Arsene Wenger gets a hell of a lot of criticism from Arsenal fans, especially on this website, but the fact remains that he has worked wonders for our club over his 21 years at the helm. He has led the Gunners to 3 League titles, 20 Champions League appearances and 7 FA Cups (we had won only 6 in the previous 110 years!) and without doubt has helped us immeasurably to make us into one of the richest clubs in the world.
The current crop of Arsenal fans (and keyboard warriors) always want more though and have no idea what Wenger has done for the club, but the fact is that the people who have worked with (or against) Wenger in his time in England, have nothing but respect for one of the greatest managers of all time. The latest manager to praise him is the ex-England boss Roy Hodgson, who is the only manager in the League that is older than Le Prof, so let’s listen to what this learned man has to say about the Arsenal boss. “I think there are managers like Arsene who deserve the utmost respect because of what he’s done in the game of football, not least here in England,” said Hodgson.
“He’s a record-breaker in almost every category and basically the only person in my era who could really hold his hand up and say ‘this guy and I are in the same category’ is Alex Ferguson.
“He’s been criticised many times in the past but he could lose the next 50 games he ever plays and it certainly wouldn’t change one bit my respect for him as a manager, my respect for him as a person and in particular my respect for the job he’s done at Arsenal, which is something quite outstanding.
“It’s easy for me to empathise or say good things about a guy like Arsene Wenger because I can’t really understand what there is to say that is not good about him.”
I find it amazing that it is mostly Arsenal fans who criticize him the most, despite the obviously great things he has done for our club. The people who matter in football have a much clearer view of his worth. What have Wenger’s detractors done in their lives to earn the right to dismiss one of the greatest managers in history?
Sam P
It’s better maybe you should post this after the transfter windows. Now everyone is angry, cause you know we could end up not signing any player.
From Sky Germany official website : “According to information from our Sky Italia colleague Gianluca Di Marzio, Aubameyang joins the Gunners for 60 million euros. Aubameyang is to receive a three-and-a-half-year contract in London and earn ten million euros net.” I trust Sky,although I realise we can still screw up this transfer..
Batman is coming to Arsenal…wohoooo… FINALLY some good news.. ECSTATIC !!!!
Failure in progress some one who doesn’t know when to move on and when to step down is a total failure in success.
Believe it when it’s done been disappointed so many times before.
Knowing our situation we could end up and with no one or a last minute unknown player.
He certainly does deserve respect. However, he would receive even more respect if he were to realise that his time was up, and he retired gracefully at the end of this season.
I agree Wenger has been loyal when Real Madrid PSG tried to lure him away he is on a par with Ferguson let’s see where pep/Klopp will be in 20 years from now Wenger has had a limited budget For a number of years people forget the board decides how much we pay for players pep has spent 50 million on Kyle walker that’s what we paid for Lacazette who is our record spend he does get things wrong I agree but who doesn’t Wenger has so much respect because he tries to do things the right way with class if only the players repaid him with the faith that Wenger had put in them ie van persie,nasri,Fabregas we would of won much more and our injury record has stopped us winning at least 2 premiership trophies ie Eduardo leg break that was our year rosicky,diaby,Wilshere, cazorla these are world class players that missed so many years do you think pep or Klopp will give most of their life towards their respected clubs pep has always had money backing him yes they play good football but with better players you invariably will play better it’s not hard and we should still have beat them this season I never write on here’s but I know nothing but Wenger and the odd trophy at least we are not Tottenham
there are alot keyboard warriors create lots of fake news without crediting the source
sanchez is rumour getting 400 to 500ka week….im suprise fans have not slam Wenger for not paying sanchez whatever he wants
Were 1997-2004 the great years?
The first 8 years were outstanding but
in what was essentially a 2 horse race.
But since Chelsea and City bought their
way into calculations Arsenal has failed
to win another title.
This leaves an endlessly challenging conundrum.
Is thirteen years with out another title poor?
Or was 12 years in the top 4 in a tough field a great achievement?
What effect did the stadium build have?
What effect did Stan play since 2009?
What effect did Arsene’s apparent total control have on results?
Fans have debated this issue on this site a million times
yet there still seems to be no definitive answers.
So were 2004-2017 the years of lost opportunity?
Or were they years of pragmatism in the face of overwhelming oil money?
