Erik Ian Larsen: Why Arsene Wenger needs more Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho is the best manager in football.
It’s hard to argue against that after the success the new Real Madrid coach achieved in the last decade (I just shuddered writing that sentence). Everywhere he goes, he wins, and he does it by snatching the moon out of the sky, drawing a big red dot in the middle, and strapping the enormous target to his own back. He’s fearless. He wants to be attacked, he wants to be loathed. He revels in infamy. And that attitude, that ruthless kill or be killed attitude, is what’s made him the most sought-after coach in the world. Everyone wants (and wants to be) Mourinho.
Except Arsene Wenger.
Ever since the former Chelsea manager pulled off a magnificent hat-trick this past season with Inter Milan, snatching the Serie A, Italian Cup and Champions League titles, I’ve become obsessed with who he is, what he represents, what makes him tick, and, most importantly, how (if) our manager can achieve the same results with entirely different clockwork. Both men have extraordinary gears working in their brains, churning out tactics and theories and philosophies that become the very tick-and-tock of the club they represent, but Mourinho and Wenger are polar opposites. The way they approach constructing a team, training a team, and preparing for opponents is completely different.
Mourinho is the ultimate tactician, fine-tuning his mechanics for each battle. We saw Inter Milan completely dismantle the same Barcelona team that ran us out of the Champions League a few weeks earlier. Mourinho did it because he adjusted, he did it because he was willing to adapt. His teams are football chameleons, changing their colors to blend in to whatever background they need to survive. That’s why I never considered the possibility of a Mourinho loss in the Champions League final. He had the time to prepare for Bayern Munich, he had time to sculpt his masterpiece. It comes down to the way he assembles his teams, bringing in players who are painfully hungry and willing to evolve, and the way he uses the individual parts within the team to unleash his “Rube Goldberg” machine.
Wenger, however, is the stubborn tactician, grasping onto his ideology and refusing to acknowledge his critics. And you know what? He’s been right so often that it nearly justifies his stance. We are so lucky to be so good that we often forget how good we are (dear lord, that couldn’t have made sense to anyone but me). But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to be better, that we shouldn’t want to breach the gates and win the Premier League or the Champions League. Yes, perennially finishing in the top four and automatically qualifying for the Champions League for the last 14 years is a marvelous achievement and should never be diminished or belittled, but if our club (and our manager) truly seeks greatness, neither should be satisfied with “told you so” vindication.
Wenger must learn to be more like Mourinho
What Arsenal’s manager has going for him that Mourinho doesn’t, however, is sustainability. He breeds players and systematically manages the club’s finances with great oversight and vision. Wenger should be lauded for the football success he’s had in concert with the financial trophies he’s captured. Our club is, from a business standpoint, poised for long-term success that very few teams around the world can claim. I’m proud of that financial stability, I’m proud of the financial philosophy of the club and the manager, that we resist the temptation to join the pathetic ranks of Chelsea, Manchester City, and Real Madrid in drenching ourselves in sweaty debt for short-term glory.
Wenger’s managed to field winning teams for the last decade without having to spend absurd money to do it. It’s actually pretty incredible, especially when you look at how much other clubs have spent and still failed, but at the end of the day, football is about winning trophies. It’s the only absolute that can accurately define success. And unless Wenger is willing to let go of his obstinate, righteous charge for “pure” football, I fear that may be his final legacy: A miserly bookkeeper too stubborn to spend his wealth.
But Wenger’s problems aren’t just tactical, they’re directly tied to his insistence on molding unformed clay into Berninian sculptures. It’s become his mania, his white whale, and, ultimately, his downfall. Wenger is convinced he can single-handedly revolutionize the sport, that he can nurture a horde of freshly-hatched birds and turn them into deadly hunters. But without the requisite experience left in the club to teach our players the mentality of the hunter, they end up with the talons but lack the murderous intellect.
“I like players at the end of their careers,” Mourinho said. “I love to have some players who are 33 or 34 years old. They are players who you buy and you do not recover the money, but if they give you good performances for two or three years, you’ve got your money’s worth.”
Contrast that with Wenger’s youth policy and the two managers couldn’t be further apart. Mourinho finds players who have something to play for, something bigger than a paycheck, fame, a fancy car, or a large-chested WAG. They’ve experienced all the highs and lows of newfound wealth and, most of them at least, have moved on to the core of why they played football in the first place: To win. It takes age to understand that, to get to that point. Sure, there are some players, like our very own captain Cesc Fabregas, who are fully cognizant of their purpose before their 30s. But what Mourinho seeks are redeemers, and he fills his team with players who are willing to sacrifice their own personal glory, or maybe they’ve simply grown tired of personal glory, to win as a team. He convinces individuals to play as a whole. To attack as a whole and defend as a whole. And his trophies validate his methodology.
Wenger brought that redemption to Arsenal this past season when he resigned Sol Campbell. Most people thought it was a gentlemen’s handshake between old friends, a last gasp for an aging veteran, but it turned out to be a defining moment in the season for Arsenal. We saw Sol Campbell, a 35-year-old defender who’d been out of competitive football for 14 months, take complete control of the team with powerful displays in the back line. He anchored Arsenal, not just with his play, but with his mentality. He stood up for Aaron Ramsey when Ryan Shawcross busted his leg. He stood up to Tottenham fans with a fantastic defensive performance on the road. He became the captain when the captain went down. And you know why? Because he’s been there. He’s failed and coped with failure. He’s shrugged adversity off his broad shoulders. He’s spent lavishly, made the reckless decisions of youth, left for greener pastures only to return to his rightful home years later. Sol Campbell knows what his priorities are now, both as a man and a footballer, and that focus and confidence is what our team has sorely lacked for the last five years. Campbell is willing to work harder than anyone else in training and on the field because he knows how precious it is to even have a contract. He refused to settle for mediocrity, refused to be beaten down, outhustled, or outworked.
You certainly couldn’t say that for the rest of the team.
