF is arrogant and stubborn and it is only recently that he has had to deal with any kind of financial uncertainty, and the portents don’t look good for Man United. With ¾ of a billion pounds debt with major repayment milestones swift approaching, the near financial armageddon that we are seeing with Liverpool FC today, we may see occurring at Old Trafford tomorrow.
SAF arrived Nov 1986 P 1,345 W 791 D 315 L 239 GF 2,446 GA 1,201 Win % 58.8
Manchester United
- Premier League (11): 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
- FA Cup (5): 1989–90, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04
- League Cup (4): 1991–92, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10
- FA Charity/Community Shield (9): 1990*, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010 (* shared)
- UEFA Champions League (2): 1998–99, 2007–08
- UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup (1): 1990–91
- UEFA Super Cup (1): 1991
- Intercontinental Cup (1): 1999
- FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008
DIVOCK ORIGI DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.
But for all that success, gooners see more goals than their Northern collegues with SAF coming in with an inferior scoring success of only 49% SAF does have an attacking style of play also, but more in terms of sheer overall numbers in the penalty box, rather than the beautiful technical scoring from Arsenal. i would rather see intricate footbal followed by a goal, than wave after wave of balls punted into the man utd box for someone to tap in.
Now lets look at the bigger picture taking in to account the transfer market (table from transferLeague.co.uk website)
| # | Season03 – 10/11 | Club | Purchased Gross | Sold | Nett Spend 03-10/11 | Per Season | |
| (Buys Gross) | |||||||
| 1 | Manchester City | £448,220,000 | £86,575,000 | £361,645,000 | £45,205,625 | ||
| 2 | Chelsea | £448,700,000 | £135,400,000 | £313,300,000 | £39,162,500 | ||
| 3 | Tottenham | £290,900,000 | £163,250,000 | £127,650,000 | £15,956,250 | ||
| 4 | Liverpool | £278,230,000 | £179,730,000 | £98,500,000 | £12,312,500 | ||
| 5 | Aston Villa | £147,200,000 | £68,025,000 | £79,175,000 | £9,896,875 | ||
| 6 | Sunderland | £121,730,000 | £62,950,000 | £58,780,000 | £7,347,500 | ||
| 7 | Birmingham City | £100,125,000 | £43,725,000 | £56,400,000 | £7,050,000 | ||
| 8 | Manchester United | £260,850,000 | £214,900,000 | £45,950,000 | £5,743,750 | ||
| 9 | Stoke City | £53,345,000 | £13,495,000 | £39,850,000 | £4,981,250 | ||
| 10 | West Bromwich Albion | £70,085,000 | £37,190,000 | £32,895,000 | £4,111,875 | ||
| 11 | Wolves | £44,775,000 | £16,625,000 | £28,150,000 | £3,518,750 | ||
| 12 | Bolton | £53,750,000 | £26,850,000 | £26,900,000 | £3,362,500 | ||
| 15 | Everton | £106,050,500 | £80,100,000 | £25,950,500 | £3,243,813 | ||
| 14 | Fulham | £68,980,000 | £47,045,000 | £21,935,000 | £2,741,875 | ||
| 15 | Newcastle | £130,350,000 | £109,900,000 | £20,450,000 | £2,556,250 | ||
| 16 | West Ham | £111,230,000 | £98,925,000 | £12,305,000 | £1,538,125 | ||
| 17 | Blackpool | £3,700,000 | £350,000 | £3,350,000 | £418,750 | ||
| 18 | Wigan | £71,965,000 | £74,000,000 | -£2,035,000 | -£254,375 | ||
| 19 | Arsenal | £147,050,000 | £149,370,000 | -£2,320,000 | -£290,000 | ||
| 20 | Blackburn Rovers | £65,702,000 | £83,540,000 | -£17,838,000 | -£2,229,750 | ||
| Middlesbrough | £76,900,000 | £64,550,000 | £12,350,000 | £1,543,750 | |||
| Hull | £23,780,000 | £10,475,000 | £13,305,000 | £1,663,125 | |||
| Burnley | £15,005,000 | £15,825,000 | -£820,000 | -£102,500 | |||
| Portsmouth | £95,600,000 | £116,260,000 | -£20,660,000 | -£2,582,500 | |||
| Leeds United | £5,900,000 | £40,250,000 | -£34,350,000 | -£4,293,750 | |||
Alex Ferguson has needed to spend twice as much just to keep his nose ahead of Arsene Wenger, and this cannot be ignored when comparing the records of the two managers. I argue that if you add in the success of moving the club to a brand new stadium and managing the club during the credit crunch, then when you next moan about the lack of silverware in the trophy cabinet, just look at the names of several Premiership clubs who have tried to buy the dream in the table above. Leeds United and Portsmouth…
If you look at the NETT pound spend per season then Alex Ferguson spends almost six million compared with the 290 thousands spent by Arsene Wenger some TWENTY times more…
So I am going to celebrate the 800th game today by wearing my I LOVE WENGER t-shirt and be unashamed in hoping that at next week’s Annual General Meeting, the shareholders will read my blog before having a go at the club’s greatest ever manager. Before he came the Arsenal share price was around 400 pounds in efficiency terms the price has increased 25 fold to an eyewatering 10,000 pounds per share. So what on earth are Wenger critics moaning about. We have a better manager than Manchester United so NUFF SAID…