Was Wenger in later years a Dictator or a statesman?
Both maybe? Neither? Perhaps an aloof manipulative French autocrat?
How did Wenger last so long with out another title
when all other clubs had a manager revolving door policy?
So many theories and interpretations and yet so few answers .
After 3000 interviews I have not learned anything about what he really thinks.
He says very little barely deviating from football talk
his English having hardly improved in 20 years but maybe the
stumbling English was a facade part of the shield against scrutiny?
Wenger remains a mystery an aloof stranger who barely reached
out to the English fans let alone to the world wide support.
He came as an unknown Frenchman to do a job
and live in a palace watching football videos 24/7.
He will leave still an aloof French autocratic stranger.
Excellent words. He was a success and he no longer is. its as simple as that. There are better managers in every top club out there. He is stuck in his ways and football has passed him and sadly Arsenal by. If he had left a few years ago, he would not have tarnished his legacy, for me today he is a has been still clinging to past glories. Unlike most who do it over pints in a bar he is doing it with an 8 million a year salary, and bringing the team down. This downward spiral has been going on for a while and if the board had any ambition of being a top club he would have been sacked a long time ago.
And who gives a damn about what Hodgson says? It’s one looser supporting another, hoping to get the same type of support some day. Wouldn’t it be great for all these has been managers to have lifetime jobs at top clubs with no pressure for success? Hell where the hell is Sven?
Lol. I truly enjoyed this.
I find it hard to give respect to a dictator.
Arsene has done great in his first 8 years. I would also concede Arsene has done exceptionally well while we were repaying the stadium debt. My concern starts after that period when we are constantly making same mistakes and are foolhardy to take a notice and change for better. No one expected the team to be overhauled in one season. But look at what we have done since we bought OZIL, we only added Sanchez as another world class player. Had we kept on developing the team adding world class talents in defensive midfield, centre halves and a striker earlier. We would not have had the 10-2 defeat against Bayer and probably players like Sanchez and OZIL would have renewed their contract by now. So yes Arsene has done many great thongs for the club. But he and Kroenke have also been responsible for bringing the club down. Now every mid table club fancies they can win against Arsenal at least if it is their home game. So surely Arsene is getting what he deserves. I feel at any other club he would have been forced to resign by now. And if he doesn’t resign by the end of the season the fans should make him resign.
Respect? What horse sh*t!
Sorry that bus has left with Fabregas, Nasri & RVP… & now Sánchez!!
Huge respect for the man. Now it is time to move on. As simple as that.
LOL fake news ( story ) no one would support anyone who lost 50 games in row, we need some funny stories now and then.
However if it’s true you are not a real fan
Respect for what he has achieved , now he is running out of ideas and unable to motivate the players. Time to move on.
This article is very balanced but very few people have balanced minds. It is unfortunate that many of the people who contribute in this and other sites don’t have time to analyse issues and situations but simply act out of impulse. Management in any field including football is a complex issue. It is not simplistic. Similarly people who comment on Wenger’s legacy are of diverse opinions. It is impossible in this world to find a perfect individual. However what distinguishes great people from the rest is their ability to excel in certain fields. Barryglik has commented on Wenger’s poor English whatever that means. English is not Wenger’s language; he just learnt it. Hence nobody should expect him to speak like an Englishman. But that aside, even some British citizens like the majority of Scots do not speak the pleasant English which Barryglik alluded to. English is an international language which has been domesticated by different nationalities which speak it in their own way.
one of favourites moments for me was wininig the last year’s F.A cup.Beating frauds like shitty and chealshit and recording a 7th for the manager was exceptional.I would ask his critics you will bring whome in his place???!!!
If he beat them and win the UCL or EPL title then that’s fair, but an FA?? And you are here praising beating Manchester clubs and Chelsea? Come back to reality Wenger lover
Yes Wenger did awesome stuff at Arsenal……….and that includes the legacy he built in English football……..and Arsenal made him a very wealthy man…….now he can’t cut it…….Wenger out…..
Who made who wealthy, Arsenal or Arsenal Wenger? I believe it is both. If Wenger had not built a strong team and built the infrastructure such as the stadium and the London Colney training ground Arsenal would not have been the wealthy Club it is today. Similarly because Arsenal is wealthy it can afford to pay it’s manager and players well. It is an old saying that what goes around comes around.
