What Is Your Opinion Of Arsene Wenger?
August 10th, 2009 | 
Author: An article I intend to submit in a discussion next week. Your views (backed by reason) will be appreciated.
The Press and certain quarters of fans, including Gooners, no longer lap up or lavish praise on Mr Wenger like they once did.
Where once his tactics, selection and transfer policy were held up as examples of wisdom or brilliance, they are now open to disbelief and even, scorn.
Nearly 5 years as the ‘Nearly Team’, and his refusal to spend and willingness to sell key players, have once again highlighted his most obvious flaw (stubbornness), instead of his many achievements.
To such new depths has this assessment of him sunk, that even his erstwhile rival, Sir Alex Ferguson, has to put in a good word or two, to remind people of the man’s ability.
Besides the obvious silverware he brought to Highbury, and his philosophy of playing passing possible, his greatest impact perhaps, has been to change the mindset of modern management.
In the past where great managers like Paiseley, Clough and maybe Venables, Atkinson or Robson, focused more on the psychological impact and keeping it simple on the pitch, Wenger’s policy of dieting, structured training and shaping individual players style to suit the team, is now the standard used by almost everyone.
Only Ferguson and maybe Roy Hodgson at Fulham, continue with the old system. And with their impending retirement, it’s likely this concept will end with them.
But what’s gone wrong with Wenger? For one, that stubbornness remains, a refusal to see his players misdeeds whilst screaming for blood when they are victimised, and his refusal to budge from his method of buying players.
But other than that, I don’t see anything really wrong with him or with Arsenal. Arsenal have not become a poor team overnight, it’s just that the challengers have improved as well. But Arsenal has remained constant for the better part.
Investing in a new stadium is definitely the correct thing to do. 38,000 at Highbury, is simply not enough for an 11 time League Champion, or one that intends to conquer Europe. Better to bite the bullet and do it now, than wait until it’s necessary and consequently, an impediment.
Buying and grooming young players is also a master-stroke, more so because they are introduced to proven system and style of play.
Refusing to splash exorbitant sums of cash is also correct.
Whether you have a Ronaldo, Kaka or Torres, in the end it is still 11 v 11. Most players in good top teams like Arsenal, Milan, Bayern Munich or Lyon have very good players, whom when consistent, can hold their own against top players at other big clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter, Man Utd or Chelsea.
So in essence, I say that Wenger has nothing to prove, he’s doing exactly the right things by and large. The only things he needs to do is to give his squad more depth and most of all, have a bit more luck.
Many great managers before him like Brian Clough (Leeds to Forest), Kenny Dalgish (Liverpool to Blackburn) and Ferguson himself (5 years from Aberdeen to success at United), have also been in this situation where their powers and abilities were questioned.
Eventually, they succeeded in the end, because like Wenger, they were natural born winners. This is what makes a good manager, a great one.
And believe me, Arsene Wenger is a great manager.
Enjoy Arsenal’s Theme Song:
to certain supporters from all teams,it’s all about silverware in the cupboard and i’m sure arsene could’ve won the carling & Fa cup if he really tried in the last 4 seasons but for him the bigger prize is the prem then the Cl,what i believe arsene wants to achieve for the Arsenal is a reputation of the Highest order in Europe even the world like utd,real and barca and too achieve this was stage one complete was the New stadium,second stage was a youth policy similar to Ajax and Barca which is nearly there,thirdly is too have a squad of local talents which i believe we have now ready for the future,wilshire and gibbs springs to mind,arsene Doesn’t spend unnecessarily on oversea’s journey man which might give him a brief spell of glory instead puts his money into the foundation of the club so that when he Retires the club will still operate at the highest order regardless who comes in,look at barca and ajax great set for future managers to come in and then look at chelsea,liverpool and no doubt when SAF retires,this is very costly and unproductive which i believe is the Legacy he will leave behind and not some too bit trophies,Aston villa won the European cup as well as Nottingham forest where are they now,Burnley,preston.derby.leeds all won the 1st diversion in their history,where are they now,Once arsene leaves the Club has to survive and continue to dominate not a short brief history But a legacy for Future generations to come..and because i believe in this theory and the blueprints are there to be seen,arsenal supporters should realise this and not worry this blip we’ve at this moment.
Posted in word press theme
Nice, but in the world of football many people suffer long term memory loss…noone thinks past the last 5 years…change a trophys name and people will think noone has won it…a manager runs into trouble and he gets turned on…
Cut-throat business, and the modern fan has no patience
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I dont have time to read this now…but it sounds interesting so i will add it to the ol’ private watch list
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to certain supporters from all teams,it’s all about silverware in the cupboard and i’m sure arsene could’ve won the carling & Fa cup if he really tried in the last 4 seasons but for him the bigger prize is the prem then the Cl,what i believe arsene wants to achieve for the Arsenal is a reputation of the Highest order in Europe even the world like utd,real and barca and too achieve this was stage one complete was the New stadium,second stage was a youth policy similar to Ajax and Barca which is nearly there,thirdly is too have a squad of local talents which i believe we have now ready for the future,wilshire and gibbs springs to mind,arsene Doesn’t spend unnecessarily on oversea’s journey man which might give him a brief spell of glory instead puts his money into the foundation of the club so that when he Retires the club will still operate at the highest order regardless who comes in,look at barca and ajax great set for future managers to come in and then look at chelsea,liverpool and no doubt when SAF retires,this is very costly and unproductive which i believe is the Legacy he will leave behind and not some too bit trophies,Aston villa won the European cup as well as Nottingham forest where are they now,Burnley,preston.derby.leeds all won the 1st diversion in their history,where are they now,Once arsene leaves the Club has to survive and continue to dominate not a short brief history But a legacy for Future generations to come..and because i believe in this theory and the blueprints are there to be seen,arsenal supporters should realise this and not worry this blip we’ve at this moment.
