Arsene Wenger is a 'SPECIALIST IN FAILURE- Jose Mourinho

[postmanPat91]

I detest Mourinho and his pikey club but,sad to say, hard to argue with him on this.

No ''top'' club would continue to pay a fortune to a manager who has won nothing for longer than my daughters have been born...they are 8 this summer. Enough said

This. People can continue calling Maureen classless, disrespectful, a prick etc., but at the end of the day he's right. He's a proven winner, and that's what professional football is all about. You don't get a trophy for finishing 4th.

[Ed Hunter The Gooner]

Nor you wouldn't win anything by being a real charm and loved by everybody. He's a fucking prick, but so right about Wenger. Can't wait his response for this...

[12pins pete]

I'm certainly no Wenger sympathiser, quite the opposite with every passing game as it happens. And following our new found financial footing, failure to invest heavily in the squad now carries no defence.

But to try and compare Arsenal v Chelsea in the period 2005-2012 and not consider the different financial positions of the clubs is ignorant and stupid if trying to make a serious argument. Mourinho was not only thrown a bottomless transfer kitty when he arrived in 2004 but Chelsea had the market to themselves. The Arabs, PSG, Monaco etc were not on the scene. By contrast, not only did Arsenal not have that bottomless pit they went in the opposite direction and had to pay for the stadium move. Whatever lines we were spun by the Board at the time about the immediate benefits of leaving Highbury, it is fact. Chelsea could and did spend like mad and buy the best players in the world, we were on a shoe string by comparison and had to sell the best players in the world.

Had Mourinho been at Arsenal 2005 - 2012 would he had have won the same number of trophies as he has at Chelsea? No. Would he have won more than Wenger? Possibly. Probably. But the point is Arsenal v Chelsea in that 7/8 year period was not an even playing field so it's a stupid comparison.

But all that said, Wenger can no longer spin the money line. He no longer has that excuse.

And I also agree that this silly verbal jousting is all manufactured by the press and the egos of the managers is too big not to walk into the trap.

Trev the crux of your post isn't wrong - it's not a level playing field. Even if Wenger wasn't so hung up thinking he's a financial expert (HE REALLY ISN'T) we couldn't have thrown round money to exactly the same extent as Chelsea.

But we're not talking about comparing 1 trophy to 0, or 8 to 6 or whatever. We are talking about 9 years now and the only trophy we've really got near winning was a Mickey Mouse Cup that we lost against a relegated side.

And level playing field or not, we SHOULD be comparing ourselves to the best - and Chelsea have been there or thereabouts for a decade now so it's not a stupid comparison (even if you place some caveats on it).

Not that we need a comparison to know that for a club of our stature and resources we have hugely underperformed. No amount of money that Chavs or Citeh or whoever have will ever excuse Wenger's bizarre decisions on and off the pitch. Or explain why despite all the moneybags complaints we haven't finished above United since 2005.

Spot on northbank.

hi i'm new on here, I think the key thing though is that Wenger or his supporters can nevver say that he couldn't challenge or compete for the title, after all his teams collapsed from winning positions in the home straight in 2008, 20011 and to a lesser extent 2010, it remains to be seen if the same happens this year, although their are worrying signs again now.

[Chippy]

What a shock it is to see the WOBs creaming themselves over Mourinho, probably their pin-up manager. Loathsome

Can't see anyone creaming themselves about moaninho. Everyone has said he is a despicable *word censored*. However he is right.

[northbank123]

I'm certainly no Wenger sympathiser, quite the opposite with every passing game as it happens. And following our new found financial footing, failure to invest heavily in the squad now carries no defence.

But to try and compare Arsenal v Chelsea in the period 2005-2012 and not consider the different financial positions of the clubs is ignorant and stupid if trying to make a serious argument. Mourinho was not only thrown a bottomless transfer kitty when he arrived in 2004 but Chelsea had the market to themselves. The Arabs, PSG, Monaco etc were not on the scene. By contrast, not only did Arsenal not have that bottomless pit they went in the opposite direction and had to pay for the stadium move. Whatever lines we were spun by the Board at the time about the immediate benefits of leaving Highbury, it is fact. Chelsea could and did spend like mad and buy the best players in the world, we were on a shoe string by comparison and had to sell the best players in the world.

Had Mourinho been at Arsenal 2005 - 2012 would he had have won the same number of trophies as he has at Chelsea? No. Would he have won more than Wenger? Possibly. Probably. But the point is Arsenal v Chelsea in that 7/8 year period was not an even playing field so it's a stupid comparison.

But all that said, Wenger can no longer spin the money line. He no longer has that excuse.

