Is Arsene Wenger Really The Best Football Coach Of The Decade?

Ollie Irish

7th, January 2011

40 Comments

By Ollie Irish

Number one, bitches

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), which sounds like a tremendously fun place to work, has voted Arsene Wenger the No.1 football coach of the last decade. Wenger > Fergie, Mourinho, Allardyce, Megson, Brown et al.

The IFFHS used some “equitable” criteria to come up with its ranking – number of times a coach says “I did not see the incident…” after a game, maybe? (Zing!) Their top 10 coaches of the last decade reads as follows:

1. Wenger

2. Fergie

3. Mourinho

4. Crapello

5. Hiddink

6. Ancelotti

7. Scolari

8. Bielsa

9. Rafa Benitez

10. Lippi

Selected others: 13. Sven, 21. Houllier, 28. Bruce Arena, 88. Avram Grant, 92. Roy Hodgson, 110. Mick McCarthy, 126. Arry Redknapp

Wenger is undoubtedly a world-class gaffer, but it’s been a decade of two halves for the studious Frenchman, with a distinct lack of silverware in the second half of the Noughties. You’d think that might count against him. Not in this case.

I would go with something more like this:

1. Fergie, 2. Mourinho, 3. Ian Holloway Wenger

What’s your top three?

Posted in Arsenal, Opinion

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40 Comments

  1. Eric says:

    1 – Ferguson

    2 – Everyone else

  2. PhilandoTorres says:

    Crapello? Shades of Shaun “Journalistic Integrity?” Custis there Ollie. Capello’s a fine manager, it’s the uncontrollable gobshites in his team that fuck everything up.

    I’m surprised Guardiola didn’t crack the top 10. Transformed a collection of talented individuals into the best team in the world while steering them to a treble and then retained the league title. He’s achieved more at the arse-end of this decade than most managers achieve in three or four.

  3. Ollie Irish says:

    @ Philando – Irony, my friend. Or my finger slipped on the keyboard.

  4. Franco says:

    Do managers that have never managed in England not count?

    Erm, Del Bosque, 2 CL, 2 La Liga and a World Cup.

  5. Nick Holloway says:

    9. Benitez…. PARDON WHAT? hahah dont make me laugh

    how the hell have they worked this one out? Whats wenger done over the past 6years? :s

    Fergie all day.

  6. megaman789 says:

    Well Capello has achieved a lot. The truth is that no manager can succesfully manage the current England squad.

    And yeah Wenger doesn’t deserve to be at top. For me its Mourinho, whereever he has gone, hes won trophies.

  7. George says:

    Ferguson should be top, no question. I’m also loving that Mick McCarthy was rated higher than Harry Redknapp. I don’t know what criteria was used, but I love it.

  8. mizman says:

    @Eric FTW 100% bang on son

  9. who-ha says:

    right now fergie with mourinho very close. in 10-15 years it will be mourinho best ever holding that title for hundreds of years to come.

  10. Pedro says:

    Fergie should definitely be 2nd. As for first, and as a Portuguese it pains me to say it, it should hands down be Del Bosque. I don’t understand how Guardiola gets credit even though he inherited the team (which I think makes sense, you have to make them play) but Del Bosque gets no credit for anything he does, like he magically surrounds him with people who do the work for him. Madness. Mourinho a definite 3rd.

  11. Joe says:

    Mourinho hands down. And how the fuck is Mick McCarthy above Harry Redknapp?

  12. Rich says:

    Lippi? surely should be top 5 at least

  13. epiblast says:

    @Joe: Alphabetic order?

  14. Dave says:

    @ Nick Holloway: Perhaps, just perhaps, the fact that he won 2 la liga titles, a UEFA cup, a club world cup, the FA cup, finished second in the premier league, managed Liverpool to a ranking of 1st in Europe and won the Champions League in this decade got him on to the list?

  15. Johannes says:

    Honestly, from a front office perspective, Wenger is far and away the best. What he has accomplished in his time as Arsenal manager in the last decade is extremely impressive, especially given the fact that his club is one of the few left in Europe not massively in debt.
    Of course this is coming from an Arsenal fan, so make of that what you will

  16. jaymin says:

    Wenger has maintained Arsenal at an elite level while running the club as a responsible business. He has parlayed with Madrid, United, and Barca, while fielding squads purchased at less than 10% the cost of his rivals, while generating profits . That is talent money cannot gloss over. Adults respect these things, other types like shiny toys and have 5 credit cards. If Mourinho were not a footie manager, his property would be foreclosed upon.

