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How will Arsenal Wenger be remembered at Arsenal?

 

Arsene Wenger confirmed last Friday he will step down from his role as Gunners boss at the end of the season, having led the club to three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups during his spell in charge.

Wenger will be remembered as a man who changed a club and a football culture.

The Frenchman, who could now be in his final season as a manager, takes charge of Arsenal against West Ham on Super Sunday and the Sunday Supplement panel reflected on the 68-year-old’s 22 years at the Gunners.

He will be remembered as a man who changed the club and who changed a football culture. Once Wenger came, English football was never the same again. There won’t be many players or managers you can say that of.

There’s obviously two acts in the career: the first act in which they are competing for titles every season, they’re in European finals and they’re the benchmark which ends with the Invincibles season, even though they’ve won the FA Cup after that.

You watch Manchester City this season and they try to win every game playing beautifully and if you’re clawing around for a reference point for it, you use Arsenal, not Manchester United or Chelsea who are

You use Wenger’s Arsenal because they tried to win every game by playing more beautifully, not effectively. Arsenal were absolutely unique in the way they played, but in the second act he took one for the team.

The club built the stadium and he didn’t have the same budget even though the club released figures which suggested he wasn’t willing to spend, and he still kept winning the FA Cup. It’s not enough for the fans, and they want more.

But you only have to look at Mauricio Pochettino. What would Tottenham fans give to win the FA Cup? If Pochettino had won three of the last four FA Cups… he could barely be talked up more than he is at the moment. That’s what Wenger did and it wasn’t good enough. We accept that, but he was a great manager.

The real underachievement in terms of the league started in 2012-13, that’s when they started to slip away from title and Champions League contention.

They have put money into it since then, and Wenger hasn’t been able to deliver on that. He has outstayed his welcome but there is still enough emotion in his farewell that he is perhaps not quite at the end of the end, but two or three years ago would’ve been better.

The New York Times’ Rory Smith says that Arsenal are still revered around the globe despite not challenging for top honours in recent seasons.

The Invincibles is the greatest achievement but the first team has been overlooked a bit. It really opened up your eyes and made you realise we’re seeing something we’ve not seen before.

He has got caught out by circumstances as well, they had a big summer in 2003 when Roman Abramovich comes along, and then Wenger was also just about to assert his dominance following the stadium move when Manchester City had their takeover. He couldn’t compete with that and it put him out twice.

There’s a debt that is owed to him not just by Arsenal but the Premier League. The fans that wanted him out should salute him today. He deserves a month’s long valedictory tour.

It is two parts of a career, but I don’t think he’s moved on a lot since the first part in terms of his methodology. Ferguson evolved but Wenger is doing the same thing over and over again. Inevitably it becomes a bit stagnant.

The coaching they do at Arsenal now isn’t intense enough, it isn’t cutting-edge, but that’s inevitable. He needed to reinvent himself a bit more, but he’s carried on doing the same things.

Rory Smith says that Brendan Rodgers should get an opportunity at another English club, but he is not a name that Arsenal fans would universally back.

His strength has always been his stubbornness, and his weakness has also been his stubbornness. It was said the other day; he was the greatest analyst of football apart from everything at his own club.

Arsene Wenger’s incredible stats at Arsenal: The Frenchman has taken charge of 1228 games, won 10 major trophies and faced 124 different opponents… but who are the five teams he’s failed to beat?

