Tag Archives: Arsenal

Wenger’s Record Against Rival Managers

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Over the years, Arsene Wenger has achieved many great things at Arsenal Football Club. That can never be taken away from him. He loved the glory. He enjoyed being last up and lifting the trophy after the captain. A ‘Look at me… Look what I’ve won’ guy.

Now the heat is on, he doesn’t want anyone to look at him and his supporters are defending him left, right and centre based on his achievements from over ten years ago.

In fairness, Wenger has a very good win percentage record and a better one than Ferguson for his first 1,000 games. What is never mentioned is that Ferguson inherited an awful lower table Manchester United and Wenger inherited an Arsenal side that had just finished joint 4th in the Premier League with many foundations set in place.

I have tried to give a balanced look at it. There is no point me comparing Wenger’s record against Gary Megson or Roberto Martinez – games we should be expected to win but ones we have managed to throw in the odd wobble against!

Wenger is often criticised for getting it tactically wrong on the big occasion. In Premier League games that matter – games against sides in the top half of the table.

In his first season, Wenger had problems in the big games. One win against sides in the top five – away at Newcastle – And, of course, he went out of the FA Cup at home to lowly Leeds United… managed by George Graham.

He didn’t win a game at Anfield until December 2001 even though Liverpool had become a kind of joke team of the late nineties with their ‘Spice Boys’ image.

When Arsene Wenger first came to The Arsenal he was 45 years old. An unknown manager with one French title, a French Cup, a couple of Japanese trophies, two sackings (one stated as mutual but it was a go or be sacked situation) and a relegation on his CV.

It should be noted that once he’d won the League at Monaco, he finished in the top three on three occasions before they plummeted to 17th and he was sacked. They, like Arsenal, got into the top three/four comfort zone. Wenger shunned the sacking by blaming bribery and corruption of one club – despite the fact fifteen other clubs were ahead of him in the table.

So is it a case of history repeating?

Is there a case that teams catch up with Wenger’s style and tactics and then work out how they can beat his sides?

I think people forget Wenger was a young manager when he came to The Arsenal. To put his age into comparison; Zidane is 43, Pep and Simeone are both 45. Is Wenger a good manager or was he a good manager at his time in his age group?

As I have said, Wenger has a good record against some managers including Pellegrini and Ranieri and had the two wins against the latter been reversed in 2003/4, Chelsea would have won the title. We may have been Invincible but Ranieri’s Chelsea were closer to us than we’ve got to the Champions in eight of the past ten season.

It should also be noted that Ranieri only had one season with Abramovic’s money. He took over at Chelsea in 2000 and got them back into the Champions League. I have included him in the stats to keep it fair against sides who regularly finish in the top 10, although I’m sure most of us thought Leicester would be struggling rather than winning the League!

What I have looked at is not to degrade Wenger’s record but to compare his record against the ‘Old Breed’ – for example; Sir Alex Ferguson, Pellegrini, Ranieri, Redknapp, Hiddink, van Gaal – to that of the newer breed – Pochettino, Klopp, Koeman, Bilic and the mid-age range managers such as Mourinho and Mancini. I haven’t put in Garry Monk either!

Has the new breed caught up with Wenger’s tactics and is there a pattern?

I have used Premier League games ONLY. The reason is simple.

  • Pellegrini has lost to Wenger in the Champions League but has beaten him in the League Cup
  • Ranieri has beaten Wenger in the Champions League
  • Sir Alex Ferguson has beaten Wenger twice in the Champions League
  • Sir Alex Ferguson has also beaten Wenger in numerous FA Cup ties
  • Van Gaal has lost to Wenger in the FA Cup but beaten him in the Champions League
  • Koeman has beaten Wenger in the League Cup

I will also point out that Wenger has beaten Klopp in the Champions League but to give him these couple of victories, I would need to include the above into the stats and it works out less favourable – trust me!

One manager not on the list but highlights Wenger’s poor away record against certain managers is Mark Hughes. In truth, Wenger’s record looks impressive – Eleven wins from eighteen games. Look closer and he hasn’t won an away game against Mark Hughes since Blackburn at 2-0 win in 2006/7. A record that includes defeats to a pre-mega bucks Manchester City, QPR and Stoke (twice) and draws at Fulham and Stoke.