ROY Hodgson said we should respect what Wegner has done in the game,yes sure ,he is still in the game ,but he is no longer sucessful ,so if his unsucessful years are meant to teach us how to be a sucess in failure , then i say thanks ,i respect the lesson ,now could he leave and go and do it somewhere else. WEGNER WHITH RESPECT OUT .
Yes, he has earned respect, but it is a two sided story. He is no longer the right man, as the last couple of years (at least) have been failures. So I respect him for what he has done earlier, but I am loosing respect, as he can’t see, he really should step down in the best interest of the future of Arsenal.
Sorry but the world I live in has no respect for Wenger. The man got paid a fortune over the years he was at charge at Arsenal and has delivered far too little over the last 13 years or so.
Give the man respect once he solves world hungry. Not for earning 10 million a year to finish 6th.
Wenger has not solved world hunger, but he has never finished 6th either!
For me it just a bit over the top to say we need to be grateful to a guy who gets paid a fortune, is addicted to his job so is hardly doing it for the fans but for his own pleasure and has not delivered a major trophy in ages.
The finishing 6th comment was made based on my belief that this might very well be where we finish this season and I doubt that this is in line with the ranking of our payroll.
But even if we finish 3rd I still don’t think we owe him respect.
Maybe it’s you and your family but not the world you live in. How big is your world? That is terrible generalisation.
If Mr wenger built a team who never lost it tells me he can build a team remember a team consists of 11 different characters with different back grounds beliefs and aspirations and problems with another 11 to back them up I remember years ago the press used to talk about arsenal and not having English players on the field
never the less I know off our own fatalities as such we were somehow always coming up little short by injuries to such Edwardo vanpercie and even gas diaby ramsy rosiscky carzola and many more and others that didnt seem to gel well
I am not blind and I know we are not doing well but to suggest that Mr wenger docent have a clue is totally preposterous and disrespectful
Agreed with admin.
Net spend of PL members in 2011/2012 in last 10 years: 2001/2002 – 2011/2012:
http://www.sportingintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/PL-decade-spending.jpg
Arsenal’s record – 9th in England.
In that time – 2 PL champions, 3 FA cups, in the last 16 of CL every year (3 times quarterfinal, 1 SF, one final).
No one has ever done that regularly.
Utter nonsense!!! He has one main job and that is to create success on the pitch, not create one of the richest clubs in the world. That bit is someone else job. He ‘was’ a great on the field manager 15 years ago but he has completely lost his focus and spreads himself between roles. The massive difference between him and Ferguson was that Ferguson was a winner until the very end. Wenger is no longer a winner. And the biggest problem now is that the ‘top’ players that we need know he is in decline and so will never join us. If he was at the top of his game we would have the Elite players wanting to join us but the truth is the don’t wanna play under him.
So I’m now supposed to respect a guy for earning £10 million/year to do a job where he underperforms. The world will never seize to amaze me. This guy doesn’t even respect the fans to begin with. I respect the Wenger who won us the epl, the Wenger who gave us the invincibles, the Wenger who natured great talents, the Wenger who gave us beautiful football,the Wenger who took us through difficult financial times. But now I have no respect for this guy who has become a shadow of his great achievements. The excuse of Arsenal not being able to compete financially with other clubs is total bullsh*t. We have one of the biggest wage bills in world football & two billionaire owners, one who is ready to invest in the club. We have one of the biggest matchday revenues in world football & some of the biggest sponsorships in the world. Let’s stop acting like we are a small club. Wenger has failed & I have no respect for him whatsoever at the moment. The kind of disrespect & lies he shows to us fans is just too much. I am not a dog who can just be controlled blindly & respect people like a fool no matter who they are in society. He earned his respect, now he’s losing it. It’s life, & choices have consequences. I am a businessman, if I succeed people respect me, if I fail & destroy people’s lives, I lose their respect. As for Roy Hodgson, that is his opinion, he’s not even an Arsenal fan & he doesn’t know what it’s like to pay top dollar for tickets & merchandise to see the kind of crap we’ve been seeing. Lose those 50 games in a row & let’s see how many people will support you. God bless Arsenal.
Has he? Oh, thanks Arsene but, now it’s time to say “Goodbye”!