Mourinho’s got method to his brilliance. He didn’t stumble into it at Porto, Chelsea, or Inter Milan, and he’s certainly not stumbling into it at Real Madrid. He knows how to win, he knows who wants to win (players like Sol Campbell), and he knows what it takes to motivate and manipulate all the pieces on his chessboard. For all his smarmy arrogance and narcissistic adoration, Jose Mourinho is a genius because of his tactical humility. His ego is justified by his modesty.
I do believe in Arsene Wenger, and I believe in his own brilliance, but Arsene needs more Mourinho.
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Good common sense but one flaw…….Jose is mostly successful because he has had unlimited money and power. Arsene has the power but has not had money since the days of Henry’s signing. He knew that this would happen if he got his way and AFC built the great stadium plus training ground. Hopefully all will be different from now on as the money is coming through at last. Once again Jose is with a major spending club….yes he he did well with Poto but come on who did they have to beat in Portugal?? Its a bit like saying the managers or Rangers and celtic have done a great job finishing in the first two every year!!!
Winning the CL over many european power-houses with no cash porto was a huge feat, jose won without money and a smaller squad than ours at the time. Wenger and the board desperately need to pull their heads out because they’ve looked very stupid for a long time now.
good points but imagine if wenger had this money,had the power and mourinho didnt have money we would see wenger as the brilliant manager i think wenger is better than mourinho just that mourinho gets the money and arsene dosnt
I believe Mourinho not only won the league at Porto but also the Champions League. Winning the Champions league with Porto is a fantastic feat.
he beat manu but they were not having great season and they did have some good players carvalho deco quaresma but he is great manager the way he makes team work for the ball but realies on money alot
They actually got fined for corruption that year (Porto).
i beg to differ with you mate.. yes, morinho did have money at chelsea but what about porto and even inter.. it was his shear genius that made him successfull with these teams.
Spot on! It’s been fantastic watching the Wenger revolution over the years and even more so it’s a huge sense of pride for me to be a fan and supporter of a team which is synonymous with pure football. We are the Holland of league football….
But everyone knows just how many trophies Holland have for their brilliance (1). They are lauded and respected for giving the world they idea of pure football which is beautiful to watch but which unfortunately doesn’t deliver the goods on a consistent basis.
We (Arsenal) need just one final piece to complete the puzzle, and that’s the balance in the side that would give us the ability to drag ourselves back into the fray when the chips are down. We were challenging for everything back in March having been written off at the end of last year but just weren’t able to sustain that challenge.
If we’d had maybe three experienced players in the side in the Adams, Bergkamp, Pires mold, I think they would have been able to bully, cajole, influence, assist, push, pull and basically drag every last bit of effort out of the younger players in order to get the results needed. They would have been the example needed in dire times when it’s harder for youth to motivate when all looks lost.
I think we’ll get there, and anyway, who am I to question le bosses tactics, but with all the potential that seems to be oozing from the Arsenal team at the moment it’s hard to have that patience….
Oooh to be!!!
PS, I’m Irish, but I’ll be shouting for the Dutch in the WC this year. Old habits……
Wenger limits himself with his ideology and while it’s admirable to have a philosophy, some times one’s philosophy isn’t exactly correct.
Mourinho certainly has his favored diamond formation but he’s not averse to going 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 or a flat 4-4-2 is the game requires it. Wenger picks his formation and sticks to it whether it works or not and that has cost him dearly over the past half a decade. In the past few seasons we’ve had great success over the likes of Man Utd in our typical 4-4-2 and even did the double over them in that formation. However Wenger used 4-3-3 this past season and got smashed by the Mancs. 4-3-3 is a fine formation against lower table clubs and some mid-table clubs but 4-4-2 is the most defensively stable formation while offering a means of potent attack and had Wenger deployed that in either games against Chelsea or Man Utd, he might have been able to pull off at least a draw, if not a win but he lost every game against them in 4-3-3.
Mourinho prepares for each opponent meticulously and he doesn’t care if he has to play 10-0-1, as long as he gets those 3 points. Many have called Jose “anti-football” but football is not only about goals, it’s about tactics and Mourino is the master. Sports are a bit like war in that you can’t simply send your army in and tell them to win, you need to strategize and work out the logistics of the best way to get results and Wenger needs to be more flexible in his plans.
well said WC, you are absolutely correct.
I think AW is becoming more and more of a businessman/economist/mortgage advisor/ financial analyst, and a Jack of all trade, and I’m afraid, master of none. Nothing wrong with that. But Arsenal fc needs a coach, and unless AW diverts his energy into coaching; signing for the services of quality and experienced players, dogs of war, men of steel and courage; go for the right strategy based on the opponents’ strengths and weaknesses; walks the ’shop floor’ and do a bit of listening, Arsenal fc is going no where in terms of winning silver ware. This is a fact.
I think this extends far beyond finances though. I applaud Wenger for what he’s done financially for our club, but as we’ve seen with Real Madrid, even Tottenham and Portsmouth, spending boatloads of cash doesn’t equal guaranteed success, it’s the very reason why Real brought in Mourinho to coach them next season. To get hung up on the amount of money each coach has spent is ignoring the reality of the situation.
But it still obviously plays a part. A great fighter with his hands tied will lose to a lesser opponent.
the main issue is the age and experiance of the players that morienio gets. at some ereas at the field you need experiance you can see the diffrence sol gave us at the end of the season. at the back you need to be carefull. older players have football braines plus the desire to prove they still matter and thats what we need.
i dont know why people keep saying mourinho is the best manager in the world, now im an arsenal fan and this sticks in my throat, but in my opinion alex ferguson beats him hands down, he’s one multiple titles in arguably the hardest league in the world. no offence to mourinho, yes hes one two premier league titles, but his other titles come in leagues where realistically three teams can win the league (portugese league) and only one team has one the league in the better part of a decade. ferguson has been around for 20+ years, and taken man utd’s league tally to one behind liverpool, and hes one the champions league twice and various other trophies, if i had the choice i’d rather see ferguson as the next arsenal manager before mourinho.