There are those that will say “…But how many have finished above us…”. Whilst this can be considered, why not ask a slightly different question. “What if Wenger had a better record against these managers in a big game and had won against them more often? How many more times would he have won a title for The Arsenal or at least had a challenge until the final couple of games?”               Untitled

The above table seems to have a common theme.

Wenger seems able to work and get results against managers in their 60s – around his age range.

One thing to note is that eight of his wins against Redknapp came with Harry at a struggling West Ham between 1996 and 2001. Take those out of the equation and even that record looks less impressive with six wins achieved in nineteen games and two of those were against Queen’s Park Rangers.

Sir Alex Ferguson bucks the age trend – but this is his current age – not when he managed against Wenger aged 54 to 71. His age range is on a par with Wenger’s and of the ten wins only three were achieved at Old Trafford.

The older Wenger has become, the better Ferguson and Redknapp’s records became. Neither of them lost to the Invincibles. Wenger only won two of eight North London Derbies against Redknapp and lost three including the collapse from 2-0 up.

Mourihno is in the list at age 53 but remember when he first came onto the Premier League scene he was actually 40. He faced – and didn’t lose to – Wenger 10 times in this first period at Chelsea.

The remarkable thing is against managers aged under 55 at clubs you now expect to see around the top eight: Liverpool, Manchester City, Southampton, Tottenham, West Ham have all got a decent record against Wenger.

With Manchester City ditching their ageing manager for a younger model in the summer and Chelsea turning their attentions to a 46-year old, are Arsenal about to stand still and get caught up.

True, it doesn’t work for everyone Andre Villas-Boas has a record of one win and two defeats against Wenger but there are lots of one off coaches that fail for one reason or another.

If Mourinho does end up at Manchester United next season, Wenger and Ranieri could both find themselves steamrollered by this new wave of young managers.

The stats of Wenger’s achievements against them are not good. Records that get missed or hidden – not scored against Southampton in the last three games.

His win percentage in the Premier League is around 52%. Very good – you can’t fault that. Champions, however, tend to have a win percentage of above 60% indeed the Invincibles had a win rate of over 70%. This is how far he has fallen from grace.

His away record is shabby to say the least. Struggles highlighted earlier against Mark Hughes can go the same for Tony Pulis and indeed many of the managers listed. Home form keeps his win percentage high but it is your away form that is critical if you need to mount a serious title challenge.

Of the managers listed, Wenger has only beaten Ranieri, Redknapp, Pelegrini, Ferguson and Mancini on their own patch in the Premier League. Two have retired, one is managing abroad, one doesn’t currently have a job next season and the other has the freedom of Leicester and has managed to finish ahead of Wenger.

Wenger has not recorded an away Premier League win against van Gaal, Koeman, Pochettino, Hiddink, Mourihno, Klopp or Bilic albeit the latter two have only managed one season in the Premier League.

If Wenger stays on, which I’m sure he will, he will need to break this run if The Arsenal are to have any chance of a top four finish let alone a championship challenge.

One thing for sure is that the Wenger debate will continue and run on until he believes he cannot do the job or Stan decides that this is not the club he originally was introduced to in 2007 when he bought shares from Granada TV.

Add in another season and this could mean that he has to hand over a club to a new manager with no European football and an ageing squad which will by then include Cech, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Cazorla, Giroud (all over 30) and Ozil, Sanchez and Walcott (within a couple of years of 30) – this is a man who wanted us to believe in his youth development.

As teams opt for younger managers with fresh ideas and impetuous, The Arsenal could be getting left behind. Clubs will spend big this season with the new TV deal with their fresh, young, hungry managers at the forefront of any battle and if he does walk in 2017/18 a new fresh, young, hungry Arsenal manager may only have the scraps none of the big boys wanted first time around.

It could damage this club, OUR CLUB, for seasons to come.

Glynn

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Time running out for Arsenal stalwart

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The fence is completely divided. Some keep full of confidence in the darkest performances. Some have wanted him gone for a long time.

We’ve had some good times.

Always stayed loyal, won trophies. Always full promise and sense of feeling that the future will be better, will reach full potential. A couple of steps forward, a couple of steps back. A few false starts.

We’ve had some bad times.

Constant injuries and excuses. Huge underperforming when it matters, especially in the big games. Some mistakes and errors over and over again. Predictable.

