Boy was a great debut album - Wenger’s first full season was the glorious 97/98 double.
U2’s second and third albums (October and War) were very good too but never quite lived up to the first one - Arsenal between 1999 & 2001 had some very good moments that were almost great but not quite.
Then came the best of the lot. The Unforgettable Fire in 1984 was U2 at their peak and for me this superb album is their best work - the 2001/02 season is Wenger’s best ever season and my definite favourite of his era.
Both of these are often overlooked though because of what came next.
While most will probably say U2’s best album is The Joshua Tree, I think this is also what elevated them to a status that eventually made them grotesque (Bono in particular) - it is also what the unbeaten 03/04 season did to Wenger. His ego was already massive but this made it deformed too. I loved the Joshua Tree album at the time and I will always love our Invincibles … but there is no doubt in my mind that they both created monsters.
Anyway some half decent stuff still followed with Rattle & Hum, then Achtung Baby - while Wenger still managed the impressive 04/05 season, reached the 2006 CL final and looked like he was building another good side in 2008. But while the self-importance was growing the standards were falling.
U2 should have quit the big stage in the 90s and Wenger should have left Arsenal in 2009. Instead Wenger and Bono suffered delusions of grandeur which turned into a messiah complex. They became a pair of greedy, pretentious and preachy hypocrites. In hindsight they were probably always a couple of egotistical pricks but you don’t notice that until they have nothing more to offer.
"I love Arsenal forever and ever and ever"
As for Doherty ,no true Gooner would be seen dead in a swamp dweller shirt.
