Is Arsène Wenger The Second Best Premier League Manager Of All Time?
Arsène Wenger, Le Professeur, is perhaps the second best Premier League manager of all time. In this article, I will be taking a look at his achievements and his time at Arsenal, and trying to decide whether he is truly the second best Premier League manager of all time or if a different manager deserves that spot.
Firstly, Sir Alex Ferguson is the best Premier League manager of all time, without question. I don’t enjoy saying that as an Arsenal fan but with 13 titles, more than double the amount of the second most successful manager, it would be dishonest to say anything different. He was in charge of Manchester United for 20 Premier League seasons and he’s won 13! Without a shadow of a doubt, he is the greatest manager to ever grace the Premier League and anyone saying anything different is simply wrong.
For second, there are a few more candidates. Jose Mourinho has won it three times with Chelsea, Jurgen Klopp led Liverpool to the most emphatic Premier League victory of all time with seven games to go, Claudio Ranieri won the title with the weakest team on paper (by a margin) and Pep Guardiola has now brought five Premier League trophies to Manchester, looking hungry for more. How do they size up against the Frenchman Arsène Wenger? (Incidentally, I can’t help but point out that Mikel Arteta is, in my opinion, destined to be in the conversation in the future, but I digress)
What are my criteria?
That is, of course, the first thing to clarify. Well, winning at least one Premier League title is a must. That’s not to denigrate the many talented managers who haven’t won the most competitive league in the world, especially considering that, except for Leicester, it has always been one of the richest teams that has won the title. But without a Premier League title, a manager simply cannot be in the conversation.
After that, the criteria are a lot less set in stone and a lot of different ones are taken into account, such as tactics and style of play, consistency, context, squad and transfers, financials, longevity, dominance and many more intangibles. Admittedly, it’s a vague list, but hopefully my arguments will be clear.
I’m also taking into account European and domestic competitions but minimally. As this is Premier League manager, it is still primarily focused on the league, although competing in the Champions League and the Premier League is, without a question, more difficult than just the Premier League.
Let’s get into Wenger’s career.
The Invincibles
Of course, I must start with the crowning achievement, the masterpiece, the chef d’oeuvre, the pièce de résistance: the Invincibles. From matchday 1 to matchday 38, not a single loss.
It’s often said that this feat will never be replicated. To be honest, I don’t know if that’s necessarily true but it would be a gargantuan achievement if it was. Two teams have lost only one game (Chelsea 04/05 and Liverpool 18/19, although incredibly Liverpool didn’t even win the league that season) and a few teams have won the title with more points, but to be completely invincible in a Premier League season is the stuff of legend.
Wenger masterminded a team that steamrolled to victory in the league, and did it with style. Henry was at his phenomenal best, Bergkamp was doing what only Bergkamp can do, Vieira was the domineering captain and the defence was rock solid.
Make no mistake though, an insanely talented squad isn’t enough to go Invincible. It takes an elite manager to carry and lead the team psychologically and tactically, and Wenger did that perfectly.
It should be acknowledged that Arsenal got lucky that season. Portsmouth and United were particularly lucky games, with Robert Pirès diving to win a penalty and Ruud Van Nistelrooy blasting his last minute penalty against the bar in those games respectively. But, whichever way you look at it, the Invincibles was probably the greatest season ever in the English Premier League and Wenger was the man who choreographed it.
Don’t take my word for it though. In his recent introduction to the Premier League hall of Fame, Sir Alex said that the Invincibles “stands above” any of his achievements, meaning above the treble and the two separate times he won the league three times in a row. High praise indeed from the Scot.
What is truly the cherry on top of the unvanquished, imperial cake is this quote from Wenger from the beginning of the 02/03 season, about the possibility of going undefeated:
“It’s not impossible as A.C. Milan once did it but I can’t see why it’s so shocking to say it. Do you think Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea don’t dream that as well? They’re exactly the same. They just don’t say it because they’re scared to look ridiculous, but nobody is ridiculous in this job as we know anything can happen."
True, he was a season early but what an absolutely unreal comment from Le Professeur.
Wenger managed to win two other Premier League titles before the Invincibles season, but they are quite far away from the achievements of that incredible year. That is really saying something because both of the other times that Wenger won the Premier League, he also managed to win the FA Cup. Those are three sensational seasons from the Frenchman.
Diet and training revolution
The very best managers need to innovate and squeeze every last drop of quality and skill out of what they have. Few, if any, did that as well as Arsène Wenger and no one has had more of an impact on the entire outlook on football in the history of the Premier League.
Before Wenger’s tenure, football club culture looked extremely different to how it does today. At Arsenal, Tony Adams organised what was famously known as the ‘Tuesday Club’, a night of heavy drinking that was even sanctioned by manager George Graham. It was thought to increase team bonding, which was probably accurate in fairness. On top of that, chips, pies, burgers and unhealthy and fatty foods were very commonplace, even before games.