I think the way he battled past Barcelona in the Champions League shows why he’s still the number one. Alex Ferguson couldn’t do that last year in the final, Mourinho did it over two legs which was amazing to see, at least for me.
Having said that, I agree he always had the support of the cash, but I wouldn’t say the cash was the reason behind his success, he’s also very good.
While money plays a role in his past 2 clubs, he took Porto to the CL while beating Sir Alex so Mourinho does indeed have a bit genius in him when it comes to football.
His reward has been the Chelsea, Inter and now Madrid money. Consider also that you have other clubs like Barca and Bayern who spend alot of money as well and Jose outdid both of them fairly handily. Mourinho will buy what he needs to do what he wants. The best example is Lucio, he’s an ageing 32 year old that spent a successful part of his career at Bayern and they refused to offer him a better contract. Jose saw the ability and talent in Lucio, snapped him up for free and Lucio did what very few players in the world can do – he kept Drogba in check. If Lucio decided to stop playing football tomorrow, it would be well worth it for Jose to have had him for even just a season as it brought him a treble.
And Jose is probably even better than Alex in the fact that he’s only 47, has 5 league titles, 2 CLs, UEFA Cup and an assortment of league cups to his name. Fergie has 20 years on Jose but Jose has done his feats in 3 different leagues so far and I cannot count out Madrid knocking Barca off their perch in the coming years with Mourinho a the helm. Could Fergie be successful in a league other than the EPL? Mourinho wants to prove he can win anything in every league and for that you have to say he has to get more credit than Fergie.
I think you got that part wrong. Barca and Bayern spend nowhere near what Mourinho has spent at Chelski and Inter. Also don’t forget that Mourinho joined those clubs when they were resp 2nd and 1st in their league, just after a previous spending record and still he launched a spending spree at his arrival in both cases. Mourinho has spent at least twice as much as the next coach in Europe so his return while good is far from exceptional.
As for the CL with Porto it can be argued that they did not look at all like winning it in the final until Monaco midfield maesto (Giuly) injured himself.
It is also true that Hiddink and Grant have done better than Mourinho with more or less the same team.
Not to say he is not a good manager but to put in on a pedestal like you do is way over the top imho.
Oh really? You have the math for that because I do and my math says that while Mourinho did spend quite a bit of money, his bill certainly doesn’t blow the next European manager’s out of the water.
http://www.thefreekick.com/Joomla_RT_Kinetic_j15/index.php/tfk-sport/soccer/club-soccer/208-transfer-spending-by-club
In 2009 he spent less than Barca and slightly but not significantly more than Bayern and Lyon. In 2008 he spent less than Barca again, and even less than Liverpool and Spurs and almost as much as Lyon.
So yes money plays a role in his success but this is football, money is always a part of the equation. However you have overestimated his spending as if he’s put out the largest purchases to the point that it hints at him buying a championship.
So what if he joined Chelsea and Inter when they were 1st and 2nd in their leagues, they had nowhere near a chance of a CL title until he arrived. Inter were topping Serie A with ease before Jose arrived and while Mancini was manager but Mancini couldn’t get them past the Round of 16. Likewise, Chelsea were quarter finalists at best under Ranieri but it’s Jose’s personnel and tactics that have made them a regular in the quarters, semis and even the final. Avram Grant did not change Jose’s game at Chelsea, he followed the same formula to the final.
So what if Guily injured himself? How is that of any consequence to Porto’s win? If Lehmann didn’t get sent off in our final we might have beaten Barca but the fact is that every player has their strength and weakness, their luck and bad luck and you cannot blame those things on a loss. The game is determined by much more than just that and it’s a cop out and short-sighted to blame an injury.
Money IS an almot exact predictor of where a club will end in its league. But it’s NOT transfer money that matters it’s player wages. For example this season the top 10 clubs in the premiership did finish in the order of their wages bill with only one exception (Liverpool underperformed in 7th position with the 4th wages bill). Check out the Swiss Ramble for the most detailed insight into modern football finances that I’m aware of.
So the tops spots gathered by JM, in Portugal, England and Italy were ALL at the most spending club in terms of wages in their respective leagues and they should have finished first regardless of who was at the top. This is not to say his results were not real accomplishments, after all he could have finished second.
On the other hand Chelski had the biggest wages bill in Europe under Mourinho (which coincided with the end of the Galacticos) but never managed to reach the CL final which is an underachievement.
It’s true that both Grant and Hiddink finished behind United (fired up by Ronaldo) but both did better in the CL and Hiddink had to take over from Scolari. Capello is not doing much differently either (if you don’t care about the style of football and the number of goals scored). As for Ranieri he should not be compared to Mourinho as he never had the chance to coach Chelsea with the same level of spending.
Actually I happened to watch the game as I am a strong believer in Didier Deschamps being the best french coach of his generation.
Giuly was the man on fire (he was bought by Barca after the final) that season and for the 20-odd minutes he was on the pitch Porto was totally dominated in all areas of the game. He was the pass master of Monaco and once he left the pitch they had no one to replace him. So yes Porto were lucky that year, without that injury it did not look like they had a chance.
And yes one needs luck to succeed.
you hit nail on the head, Get the record Barca do spend a lot on the transfers just check it for the past 2 years compared to inter nd chelsea nd other teams(Except Real) . If you are talking about the luck playing the part in these wins what about Barca who won the Champions league after the dreadful semifinal, they were assisted by the ref and UEFA.
If you have seen he won Everything with porto (including UEFA cup). If he hasnt won those no one would have recruited him. So common accept it he is 1 of the greats of the 21st century. Wenger has different philosophies he does not want to change them if he can bring some experienced legs in to the teams, it would help the youngsters in the team why be like holland be like spanish ya Brasil .
You need to do your research properly! This season Mou spent a NET spenditure of £44 million (the 7th highest expenditure out of all the teams in the champions league). £44 million to win the treble is somethin pretty special right?
I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic because having a screen name for a Barca player and then talking about spending is irony.
Barca have spent more money than they’d like people to believe in order to win their treble. What’s even worse about Spanish football in general is the twisted ways in which they fund themselves.