Statistics

  • Wenger broke Sir Alex Ferguson’s record for most Premier League games on New Year’s Eve
  • Wenger broke Sir Alex Ferguson’s record for most Premier League games on New Year’s Eve
  • Wenger leaves as the most experienced manager in Premier League history with 823 top-flight matches under his belt, he overtook Sir Alex Ferguson’s total on New Year’s Eve 2017 with Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at West Brom.
  • Of those games, Wenger has won 473, drawn 199 and lost 151 meaning his Premier League win percentage stands at 57.5 per cent.
  • The Frenchman’s record in the FA Cup, a competition he has won more times than any manager in history with seven trophies, stands at per cent.
  • In total Wenger’s trophy haul stands at three Premier League titles, seven FA Cups and seven Community Shield successes, though he has never won a trophy on the European stage.
  • Wenger won all three of his top-flight titles during his first eight years with the Gunners
  • Wenger won all three of his top-flight titles during his first eight years with the Gunners
  • Wenger was appointed in September 1996 when John Major was still UK Prime Minister
  • Wenger was appointed in September 1996 when John Major was still UK Prime Minister
  • The long list of opponents Wenger has faced is another indicator of just how long he has remained Arsenal manager, during a spell which began just four seasons into the Premier League era.
  • In total Wenger has faced 124 different opponents as Arsenal manager and has only failed to beat five of those teams: Fiorentina, PAOL Salonika, Paris Saint-Germain, Port Vale and Rotherham.
  • The opposition Wenger has most regularly faced are Chelsea with 62 contests against the Blues, winning 23 of them, drawing 18 and losing 21.
  • Second-most are Manchester United, third-most are Liverpool and fourth-most are north London derby rivals Tottenham, of which he has won 44.2 per cent of their matches.
  • Wenger’s 22-year reign as Arsenal manager will finally be brought to an end in the summer
  • Wenger’s 22-year reign as Arsenal manager will finally be brought to an end in the summer
  • Thierry Henry is Arsenal’s leading scorer under Wenger with 228 goals for the Gunners
  • Thierry Henry is Arsenal’s leading scorer under Wenger with 228 goals for the Gunners
  • Arsenal’s top scorer under Wenger is unsurprisingly Thierry Henry with 228 strikes, a total which makes also makes him the record scorer in the club’s history.
  • Robin van Persie is second, scoring 132 goals before his departure to Manchester United while Theo Walcott (108), Olivier Giroud (105) and Dennis Bergkamp (102) complete the list of five centurions under Wenger.
  • There are no current Arsenal players in the top 10 scorers list with Alexis Sanchez, on 80 goals, the most recent Gunners player before he left for United in January.
  • With Wenger’s reign standing at 21 years and six months currently, the second-longest-serving current Premier League manager is Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe – who has been with the Cherries for just five years and six months.
  • Wenger with his last major trophy – the 2017 FA Cup – after beating Chelsea in the final
  • Wenger with his last major trophy – the 2017 FA Cup – after beating Chelsea in the final
  • Wenger scooped 11 trophies in his first 10 years at the club, including winning all three of his Premier League titles in his first eight years at the club.
  • Those titles include the 2003-04 unbeaten season when Arsenal went through the entire campaign without losing, a feat unmatched in the Premier League and not seen in England since Preston North End’s 1888-89 campaign.
  • In contrast Wenger has claimed just six trophies in the 11 years since 2006, three FA Cups and three Community Shield successes.

Wenger’s full records at Arsenal in all competitions

Competition                        G             W            D             L             GF          GA          Win  %

Premier League                    823         473         199         151         1549       801         57.5%

FA Cup                                 109         73           22           14           214         88           67.0%

League Cup                                         73           42           9             22           144         95           57.5%

Community Shield               9             6             2             1             16           6             66.7%

Champions League              177         83           41           53           281         205         46.9%

  1. L. qualifying 14           13           1             0             30           3             92.9%

UEFA/Europa L.                  23           14           5             4             51           21           60.9%

TOTAL                                  1228       704         279         245         2285       1219       57.3%

Wenger’s first decade vs rest of his Arsenal reign

Trophies                              G             W            D             L             GF          GA          Win        %

1996-97 to 2005-06              11           556         320         137         99           1005       507         57.6%

2006-07 to Present               6             672         384         143         146         1280       712         57.1%

Arsenal’s top scorers under Wenger

Player                                        Goals

Thierry Henry                       228

Robin van Persie                  132

Theo Walcott                        108

Olivier Giroud                       105

Dennis Bergkamp                102

Robert Pires                          84

Alexis Sanchez                     80

Freddie Ljungberg                72

Emmanuel Adebayor            62

Cesc Fabregas                      57

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