Wenger came in and changed all of that. He got his team to adhere to a much stricter diet, aimed at increasing fitness, stamina and energy. This included banning things like tea, something that Ian Wright allegedly struggled with. When Bergkamp, his roommate, found Wright secretly drinking tea in their room, he apparently told him that when the team will need him most, Wright will be lacking. That was enough to guilt tea out of Wright’s diet. Wenger also banned alcohol from the team lounge, and stopped his team eating chocolate and other things like that.
Now, in an era when so much thought is put into the physical preparation of players, cutting out unhealthy foods and alcohol seems shockingly obvious. However, in 1996, it was genuinely revolutionary. It gave Arsenal an edge that other teams had to replicate or they would get left behind.
Having that extra fitness, energy and discipline just translates to better performances, there’s no two ways about it. At the highest level, the smallest of margins have the biggest of impacts, and having fitter players is not a small margin.
Even today, the unique genetic specimens are the best footballers in the world, generally speaking. Think of Haaland’s physical attributes or Mbappé’s blistering speed. As good at football as they are, without their physical advantages, they would not be the same dominant forces.
Even things like stretches were revolutionary, as Paul Merson said to Sky Sports:
“We used to go away with England and the Arsenal lads would do these stretches. Other players would say: ‘What are you doing? What are these?’ In the end, all of the England lads were doing them.”
Now, I’m sure that this evolution of English football would have taken place eventually without Wenger. However, you have to give credit where credit is due: Wenger was the one who implemented it into the Premier League, and the Premier League was never the same again.
Style of play
I’m sure that there are huge disparities in the importance accorded to style of play by football fans. Personally, I think the style of play is an important factor and Wengerball is arguably the most beautiful style of play in the history of the Premier League.
Wengerball is similar to Tiki Taka in the sense that it involves lots of quick, one touch passes, but it differs by giving lots more freedom to players and space for improvisation. Especially when attacking the box, the way that Wengerball is implemented will lead to goals like Wilshere against Norwich or Rosicky vs Sunderland, and those goals are a rarity in any other system.
Of course, beauty is not the most important thing for a style of play and if it isn’t efficient, then it isn’t worth a thing. But Wengerball was also efficient, if it had good enough players to implement it. At its best, Wengerball is devastating and totally unstoppable and it doesn’t rely on individual brilliance per se.
It’s important to remember that football, and sport in general, is entertainment. Efficiency is all well and good, but if it isn’t interesting to watch, then it loses some of its value in my eyes. Maybe I’ve been brainwashed into this line of thinking by supporting Arsenal all my life, but Wenger made football art and Wengerball was poetry in motion. I think that deserves immense credit.
Is Wengerball undeniably the best style of play? No. But it is the sign of an incredible, elite manager to implement such a beautiful style of play to such considerable success. To combine both as Wenger did is simply astonishing.
Elite talent ID and development
One of the most important talents for a football manager is talent identification. Being able to spot hidden gems and rough talents and develop them into world beaters is indispensable for the top, top managers. Ferguson was incredible at this, Pep Guardiola is incredible at this and Wenger was as good as they get.
Henry, Vieira, Pires, Sanchez, Touré, Overmars, Fabregas, the list goes on and on for Wenger. These players weren’t superstars before their time at Arsenal, but they certainly were in their time there.
What makes this all the more impressive was that Wenger managed to do this on a budget compared to other top class managers like Pep Guardiola. Guardiola can pretty much spend as much as he wants one summer on promising players, see if they work for City and then spend just as much the following summer if they don’t. Wenger absolutely did not have that luxury and yet he continuously managed to sniff out incredible players.
He also, without a doubt, has the best list of almost transfers in history, players that he tried to move in for but that ultimately went elsewhere, often because of a lack of finances. Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappe, Ronaldinho, Buffon, Pique, the list goes on and on. Of course, Wenger didn’t sign these players, but he had an insanely good eye for talent.
Incredible longevity and consistency
This is without a doubt the biggest argument in favour of Arsène Wenger. He managed Arsenal for 22 years and finished in the top four in all but 2 of those seasons, the final 2. He did so with some very questionable teams and players that, as an Arsenal fan, I would rather not cast my mind back to. Goalkeepers especially seemed to be a real deficiency in Arsenal sides (Almunia…)
In the end, Wenger’s stint at Arsenal turned sour, both in terms of results and relationship with the fans. It’s a massive shame but the 20 years before that were a golden time for Arsenal.
Wenger was the most successful manager in the history of the third most successful club in England. He won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, making him the most successful manager in the history of the FA Cup.
In today’s football, it seems unlikely that managers will ever stay at the same club for over twenty years. Arsenal and United were blessed to have two such long, successful tenures. There’s a reason that the pair were the two first managers to be introduced into the Premier League hall of fame, and both were fully deserving of it.
The effect of having a manager for so long cannot be understated. For years, Arsenal was Wenger and Wenger was Arsenal: the two were inextricable. Of course, it depends how important you think longevity is, but in my opinion, it ranks quite highly.
As an interesting aside, Wenger says that he regrets his 22 year obsession with Arsenal:
“I regret having sacrificed everything I did because I realise I’ve hurt a lot of people around me. […] I’ve neglected a lot of people. I’ve neglected my family, I’ve neglected many close ones. Deep down though, the obsessed man is selfish in his pursuit of what he loves. He ignores a lot of other things. But it’s a bone to chase at the same time.”