They want to claim the moral high ground by boasting no shirt sponsor and then put UNICEF on the front when in reality they’ve contributed to the economic downfall of the entire Spanish nation by borrowing hundreds of millions for transfers and wages, not paying them back, and having their banker and government friends postpone or write off the debt. Even worse is the fact that they are against a collective bargaining agreement for TV revenue just because they’re afraid to financially even the playing field with the other clubs.
Spain just got a huge bailout and they could very well have to take more and when the IMF come knocking for their money back you can be sure that Madrid and Barca have to pony up the dollars to pay their creditors.
That’s only partially true:
Yes in general terms Spanish football is in a very bad financial situation but there’s one exception in Barca which is a well-managed club with very reasonnable levels of debt and spending compared to their income.
Have a look here to convince yourself: http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-can-barcelona-afford-cesc-fabregas.html
As for being better than Ferguson and Wenger, I’ll agree with you on the day Mourinho takes a mid-table team and makes it a top european club. Since it takes a lot of time and dedication, I’m not counting on it.
You are entitled to be impressed by JM but for me going to the biggest spending clubs to win trophies isn’t doing it. Especially while he has his teams consistently play the most boring football in Europe at this level.
You can say what you want about Benitez but his 2 CL trophies with Valencia and Liverpool were clearly not won with the most money. And if Benitez goes to Inter and wins the CL again, will you think he is the best manager ever?
Benitez is a very good Cup manager which is why he’s had a CL, UEFA Cup and FA Cup under his belt. He’s not been as impressive in league challenges though. You could argue that his Valencia team was the work of Renieri and Cuper and Benitez arrived at the right time when they all managed to gel. Not to take anything away from Benitez’s ability though because he’s still a top manager. However, he’s struggled for 6 years to bring the league to Anfield while Jose brought 2 league titles in 3 years to Chelsea.
Mourinho has shown comparatively that he can challenge on both league and cup competitions which edges him over Benitez.
Inter were not the best side and didn’t even deserve the win. Then, the “win” should be put into context: a valid goal was denied to Barcelona (yes, Bojan scored it). Now people have forgotten than Inter’s win was a lucky one due to a mistake of the referee. It is amazing to see that the renewed Mourinho’s legend (i.e. went ugly and beat the current best footballing side) is based on a refereeing mistake.
No doubt, Mourinho ist a top tactician, but I think that his reputation is overinflated (I hope this word makes sense!)… partly because of the whole drama around his egomaniacal personality.
Maybe, but you can’t deny the way his defenders took care of Messi, something which let’s face it, we completely failed at.
In football you get lucky and you make your own luck. Part of being a champion is to have an element of luck. Look at Man Utd this season – do you know who their 3rd top scorer was? Own goals. They didn’t win the league but they pushed Chelsea all the way to the last day and lost by a point.
Calls go your way and go against you but in the end it all balances out and if you blame one bad call on your entire season then you’re delusional.
The CL is very influenced by ref decisions, I can’t see how you can deny how important refs are in cups.
You have a point but all managers know luck is part of the game. You say Barca were unlucky but you clearly forgot last year when chlesea were denied 2 penalties. It’s all part of the game and beating barca 3-1 is pretty awasone compared to how arsenal got humiliated when they played them
Try taking us on at full strength Xavi. We were down to bare bones. Take Puyol, ur damn screen name and messi out, could you actually tell me it couldnt possibly be the other way around?
P/s: The fact that ur screen name is one of those who wants our Captain pisses the crap outta me. So please do us Gooners a favour and change that nick or bugger off from this site. Thank you. Just incase you didnt notice, this is an Arsenal site
Lol Xavi is actually my real name and for the record I hate barca. Back to the point injurieRS are all part of the game so that’s not a valid explanation. Look at man u this season, only Rooney performmed an they nerly won the tittle. Wenget should of changed formation while they were 1 up
Precisely. So what do you think would have happened if they lost Rooney for the season like we did with RVP. Its not excuses, its a valid fact. Injuries, is and ONLY IS the reason of our seasons demise. No one can contradict that. Try taking him out as well and see where England gets for that matter.
Champions League Semi Final between Inter Milan and Barca was a farce …It should have been postponed… The volcanic ash ..remember….Barcalona had to travel over land to play the game …and how far was that…and can you seriously tell me..that the Barca players were fit to play???? The whole thing was a farce…., and seriously the 2nd game in Barcelona….come on….Inter packed themselves infront of goal and yet Barca scored….so yes Inter won..just because of the first leg … oh not forgetting…Barca did score in San Siro even thjough they were tired…just imagine if they were not tired of the god forsaken lengthy trip from Spain into Italy over-land…
Mourinho is a great manager, one of the best in modern times. No doubt about it. But there’s one thing people forget………..Jose Mourinho runs his teams, Arsene Wenger runs the club……..
“Jose Mourinho runs his teams, Arsene Wenger runs the club.”
Great point, dude!!
How on earth is that a great point? He’s a manager not the shareholder. The point of a manager is to run the team NOT the
club! That’s why you ain’t won anythin
Let’s not forget Mourinho orchestrated the ingenious sale of Ibrahimovic to Barcelona and turned it into Eto’o, Milito, Lucio, Motta, Sneijder, and a treble of trophies. He’s not just throwing cash at the world like the perception says he is, he’s a very tactical shopper. He would dominate “The Price is Right.”
He spent more than any coach in history at Chelski and didn’t do much (if any) better than Ferguson or Wenger in the end.
And with the same team Grant and Hiddink have both done better than Mourinho. Granted Scolari has not.
What so 2 premier league titles is nothing? And not to mention it was his first season and back to back titles. I’m preety sure if Mou didn’t get fired we would of still been in the final and won it 2-1.
He took a side that Ranieri had built up with close to 200 mils in the summer and finished close second the season before. On top of that he had the oligarch spend another 200 mils in the summer and ended up with a wage bill twice that of United. Anything else than top would have been underperforming.