  17. deckard says:

    based on prizes won it makes no fucking sense. mainly cuz wenker has never won the champions league. louis van gaal should defo be in there cuz he’s smarter than most of those fuckers on that list. it’s no secret big mo still looks up to even bigger louis greatly. yet jose craps on benitez, who is on the list. that fuck didn’t do shit apart from the cl in 05.
    and where the fuck is rijkaard? la liga in 05,06 + cl. another bullshit list only an egghead like ollie takes seriously enough to put on his site.

  18. Pedro says:

    Arsenal fans are hilariously deluded. How are Manchester United not a much better proposition than they are, financially? The debt used to purchase the club has nothing to do with the underlying strength of the business. All of this talk of how Arsenal are “the best run club” is nonsensical hogwash used to rationalise not being at the business end of competitions. Also, for those who question Mourinho, he took lowly Leiria to a 5th place finish and Europe, a club with barely any fans that had no real history and have struggled since. He won the CL with Porto, a team featuring a fair amount of hasbeens and neverhavebeens in the shape of Carlos Alberto, Benny McCarthy, Alenitchev, Nuno Valente, etc…, all while operating well within the bounds of the business model all Portuguese big clubs must adhere to – buy cheap and young, increase players’ profile and then sell off at a profit to fund operating expenses as well as new signings. Lauding as magisterial a man who has never won a European competition and has struggled to make an impact domestically for half the decade while downplaying the achievements of actually successful men is laughably unsporting and shameful.

  19. Pedro says:

    “based on prizes won it makes no fucking sense”. Yes, let us rank teams and managers by the amount of passes completed throughout a season or number of youth players poached from other championships. Arsenal would be worthy winners then and their endless crowing would be justified. It beggars belief these people still have the nerve to come on here to defend the indefensible, to the point of saying we shouldn’t really care about who wins what, let’s forget about CL trophies, leagues, cups, world cups, all of that silly nonsense and focus on what really matters, redefining what actually constitutes success so that are team stop being such pathetic, pathological losers.

  20. SeanBCFC says:

    holloway all the way!

  21. arsenal says:

    end of the day wenger 1 it so all u man utd c***************ntz can go fu&&&&&&&&&&&&&k urselfs!@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  22. Anonymous says:

    1. saf
    2. mourinho
    3. wenger
    4. others

  23. AyanoBasazin says:

    yeah he deserves it

  24. RedMancundonian says:

    @arsenal
    End of the day, arse-anal have won f@ck all. Even on FM, FIFA and PES.
    Whoever did this list should be dealt with properly, even God knows that SIR ALEXANDER CHAPMAN “ALEX” FERGUSON was, has been, is, will be, Number 1 forever.

  25. Smartass says:

    Fergie, by a thousand miles
    IFFHS must have had too much coffee spilled on their big computer

  26. MR .T says:

    1. FERGIE
    2. MOURINHO
    3. WENGER
    4. DEL BOSQUE
    5. GUARDIOLA

  27. FREDDY KOIGI says:

    IFFHS used simple common sense questions like.

    1. Would Arsenal be considered a big team when they still play in a shanty called Highbury?(no disrespect but 38,000 simply isn’t enough) Answer no!, lets build one, a Magnificent one.

    2. If we do, will we be able to fund it?, Yes, lets not buy any expensive players, after all there are many neglected but better players, lets use them.

    3. Will this different calibre of players perform upto Arsenal standards?, Yes they will, after all, they will get into the Champion’s League final in 2006, they will get into Carling Cup final in 2007, they will almost win Premier League in 2008 as they will only be 4 points behind, points which can be effectively said to be lost by horror injury and, they will go to the wire for the Premier League title in 2010 only loosing it in the last 3 weeks and by 2011 January, they will be the only team looking for the unprecedented quadruple with Wenger looking for his maiden Carling Cup victory.

    4. Do clubs need finance to grow?, Yes of course and I will give this club a solid financial base and soon, very soon, they will be among the strongest financially if not the strongest.

    5. Do we need to buy a £30 million player or above?, Of course NOT, even Manchester City have them and we are still beating them 3-0 at their own ground and they recoil in fear at the sight of our £3-8 million players when they come to Emirates and the only way they can get any point is to play for a drub 0-0……..Simply pathetic.

    Conglaturations Arsene Wenger for getting all your answers right, now just win trophies and the World will forever sing your name.

  28. John says:

    Finally the truth comes out.
    Arsene wenger deserves more than every one.The reasons are,

    1)Alex n Jose r managing whit the big players.Managing a team with expensive players is a bit easy thing.
    2)Arsene wenger is the only manger who has made youngsters into world class players.He is the only person who understood how to mange a team.
    3)Ofcourse winning trophies is important,but the quality that arsene wenger has given to the arsenal players is a miracle.
    4)Surely When the present ARSENAL BOYS turn into ARSENAL MEN then no Fucking team can lick Arsene wenger’s toes.

