Wenger deserves to stand with Fergie after reaching landmark

October 1, 2009

Arsene Wenger has not collected trophies quite as greedily as his Manchester United counterpart Alex Ferguson but in terms of his impact on English football he has no equal.

Ferguson transformed an under-achieving United into the most succesful club in English football but Wenger has set the benchmark for modern-day club football in terms of style.

Like the great Dutch sides of yesteryear, Arsenal’s players, whichever part of the globe they come from, are schooled in Wenger’s philosophy of pure football, one-touch passing and dazzling counter-attacking.

They have evolved from a side built on the traditional English assets of power, grit and workrate to become among the slickest footballing teams in Europe. On their day they are the best team in the world to watch and are a textbook for how the game should be played.

Wenger became Arsenal’s longest-serving manager on Thursday and his latest squad appears equal to anything that has gone before. Great managers are judged on their ability to rebuild teams when key players either get too old or move on and both Wenger and Ferguson are masters at it.

Despite a good start to the season for United, it still looks like the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo might return to haunt them.

Arsenal, though, have Andrei Arshavin quickly establishing himself as the new darling of the fans following Thierry Henry’s move while ball-playing defender Thomas Vermaelen is making his mark. The Gunners are oozing potential.

Wenger appears to have crafted another great squad and with Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott on the way back from injuries, this could be the season that the Frenchman starts collecting silverware again after four trophy-less years…

PHOTO: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger addresses a news conference in Liege, September 15, 2009. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

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