Since you like speculating, I think Ranieri would have done even better.
I dont agree with you. I think that anyone can do what Mourinho has done. His football teams play anti-football.Inter had 25.4% posession in that game against Barca, all they did was park the bus,even against Chelsea, Samual comitted so many fouls against Drogba, there where a few legitamate penalty calls there.
We lost against Barca but we tried to play, unlike Mourinho’s Inter.
Wenger’s team has entertained us for 14 years at Highbury and the Emirates, to me he has changed the face of English football for the better.
Mourinho needs to learn from Wenger!
I agree that Wenger has entertained us brilliantly for the last 14 years. That shouldn’t be diminished, nor should the trophies he’s won for our club. But the game has caught up with Wenger, and he needs to learn how to adapt.
Utter garbage Dorian.
There’s no anti-football. There’s win, lose and draw. Jose never brings a knife to a gun fight, he comes well prepared with a plan. He doesn’t care if Barca had 99% of the possession, if they can’t do anything with that 99% then what’s the point? If all Inter need is 1% of the ball for 90 minutes to score a goal then that’s tactical genius.
Sports in general are about efficiency – doing what you can with the time you have. Arsenal can claim 60-70% possession in many games and come away without 3 points – so tell me where’s the merit in that?
Arsenal is like Avatar at Oscar nomination time – sure it was beautiful to look at and breath taking but it was never going to win Best Picture. Wenger cannot put out the same team every week with the same plan and expect to beat every single opponent. He’ll come up against the Ancelotti, Fergie, Mourino and Guardiolas eventually who adapt to his system and plan a counter.
To quote Einstein: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”.
Wenger can’t play the same game all the time. The smaller clubs will succumb to it simply due to the overwhelming talent at the club but when you come up against a club with equal status then you get picked apart because they’ve had weeks months, years to analyze the weakness of Wenger’s rigid system.
Jose leaves you guessing what he’ll do next because he came out guns blazing at the San Siro and blew out Barca 3-1; most people never expected that as they were expecting some 1-0 game or a low scoring draw. Mourinho surprised Barca and it paid off in spades.
You’re the one spouting garbage. Mourinho does not adapt his game any more than Wenger. Every single one of his teams (Porto, Chelski, Inter) played the exact same way, you can immediately tell a Mourinho team by looking at the 9 players behind the ball.
His tactics is simply the evolution of catenaccio which made Italian teams so succesful in the 80s and 90s. Unfortunately for them and contrarily to what your say, a dour win is more dour than win and the Italian fans voted with their feet, which is why even when Italian football was still succesful the stadia were never full anymore.
As for all guns blazing at San Siro, you must be having a laugh.
The San Siro scoreline would like to have a word with you.
Mourinho used home advantage to bury 3 past Barca. Mourinho’s forte has always been to have one of the best home records and he uses that to propel his teams. He is so confident that Barca could not match him in Italy that he played far more attacking while playing containment in Spain – that’s fair game and smart strategy.
He learned from his 2-0 group stage defeat and corrected some of his selections and tactics for their semi-final games.
Mourinho is more than just a 9-man behind the ball strategy, he’s all for build-up play which is why he always has a deep lying midfielder as the fulcrum for his teams: Lampard, Sneidjer and Deco. He expects his midfield to drop deep and move together feeding the midfielder who can pull off intelligent passes to the frontline. If he were just a 9-man defense manager he’d hoof the ball up front all the time but he’s done so much more than that at Inter.
And how exactly is this different from the evolved catenaccio (for example: the successive AC Milan teams of the late 80s-early 90s)?
But yes you have a point in that JM is an excellent motivator. All his teams have a top-notch mental attitude on par with Ferguson’s teams.
Matt you have a legit point but the same can be said about wenger. But the difference is that Mous tactics gets results! What has wenger tactics achieved? A 5-0 against smaller teams and a himulating defeats against big teams (man u, chelski, barca). Wen arsenal play big teams it’s always men v boys n arsenal get outplayed. Only cz u destroy small teams don’t make you anythin special (only barca can do that)
guns blazing????? Barcalona were tired of the lengthy trip they made overland to play the game in San Siro…oh you forgot the volcanic ash …did you now….how convenient??? Barca in the complete unfit selves did score a goal…didn’t they?? Now…if they has the luxury of flying in and not by bus…Inter would have been ripped apart..for sure….and only GOD knows why UEFA allowed this game to go on…I felt it was unfair ……
Michael that’s a lame excuse mate.even Pep said himself said the long trip is no excuse for them loosing. Also your forgetting they travelled in A kitted out coach with plenty of luxuries. They way your going people might think they walked to Italy. They didn’t, they had the best transport money can afford so stop looking for excuses
One article had summed it up correctly “Arsenal are the equivalent of a double-fit girlfriend who won’t put out – great to look at but useless when it comes to getting hands on trophies. I’ve had plenty of those – girlfriends who wouldn’t put out. Sadly, none were double-fit, though most were double-chinned. Significantly, none were given as long as Weng…er to get it right (four years on average and then it was the high road)”.
how dare you compare MR ARSENE WENGER to mora—-.
this is what we need 2 centre backs a goalkeeper and loan out fabianski. loan out vela and wilshere to the same club. vela needs a good 30 games in a season.
then we need our back four to play more deep and get less involved attackingly.
how often do we score from a clichy or sagna cross ? hardlty ever . granted withsomeone with the aerial abillity of chamakh we will score more but not as much as we conceed from having such an attacking defence. in my eyes defenders should stick to defending and never leave the half way line.
Hate to say this but 6 years without a trophy, and continuous penny pinching by wenger, I bet Arshavin wishes he was at Barcelona. He’ll be next out of the door if wenger doesn’t change his ways. mark my words. never felt so low before the start of a season. Better than mourinho? leave it out. too many on this site still making exuses for wenger. remember mourinho at porto had less money than wenger yet he won the european champions league (something wenger’s never done ).
wenger out! his time is gone … others have moved forward while we’ve stood still … but we deserve better. The board won’t sack him while he keeps making lots of money from transfers for them to fill their pockets. we are the mugs for putting up with it. wenger out!