Questions are always asked when he’s given a new contract.

Ultimately he is paid one of the biggest wages at the club which is meant to reflect the world class performance he should give. In this sense, he is a failure. His performances have been average, minimum, far of anything special.

For our wages do we not deserve something better?

Should we not get rid, try a new idea? Fresh approach.

Am I talking about Arsene Wenger or Theo Walcott??theo-walcott-arsene-wenger-arsenal-training_3282025

Both are an epitome of each other are they not?

Both need to go in the summer. Average is not good enough. Especially given how much each is paid. You have both not delivered.

And do I say, Thank you for the memories, but goodbye.

Bradley

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Goodbye Theo Walcott

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Theo, Theo, Theo Walcott, his an Englishman at Arsenal.

He is also a bottle job. A disgrace. A player who’s time is up.

I do not usually like such aggressive criticism of players. But sometimes it is needed. Sometimes there is a straw that brakes the camels back. And the performance in the 0-0 draw against Sunderland was that straw.1415053720589_wps_1_Arsenal_s_Theo_Walcott_lo

For many a year, I back Theo. I saw a player in him. Whilst many wrote him off, I was rewarded with my faith in the player.

In 2012/13, he scored 21 goals in 43 games, adding 11 Premier League assists that season. As a comparator, that year Gareth Bale scored 26 in 44 with just the 7 assists. The summer of 2013 Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid for a lot of money.

Theo Walcott was still just 24 at the time. He seemed patience had been rewarded. That he had finally arrived as a top player.

Half way through that season, he held the club to ransom. With Robin van Persie, Alex Song, Samir Nasri & Cesc Fabregas having recently left the club, Arsenal were in a fragile place. They could not afford another summer where the sides best performer leaves. He got a bumper new contract.

The next year, he bounced from injury to injury, but every time he came in he looked in good touch, including a terrific cameo appearance against Manchester City (when we lost heavily). 2014/15 was very much the same. One injury followed the next.

That summer Arsenal were in a quandary. Walcott had one year left of the contract. Do the club offer him a new deal, offload a player for cheap, or risk losing him at the end of the season for nothing. Arsenal did what was probably the right thing at the time and offered him a new contract.

On the 31st July 2015, Theo Walcott signed a new (reportedly) £140,000 a week 4 year deal, thus making him one of the clubs highest earners alongside Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

The value of the contract at the time was baffling. Here was a player who had been injured for 2 years. The ball was no longer in his court. He could no longer bully us like he did in 2013. But it seems he (and his agent) did.

Arsenal could easily have called his bluff, told him to take a lower deal or be sold, and replaced him if necessarily. Instead, the club bowed down to his demands and did not sign a single outfield player.

Theo Walcott had just secured his future. A contract through until he was 30, earning him nearly £30,000,000 before tax. Count the zero’s. That is thirty million quid.

And then as suspected, this season followed the last two, and the majority of his career. Injuries.

So here was a player who in 10 years at Arsenal, had performed consistently at a high level for 1 season, and two half’s of a season, tied to a lucrative contract that will set him up for life.

And then we come to Sunderland.

With the goal gapping, he had a 50/50 challenge with Younes Kaboul. It wasn’t even a 50/50. It was probably 80/20 in his favour. He bottled it.

In that selfish moment, he showed he is more interested in himself, in his chances of making Euro 2016, than that of the team.

He would rather not risk an injury to make the ferry to France, than score a goal which would keep us on the coat tails of Spurs.

It was an utter disgrace.

The club had stood by him after 2 years of injury. Had rewarded him with a £30m contract. And that is the way he thanks us. It was a two fingers up to everyone. To the management, to the fans, and to his team mates. You certainly would not want to see Walcott in the trenches with you. He is more likely to throw you infront of the bullet than take one for you.

I do not want to see Theo Walcott in an Arsenal shirt again.

More than that, I do not want him picked for England. I am going out to France for the Wales game, Walcott does not deserve to be on that plane.

I then want Walcott bombed out in the summer.

He comes across as a nice lad, yet on numerous occasions has held the club to ransom, and then showed no commitment to the side when needed. He certainly does not go the extra mile.

It is time for him to be shipped out, hopefully to somewhere awful like Hull or Burnley.

Theo Walcott, we can not even say thanks for the memories but it is time to say goodbye.

Keenos

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