Call him a Specialist in failure or a trophyless business man, there are other people who believe Arsene Wenger remains a fantastic manager. Arsenal Legend, Bob Wilson is one of them. He thinks the Frenchman has done extremely well and his achievements cannot be measured in trophies alone (despite the 9-year drought at the English club)
“When you put everything into perspective in terms of the money and where the game is at, then to even be challenging this season, a point behind Chelsea with the way the club is managed, is a minor miracle and a great feather in the cap for this squad of players. If Arsenal could win the league this year, then in my opinion that would be an achievement to rank close to the ‘invincibles’ season. I look not only Arsene’s great achievements when he first came.
“It is about what has happened since then, with (Arsenal) building a new ground and all the debt that incurred, but still getting in the Champions League. Obviously you are going all that time without winning a trophy, which is now nearly nine years, but who has been winning things? Yes, Wigan won the FA Cup last year, but you need to play well and have the luck of the draw, but if you are talking about the major things, being champions of your country and Europe, then it all becomes secondary.
The 72 year old added, “Would you really rather say ‘well, we won the League Cup’, but then not be in the Champions League again next season? I personally wouldn’t. What Arsene has achieved with the (financial) constraints of the new stadium move, is truly amazing.
We know Manchester City have a sheikh and Chelsea have an oligarch and have won things because of the money they have spent – Chelsea had not won the league championship for 50 years before Roman Abramovich arrived – but the Mesut Ozil signing shows the Arsenal board can now make a statement. We now have to go into this area of paying £40m or £50m if you are really going to seriously challenge under a company run in a proper way against the bottomless pits (of wealthy owners).”