And I also agree that this silly verbal jousting is all manufactured by the press and the egos of the managers is too big not to walk into the trap.

Trev the crux of your post isn't wrong - it's not a level playing field. Even if Wenger wasn't so hung up thinking he's a financial expert (HE REALLY ISN'T) we couldn't have thrown round money to exactly the same extent as Chelsea.

But we're not talking about comparing 1 trophy to 0, or 8 to 6 or whatever. We are talking about 9 years now and the only trophy we've really got near winning was a Mickey Mouse Cup that we lost against a relegated side.

And level playing field or not, we SHOULD be comparing ourselves to the best - and Chelsea have been there or thereabouts for a decade now so it's not a stupid comparison (even if you place some caveats on it).

Not that we need a comparison to know that for a club of our stature and resources we have hugely underperformed. No amount of money that Chavs or Citeh or whoever have will ever excuse Wenger's bizarre decisions on and off the pitch. Or explain why despite all the moneybags complaints we haven't finished above United since 2005.

Spot on northbank.

hi i'm new on here, I think the key thing though is that Wenger or his supporters can nevver say that he couldn't challenge or compete for the title, after all his teams collapsed from winning positions in the home straight in 2008, 20011 and to a lesser extent 2010, it remains to be seen if the same happens this year, although their are worrying signs again now.

Welcome

It's a good point - those who are so quick to ram it down anti-Wenger fans' throats when we are doing well (like the first half of this season) can't then claim we couldn't realistically have won the league etc.

[g88ner]

Wenger set Mourinho up for that. Worthy of an assist.

Mourinho went too far. Disgusting behaviour.

(he's right though)

[donaldo]

The headline will be a Specialist in Failure but its what he says after that about 8 years without a trophy and deserving a new contract.

http://youtu.be/fwM4Ip24PyI

[Nos89]

Wenger set Mourinho up for that. Worthy of an assist.

Mourinho went too far. Disgusting behaviour.

(he's right though)

Agree with you on this. He only said what mourinho has been saying about city for the last month. Strange that most on this forum agree then call mourinho a prick for saying it. Wenger now has the fans back on side, after two mediocre performances, he's a clever, clever man.

[TeeCee]

he's a clever, clever man

In everything but managing a football team successfully!!

[northbank123]

Wenger set Mourinho up for that. Worthy of an assist.

Mourinho went too far. Disgusting behaviour.

(he's right though)

Agree with you on this. He only said what mourinho has been saying about city for the last month. Strange that most on this forum agree then call mourinho a prick for saying it. Wenger now has the fans back on side, after two mediocre performances, he's a clever, clever man.

I'm not sure he does have "the fans" back on his side. Those whose opinions on him will never ever change will jump to his defence but it will certainly have planted a few more seeds of discontent amongst those on the fence - especially if we continue with the shit form, see our season crumble and the media keep bringing it up.

[Glitch33]

Wenger set Mourinho up for that. Worthy of an assist.

Mourinho went too far. Disgusting behaviour.

(he's right though)

This sums it up nicely for me.

In the minds of Wenger and the board though failure is not qualifying for UEFA CL.
I suspect they are really confused about what Mourinho is saying because they see themselves as successful.

[armchair]

I must say that Mourinhos comments have focussed attention and opened debate on Wengers failure much more than our sporadic banner showing and boos.

Jose is a WOB!

[armchair]

Jose - the special one.
Arsene - the specialist one in failure.

[Clash]

Hmmm, surely Mourinho is guilty of redefining what failure is? Either that or he has exposed his ignorance to how successful we have been. The way our financial firepower has escalated during the last few years has been a triumph . As Wenger says, winning isn't everything. Long term projects and experimenting are far more interesting ways to manage. Fans love that sort of thing


Err, anyway ... I noticed on the BBC website yesterday they brought up some past quotes from Wenger and Mourinho about each other. This one from Wenger back in August 2005 talking about Chelsea's tactics caught my eye:

"I know we live in a world where we have only winners and losers, but once a sport encourages teams who refuse to take the initiative, the sport is in danger."

Shame Wenger wasn't thinking like that before we played on Wednesday night.

[BFG4]

How can their be any argument about Mourinho's comments, we have gone eight years without a trophy, its a fact. Don't forget that in eight years, we were unable to even win the league cup, that is how much of a failure Wenger is. Even after eight years of failure, and with a real chance of winning the league title, Wenger still didn't buy the required players, we needed in January, because he knows the virtual trophy, is all but guaranteed. Also, even though Mourinho is a prick, he is making these comments before Arsenal even face Chelsea next month, because he knows, we have no chance of beating Chelsea.