Moved forward while we stood still? Man you never miss an opportunity to cover yourself in ridicule… When Wenger came in we were a mid-table club playing 1-0 to the Arsenal. We’re now a European powerhouse with a beautiful stadium and the most manageable debt in English football. Without Wenger we’d be where Liverpool are today. At best.
As for Arshavin we’re many are wishing he will go sooner than later. Never tracks back, goes missing more often than not and far from scoring enough goals to compensate. The sooner he gos the less money we will lose.
Arshavin can go if you ask any real Arsenal fan… …seriously what has he done apart from talking … he was good when he came but became less of player and more of whiner… we have some really dedicated players like Song for one who doers his talking on the pitch, did anyone notice how he completely bottled out Messi in the first leg …. Messi didn’t score did he? 2nd leg no Song and Messi scores 4…., Excuses for Arsene Wenger??? get a hold buddy boy….Ferguson thought less of him when he came from J-League into EPL but had to eat his words …. so we have had the likes of you coming and going with your silly comments … AW is doing a good job …. he will deliver…. last season was very good only to fizzle out at the end because of injuries my friend … so Ramsey leg break…fabregass, Gallas, Vermallen, Diably Song, Glichy, RVP.. no other teams had it as bad as we did…so give him a break….like a true gunner be with him and don’t be like Arshavin .. a traitor..and back stabber ……. you know… he wants Barca but does Barca want him???? Look at number of players from Arsenal who are in the World cup? Wenger out you say…..rather you wer don’t let you in..buddy boy
Mour wins because he is allowed to play 20th Century counter attack football by the clubs ho employ him. That is why Abramovitch got rid of him. No-one remembers Porto. No-one will remember his Chelsea or Inter teams. The teams we remember are the ones which play the brilliant football that everyone wants to watch- even if they don’t quite pull it off. Winning like Mour does is easy. Winning like Barca does is amazingly difficult. To see great attackers like Eto’o defending is pathetic and embarrassing. Mour has no style and no neck whatever he gobs off about. AW would’nt be seen dead building a team that played rubbish football like that. AWs Arsenal will be remembered long after Inter has been forgotten.
Eto’o defending is pathetic? Hhaha don’t make me laugh. You praise Barca’s play style and then scoff at Eto’o having to defend at Inter? Check your facts – in the 2009 La Liga season Thierry Henry, Messi, and Eto’o had the most fouls in the Barca team. Their game is not only alot of passing, but alot of defending. The forwards HAVE to defend form the front, no one can lounge around and wait for the ball to score a goal, they have to work as a team to recover the ball. If Henry loses the ball he is required to track back to get it back, there’s no lazing around hoping Toure wins it back.
This is why Barca are so eager to be rid of Ibrahimovic, for all his finesse and skill he’s lazy and the 10 other men have to do the work for him.
So you need to put yourself in check because if Wenger wants to replicate Barca, he needs his lazy players like Arshavin to be the first line of defense and not wander the field waiting for the ball.
Spot on, WC.
I wrote a piece called “The Arsenal Machine” after the loss to Barcelona earlier this year (http://sportstzu.blogspot.com/2010/04/arsenal-machine.html) and one of the central points of the article was based off a quote from BBC’s Phil McNulty:
“Manuel Almunia had the half of his life to keep Messi, Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at bay. The latter also missed an open goal, but Barca were beautiful to watch. Pace, power, poise, artistry, movement. And world-class players willing to work as hard off the ball as they did on it.” -McNulty
That last sentence is, more than anything else, why our team failed this year. We weren’t willing to work as hard off the ball as we were on it, which is what Inter and Barca do so beautifully.
I don’t know why there’s so much fear around proper defending. Arsenal must attack as a team and defend as a team.
You’re right on the mark. Mourinho cannot stay too long at a football club with his modern catenaccio. We’ve seen it in Italy in the 80s and 90s, fans stopped going to watch games even when Italian clubs were still dominating Europe.
On the other hand Barca and Arsenal have throngs of international fans only because of their flamboyant attacking styles.
And yes, without AW Arsenal would be as famous as Everton, Tottenham and/or Aston Villa. JM is yet to build a club.
I will quit watching football if every team adopt Mourhino’s tactic.
careful what you wish for. you guys are beginning to sound like those spurs fans who go on about pretty football. please! Barcelona have played better footbal than arsenal of late and if we’d spent a quarter of the money they had we might just have won something. Winning trophies is the life blood of any club and makes history. anything else is plain rubbish. For example will the current crop be better remembered than the team that did the double or had that unbeaten run? NO of course not.
sorry to say it but not changed my mind … wenger out! we loyal fans deserve better.
It is the likes of you we are afraid of…. we didn’t spend and did not win we get whacked ….imagine we spent and didn’t win anything..then what ?????? cannot imagine… Anyways, yes…true….winning is everything….so to you AW is not serious about winning???? I would rather we are 3rd or 4th in the table than to win something and end up like Portsmouth or in the red like Liverpool, Manchester and whole lot of other clubs who heavily in debt. We built our stadium Emirates on our finances, unlike others whose approved stadium plans continue to gather dust. To you it is spend and win at all cost … now what kind of an approach is that … foolish … just look at what happened to Portsmouth ….. we are doing just fine …. alll I ask of you is patience … everthing is in place ….
I think there is one very important difference between the two managers that needs to be addressed. Mourinho is the quintessential mercenary while Wenger commits his future to one club. Almost immediately after winning the Champions League with Inter Mourinho said “I did what I had to, my work is done, I am in the history of the club and Inter will never be the same again” He couldn’t wait 24 hours before discussing his move to the next club because like any mercenary he has no attachments. His sole concern is his legacy as a manager, which is why he has won’t stay at a club longer that 3 years. That’s also why he like players that are toward the end of their careers even though they “are players who you buy and you do not recover the money” because it doesn’t matter when every managing job is just a short-term project and the long-term health of the club doesn’t matter because he won’t be around.