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Wenger is a good manager, a clever man and has been a very good manager for Arsenal. His main problem is that he is too conservative in the transfer market.
He is committed to buying young players and making his team play beautiful football. You call it stubbornness and i agree. A perfect example is that he has plenty of money after selling Adebayor and Toure. He says he will probably buy a couple of players before September. However, I would predict that they will be some under-21 players with lots of potential. That is not what Arsenal need at the moment. They have been craving some leadership and experience in recent seasons. If you keep selling players and replacing them with young guys then you will remain the ‘nearly team’ forever.
When Arsenal were unstoppable they had Vieira and Petit in midfield. They were great footballers, but very physical too. They could fight to win a match on a rainy Tuesday evening against Bolton. They’re defence was equally strong and was full of guys in their mid-30’s. Their wingers and strikers had a lot of pace.
Now their defenders and midfielders aren’t that strong and their strikers aren’t that clinical. In my opinion, Wenger has to accept that he needs experience and strength as well as potential and style. That is what’s keeping back this team.
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Chr!st your talking so much sh!t i don’t know where to start – Article ?
it’s more like a fcuking novel
1st of all the only reason Fergie puts in good words about Wenger is coz he’s happy to see Wenger settle for a top 4 spot rather than have Arsenal along with Chelsea and Pool challenging him for the league. Fergie would never admit it but he’s secretly somewhat relieved that the EPL has effectively become a 3 horse race. You should know as should all EPL fans that whatever it is Fergie says publicly he usually means something else. Think about it he really wouldn want Wenger to return to his old ways of actually winning things.
Yeah kudo’s where kudo’s due – he has had a marvellous impact on modern management but most people that say this don’t comprehend what this really means – it’s not like he invented or discovered a magical philosophy, he simply implemented new policies eg. dieting etc. and when he started winning things everyone else started saying
hey there must be something to this dieting lark so now every club does it and it’s a level playing field so to speak.
Only Ferguson and Hodgson continue with the old system ? WTF does that even mean ? it’s so vague but if it means what i think it means your wrong ! Look at all the ex United players that are now managers – they have ALL said they have learned managemant skills
from playing under Fergie. Keane, Bruce, Robson, Hughes, Coppell (i know he has left Reading but he was very successful there). In particular Roy Keane – his no no non-sense style approach, strict discipline, total control over footballing aspects of the club etc all reminiscent of Fergie. Mark Hughes likewise. Similar style managers include Allardyce, Brown, McCleish, McCarthy.
So in essense i think it’s fair to say that there is still more traditional style managers than Wenger style managers.
Yeah i agree they had to "bite the bullet" in relation to building a new stadium but really it wasn’t a very difficult decision considering Highbury could have been filled twice most match days. They’re paying it off the loan @ an incredibly fast rate – paying off a stadium in 5 years is the equivilent to paying off a brand new car in a month !
Yeah the competition has improved/ evolved/ adapted to perform in the EPL more effectively than Arsenal but Arsenal have done it more efficiently and that is key to this issue – EFFICIENCY (wenger) VS EFFECTIVENESS (fergie
I really could pick the rest of your article apart piece by piece(not that it’s all bad) but i won’t coz it’s so energy sapping and i’ve to go to wrok now (i’m already late)
But i’ll try sum up Wenger – it’s like this Wenger is by far the most efficient manager in the EPL and that satisfies him regardless of whether he wins trophies or not that is purely incidental. It’s the equivelent of me building a car for 50 quid and coming 4th in a F1 grand Prix race – yeah sure i was the most skillful in designing my car/ engine and driving performance but realistically i never had a chance of winning the race.
Whether Wenger’s approach is right or wrong is like asking is it a bigger achievement to come 4th in a F1 race driving a £50 car or is it a bigger achievement to win the race in a £100 M car ?
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the only reason i support arsenal is arsene he is a great man make it a good article
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as a gooner, i am perfectly fine with him, 2 seasons ago we should have won the league had it not been for serious injury to our top players (5 games without a win toward the end yet still only finished 4 points behind united)
and those players were all ones in 2005 arsene told us were going to come good, and they did, and almost won us the league
it will happen again, this season or next, (remember last season we were almost playing our reserve squad against aston villa throughout the season because of the amount of long term injuries)
i am a fan because i enjoy football, not to see a bunch of rich dudes lift a nice looking trophy, but to see talented players play wonderful attractive and attacking stuff, i’d be more than happy if arsenal came second in the league and scored over 110 goals in the process, rather that then finish 1st with a string of consecutive 1-0 victories
at the end of the day i am not the one lifting the cup, im not gaining anything from it, sure id love and want us to win trophies because im a fan and i love the club, but i take my seat at the emirates to see attacking entertaining football, not boring negative approach like some other ’successful’ managers have done.
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