    ARSENE WENGER THE BEST COACH OF THE DECADE-200% TRUE

  29. […] tells The Special One: Yes, Jose, you are a bit Special. The best coach in the world, no less. (But it’s Wenger, as we all […]

  30. Akin says:

    I think a lot of the people making comments are a little sentimental. Its basic mathematics! Average over ten years. Any coach that will be at d top will have to score relatively high across all the years. So those that were not coaches for a couple of years or had very low scores at the turn of the century have no business in the top ten. It might not be 100 percent accurate but i think its close enough. Look at the annual results and you’ll be relieved to see coaches who excelled that year av d top of the list. It’s d same season why Wozniaki is the top female tennis player even though she has not won a grand slam. I’ll say it again high peak performance in a few year will not guarantee you’ll be in the top spot when ten years is considered. Please leave sentiments out of it.

  31. biruk says:

    Really wenger can’t manage buying the silverware instead it will develop e it in his laboratory.But others deserve to buy it! see all the guys you say.starting from ur ‘so called’ fergie they all deserve to buy the silverware really.wenger in the decade shows what determination mean by.wenger gave the chance to develop the art of football.not to buy it.really wenger is a professor who was trying to develop football giving the youngsters the chance in the decade.so what can u say about it? Really wenger is a coach to be named first! yes he deserve it.

  32. Luke says:

    fergie is miles ahead of wenger whichever way you look at it. wenger doesnt splash the cash but that means that he refused to pay 12m for ronaldo. look at what that got manchester united. a collection of trophies and a much healthier balance sheet. fergie is a better manager froma front office point of view as well as on the pitch

  33. Erik D says:

    i dont get it …how come i am reading that wenger is first …for decade …oh my really ??? how come ??? as i know SECOUND is the FIRST PLACE OF A LOOSER …and as far as i know arsenal lost CL Final against barcelona ….they heavent won even a cup in england in last 5 years …and i doubt they gona win this year ….he made stars ? like who …Eboue ? sagna ? who ? stars self proclamed stars ? self proclamed strong strikers ? khhhm khhhhm i forgot ….maybe france has lost their touch with reality …as they did lost it with balon’d’oor …for this year ….as i remember Manchester United won CL in 2008 and won more Premier leagues from arsenal and more cups …actualy …wenger will never create player like SIR alex made with ronaldo …to bye it for 12 mil and sell it 100 milions …that is good menagment …go and hide up wenger …in closet with that man ur living …shame on that organisation that have putted u to be first before Ferguson and jose and capelo and guss …wenger is not even before pepe from barca ….someone should ask wenger did his good players knew on what side is their goal when they played in champion league with braca …and yea i forgot …now wenger is number 1 …maybe for u …but for many he wont be ever that …poor thing is the decision that fifa or anyone made to give him a medal ? wow …shame on u …shame …

  34. Erik D says:

    yea and one more thing …give me a call when wenger will achive what Sir Alex Ferguson has allready done in History of football ….not in english football ..in world class football …with raising players from age of 14 like Giggsy Scholes David Beckam Phil and Gary nevile Rooney Cristiano …the only thing is ….scouts of manchester dont go in desert to hunt people and then bring them in club and then speak of them how strong r they … …they go in countries and pick players and they dont speak about them …others do speak ….if there is a lack of money i will bye one big mirror and give it to you to have a look what have u done and who have u chosed ….bljak …i am discused of the tought …maybe u gona choose for baloon ‘d oor for this year to be one striker from my country ….let’s say Goran Pandev …why not …. if wenger can win that …why PAndev not to win baloon ‘d’oor ….ha…

  35. SamiGod says:

    I love how idiotic the comments from Wenger haters look (point in case – Erik D), while arsenal supporters are generally well-informed and eloquent.

  36. arsenal says:

    @ Erik D…I think you need to improve on your Engl**h instead of making useless comment about Wenger. Go read more boi

  37. dinne vee. says:

    Arsenal if you like it or not. Gunners for life.

  38. So simple says:

    Guardiolar is d world best coach

  39. Authentic says:

    Nobody lik there father Guardiola if you like it or not this man is wonderful is doing a marvelous work pls agree for your master

  40. Steve L says:

    1. Sir Alex Ferguson

    2. Jose Mourinho

    3. Martin O’Neil (who should be the next England Manager)

    Cant believe Wenger is in the top 10 ?

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