Wenger on the other hand has committed himself to one club and as a consequence is not willing to sacrifice the long-term health of the club for short term success. In order for Wenger to be more like Mourinho he would have to do more than change his football philosophy. He would have to flatly care less about Arsenal’s future and do what’s necessary to win titles now even if that leaves the club in questionable shape 10 years from now.
I agree Wenger should be more flexible with his tactics since Arsenal have shown an inability to defend or win without playing beautiful football but it’s hard to compare Wenger to Mourinho because their styles are partially a function of their commitment to their respective clubs.
I wouldn’t use the word mercenary to describe Mourinho because he has a plan for every club he goes to – he wants to win everything. If Abramovich hadn’t interfered with Jose way back when I believe he’d still be at Chelsea trying to win the CL.
Mourinho knows what he wants to do and he won’t stop until he achieves it and I don’t think that’s a mercenary. Sure Jose gets paid alot to do what he does but that’s a by-product of his skill but he’s stated he wants to win in every league and once he’s done that he’ll go to the next challenge. His services aren’t up to the highest bidder necessarily otherwise he’d be at Madrid a long time ago but he felt he could win the CL with Inter and stuck it out a few years until he had the team to do so. Jose doesn’t jump ship at the first sign of trouble as he stayed with Chelsea even when they were doing terrible in his last tenure because he built that team and even today it’s hard for them to get out of his shadow since alot of the personnel and style is a remnant from the Mourinho days.
claude, chelsea sacked Mourinho remember and as for inter he was having difficulty with the italian FA, the italian press and the inter fans over his out spoken behavior. yes he can come out with crap but that’s usually to wind the other side up and lossie their cool. he also says alot of home truths .. uncomfortable truths. and lets face it we’ve got some uncomfortable truths that we keeping brushing under the carpet. no one is challenging wenger.
wenger and arsenal have got too cosy … he’s one of the board members now looking out to fill their pockets from the next transfer sale.
I just want to say Mourino plays to win. He doesn’t waste time with beautiful soccer.His team doesn’t indulge in endless passing.Against Inter in the first leg he surprised the Spaniards
with his attacking philosophy and played anti soccer in the return leg.
This in my opinion makes him the manager of the decade.His ability to adapt his tactics is his trump card.Ii know Wenger has exceeded expectations what with the stadium to be built and the financial stability he has brought to Arsenal. Yeah Arsenal are poised to dominate when UEFA ’s financial rules kick in.But at what cost to the trophy cainet.
Until Arsenal can start to win trophies like the title and cl on a regular basis,Morino in my opinion is still top dog.
nicely said man,
lets not behave as though we all don’t feel the same way: Arsene needs more Mourinho.
Erick-superb article!
WC~enlightened comments!
My words. . .
For one’s philosophy to work indefinitely,the world should be led by that very philosophy. Otherwise,to be a winner, one has to conform to the sort of principle and philosophy this world is following. I think, this is why AW fails nowadays-adorable phylosophy but good-for-nothing stubbornness.
Wenger could do with a bit of Mourinho as Mourinho could do with a bit of Wenger. 2 managers with many strengths and few weaknesses. Wengers genius with Mourinhos magic would be a perfect combination.
Our decline at the end of this season was a lot down to us having no trophies to play for… the players stopped concentrating.
I think Wenger will try to keep one of Gallas/Campbell, replace Silvestre with a better CB and possibly buy an experienced defmid to keep us tight in the games where we need to hang on to a lead.
I think if he left now, he’d be remembered for the invincibles side and setting the stage for the next manager… As long as he spent within means and kept good care of the youth system can you imagine Mourinho taking over after Wenger?…. o_O
Cappello is still number 1.
Mourinho gets results in any possible ways (dirty boring tactics etc), Wenger strives for beautiful football everybody enjoys to watch.
I like your article about the special one. But in my opinion Sir Alex Ferguson is better than Mourinho. And I agree with the point which siddhant has made that Mourinho runs team and Wenger runs club.My point view behind Sir Alex is that it’s very difficult to achieve success over period of 24 with only one club but Maourinho changes his club after every three years.So winning the trophies with 1 club is very difficult than so many clubs.
Maybe an analogy will be useful: the equivalent is the CEO of a company- Mourinho is the man who has run 3 huge business (and one biggish one) immensely successfully for a short amount of time, while Wenger is someone who has built up a business from being a biggish firm to an indisputable powerhouse of the industry, changing the way they deliver services and do business.
Which one is more impressive? I think that’s a matter of preference, but I’m going to have to put a big plug in for Sir Alex. Mourinho is a winner, no doubt, but Ferguson is more than that. He’s been a winner over 20 years with a single club, he’s influenced every aspect of the way United is run, and he has played a crucial role in defining and making successful one of the most recognisable sporting brands in the world.
Honestly, I don’t know if there’s ever been a better manager than him. Wenger comes close for longevity and the overall impact on Arsenal and the game of football in England (e.g. nutrition, training, developing youth and technique). But he hasn’t been as uniformly successful as Ferguson.
Hows is finishing 3rd n 4th a sucess for any business? You also say that Mou delivers short term sucess but last time
I checked chelski finshed above you n won the double. Now that’s sucess
We’ll see how long that success will last without the backing of the oligarch. With 2/3rd of his team 30 or more, can’t wait to see how he is going to replace them at 50 mils a head.
Eh? Above ‘you’? What are you doing on an Arsenal blog!? In all seriousness, read my post again and I’m not in any way discrediting Mourinho’s success. By his own admission, he wants to win- and he likes to move from job to job to ensure he doesn’t get sick of the challenge of winning trophies. He doesn’t see himself being in any job for more than 3-5 years, and his final job will be as national manager of Portugal. His words, not mine.
Mourinho isn’t about creating a legacy, it’s about winning in the present. Arsene Wenger has brought a lot more to Arsenal than the trophies he’s won. He’s revolutionised the way football is played, training is done, players’ nutrition is looked after and a host of other factors. A lot of his innovations have become mainstream in the EPL.