Another reason that Wenger and Fergie were probably the last of a likely extinct breed.
Finances
Now, everything I’ve said up to now is of course enough to make a strong argument for Arsène Wenger being the second best Prem manager of all time. But taking into account the financial side of things makes it a much stronger argument.
I truly wish it wasn’t the case but ever since the launch of the Premier League, football clubs have become a business and, unfortunately, being a manager of a football club doesn’t just come down to being the head coach.
Arsène Wenger knew this more than anyone else and he oversaw a move to the Emirates that will set Arsenal in good stead for years to come. However, this came at a considerable price. Wenger claims that the club was now in the control of the banks, in order to stay financially solvent for the Emirates move.
“It cost 430 million pounds (opened in 2006)… We put ourselves in the hands of the banks.” “After that, we had to sell our players. This is probably the most difficult period of my time at Arsenal. (taken from https://tribuna.com/en/news/arsenal-2020-02-06-wenger-on-move-to-the-emirates-we-put-ourselves-in-the-hands-of-the-banks/?utm_source=copy)
He was also made to sign a long term deal as the banks wanted to make sure he would remain at the club. This was a move that led to transfers like Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy to Manchester City and Robin Van Persie to Manchester United. If the money was right, then Wenger had to sell, even to their rivals, for moves that would weaken his squad and strengthen his direct opponents. Top Arsenal players would leave, that was the sad reality.
The sale of Robin Van Persie was probably the most painful of all. Wenger was forced to sell to his arch-rival and the Dutchman was the key for United and Ferguson to win the title. Apparently, a lot of United’s game plan was “Get the ball to RVP”.
And yet, Arsenal still finished in the top four, year in year out. Considering those conditions, the consistency is staggering. It took 21 years for Wenger to finish outside the top four, and even that came down to the last day of the season. As shown in the following years, this was something that Arsenal fans absolutely took for granted and it is an achievement that is in the realm of his Premier League titles.
Of course, Arsenal didn’t really compete for Champions League victory, usually running into a Bayern or Barcelona team that would take the Gunners apart. But there’s something special about Champions League football, and Wenger has to be lauded very highly for his consistency in this regard in very unfavourable conditions.
It’s also worth pointing out that Wenger was in charge of everything at Arsenal. He said that if someone wanted to buy a lawnmower, they would come to him, also saying that he was the last of that type of manager. That’s worth baring in mind when considering his legacy (to an extent).
So, is he the second best Premier League manager of all time?
For me, Wenger only has two real rivals for that title: Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. Jürgen Klopp’s winning team was incredible but still less impressive than the Invincibles in my opinion. On top of that, though the era of Klopp vs. Pep was insanely high quality, Klopp only won once in 7 seasons.
As incredible as Ranieri’s achievement was, that season was a one-off for Leicester, and he was unable to reproduce that magic, thus eliminating himself from the conversation in my eyes. It wasn’t a fluke but capturing lightning in a bottle once is not enough to be considered the second best Premier League manager of all time.
So, who is a better manager between Guardiola, Mourinho and Wenger? The Centurions vs the 04/05 Chelsea team vs the Invincibles. 5titles for Pep and 3 for both Wenger and Mourinho. 2 league and FA Cup doubles for Wenger, 2 for Pep (including a treble) and 0 for Mourinho.
It is insanely close in almost every metric. In fact, as it stands, I think it entirely comes down to each individual, depending on what factors they think are most important for a football manager. For me, Arsène Wenger just edges it, especially because of the financial aspect. Guardiola has spent over a billion pounds with Manchester City, Mourinho took over Chelsea just after a massive financial takeover similar to that of City’s. On the other hand, Wenger had a far smaller budget throughout his tenure, consistently had his players poached by rival teams and even had his hands tied due to the Emirates move (without a doubt, he’d have kept competing with Fergie and Mourinho if not). To perform as consistently and as beautifully as Wenger did is a feat that I’m not sure any other manager could have achieved. Wenger was a total manager, overseeing absolutely everything that Arsenal was involved in from the pitch to the training ground to the kitchen to the boardroom. He is a legend of the game and his Invincibles season was the greatest achievement in Premier League history to date.
That being said, Pep has not finished with Manchester City. If he racks up a few more Premier League titles, then he could easily make himself the clear second best of all time, but he has been given a far easier ride due to the far bigger transfer budget. Mourinho still has some years in him and could certainly return to the Premier League. I also think Mourinho edges both of his rivals in single games rather than over a whole season. Outside of the Premier League, he has an insanely good record, particularly with winning the Champions League with Porto and Inter Milan. I will also say that this article only really scratches the surface of the debate, and I plan on revisiting it to deepen the arguments and polish it too.
Finally, it’s absolutely staggering how good Sir Alex is. His stature in the Premier League dwarfs all of these managers easily and his talent can not be understated.
What do you think? Is Wenger the second best or does Pep already deserve that honour? Maybe Ranieri’s achievement is impossible to ignore? Let me know by responding to this story or messaging me privately.