Honestly, there’s more to any business than just making money- it’s like calling the CEO of McDonalds the ‘best’ CEO of all time because they pull in more profits than anyone else in the restaurant business. There are other markers of success.
Well.. in my opinion i think that mourinho is a winner, it’s not like he spends money on big names, but he knows whom to pick, and after all winning should be the result you should be aiming for and expecting .. not just ending 3rd or 2nd … for everyone who says Mourinho plays ‘anti-football- i think you should watch the 1st leg again when he outplayed barca with his counter attack style while arsenal failed to outplay barca in their own game of possession ..
Mourinho realized that it would be a waste of time and effort playing for possession.. and he adapted his tactic into the counter attack style that got him a 3-1 result at the end .. an offside goal ? yes.. also in the 2nd leg there was an offside goal for peque.. a denied goal in the 2nd leg for boian ? sure .. and someone got kicked out because of a pathetic actor named sergio… for whom who ever says he parked the bus in nuo camp, i think after losing the best runner in your team who averaged 10 Kms in the 1st leg after 20 minutes from the kick-off, then i think you should be considering a defensive style against the best team in the world in thier own stadium with 10 players in your side .. so he didnt only parked the bus .. actually as he would say .. he did park the plane ! and it was the right choice ..
when everyone was doubting themselves if barcelona could ever be beaten after thrashing us 4-0 Mourinho did it .. and he did what he was hired for .. to get Inter the CL after a 45 years absence ..
leaving right after winning a legendary treble? i think it was a wise choice because after this achievement he would never be able to surpass himself, and whatever he gets Inter the next season wouldn’t be enough .. unless he does the treble once again, then it would be as expected -.-
The one thing I want people to take away from this is that I’m not asking for Wenger to become Mourinho. I don’t want that and I don’t think any other Arsenal fans want that either. What I want, and from the comments it’s shown a lot of other Arsenal fans are in the same vein, is for Wenger to take on some of the rugged characteristics, both tactically and personally, that have made Mourinho into the tremendous success he’s become. I want Wenger to have more Mourinho slithering through his blood.
I want Wenger like Sir Alex I am big Admirer of Sir Alex. If you look at the 09-10 Season and if you compare our squad with Man Utd there squad is inferior than us but still Sir Alex manages get his team on 2nd position
Hey everybody, It’s official that Senderos signed for Fulham. It is on their website.
Can anybody find the details of that deal? I hope it is a swap deal.
I want to remind you that mourinho did not only do well at porto but he also won the champions league with them. Are you telling the world that at porto mourinho had the spending power that asnarl had. No way, you must be kidding to think that way.
Ridiculous unlimited money against almost none that simple no 30 year olds when he built the chelsea side and wont be at Real their 30 now at Chelsea not 5 years ago as for Wenger this is not a choice he had no money 15M a year budget for the last 5 as we pay 500M stadium in 2000 Wenger spent 50M and will again
Tactics a master Inter played the same way every game 4231/4213
Arsene doesn’t need to be like Jose – what bunkum??? Jose’s Porto played finals against Monaco – were they the 2 best teams in Europe – if you accept their FAs allowed for postponements of matches before champions league fixtures…………………Having unlimited funds and playing 10men behind the ball is detrimental to the sport. That Real Madrid has sold their soul after unlimited spending doesn’t mean we’ve to resort to that type of football – nah, Arsene keep doing what you do only with some more experienced players.
So….this writer figures Mourinho is smart because he’s won the CL twice plus lotta titles…and the “commenters” feel Mourinho is smart bcos he won CL with Porto (a small team)…
See??? this is why I get angry at the ignorance in america about “soccer” bcos a lot of u are new to the game…so you have limited history.
africa follows said “soccer” more…back in dark Africa, in 1993 we were watching all of Arsenal’s games, all of the La Liga games, Serie A and Serie B, all the european leagues, even futbol americas.
kids lived and dreamt “soccer”…we knew the names of the coaches even in South America…plus our own African teams.
To all you new comers to “soccer”: mourinho is a good lucky coach – lucky bcos when he won the CL with porto, he was playing total defensive football. just 1-0 wins. a decent team can get to the CL finals (case in point Bayern). he played Monaco…that year was a year when the major teams had one problem or another.
IF Wenger had played Monaco in the CL finals (2006) then we would have had a CL medal…but as it were, we led barca with deco and R’dinho+eto+ all of those matured players after the ref unjustly sent Jens Wildmann off.
Just trying to put things in perspective..
You are entitled to your opinion, putting down Mourinho’s hat-trick as pure luck, but I suggest you refrain from calling people ignorant just because of where they write from.
Unsurprisingly, I have a bit of a bone to pick with this comment.
I don’t know why my nationality determines how much I know about football … but that’s neither here nor there.
Why do I think Mourinho is a great coach? Because he’s proved it everywhere he goes and, most importantly, he proved it THIS YEAR winning the treble with Milan. People can debate whether or not he’s one of the all-time greatest coaches til their lungs give out, I have no intent of starting nor joining that discussion, and I certainly don’t froth at the mouth over his personality. This discussion is based solely on success, recent success, and the tactical attributes of the man who fostered that success.
Would I rather have Mourinho than Wenger? I never said that. What I said is that Wenger needs to adopt some of the attributes that have made Mourinho so successful. I don’t want to clone Jose Mourinho, and I certainly don’t want Wenger to mortgage the Emirates to bring in a bunch of names either, I just want Wenger to look at his own shortcomings, at his own stubbornness, and make some hard-nosed decisions about his coaching philosophies.
Football has adapted and changed in Europe over the last five years, our team hasn’t. It’s that simple.
Thanks.
To say Mourinho is lucky is just ridiculous. I can’t believe how quickly people forget. A short time ago Barca was incredible, remarkable, the team to win the Champions League. Who could stop Messi? Xavi? Puyol? Mourinho did. Simple as that. Anti futbol. Maybe. Inter has the trophy though and the reason is Mourinho. Wenger is the man though. Gunners!!!