Wenger or Mourinho: Who would you want?

In this article we will be exploring the mercurial Jose Mourinho and enigmatic Arsene Wenger.

When Arsene Wenger took control of Arsenal football club in 1996, he was relatively unheard of. These days he is one of the most famous football managers in the world and unanimously agreed to have changed English football forever. He revolutionised football's approach to diet and reinvigorated players' careers. Sadly, these days he seems to be vilified even by his own fans for not going against his personal beliefs when it comes to transfer budgets and wage demands. I, for one, don't think this is fair.

Admittedly Arsene inherited quite probably the finest defence in Premier League history and also Dennis Bergkamp. He also purchased Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Nicolas Anelka and Marc Overmars in the 96/97 transfer window. But good ingredients doth not make a tasty cake. Wenger rejuvenated men like Tony Adams and Paul Merson. Men with demons that many find impossible to ever break free of, yet Arsene Wenger got more years out of them than he really had any entitlement to. However, I digress slightly. This is not a history lesson.

Arsene Wenger believes in building foundations. Promoting from within when the opportunity arises or plucking obscure names from the French Second Division and turning them into World Class players. I have no problem with this ethos, providing it is backed up with an astute tactical awareness and willingness to adapt. This, I feel, is where AW starts to look circumspect.

The much heralded Invincibles season does not need another airing in this article, but it does throw up an interesting point. Arsene had the best team in the league and he won it. Since then he hasn't. Is that his fault? Maybe, maybe not. Certainly most decisions at least go through him, so he must assume a fair proportion of any criticism. For example, was he wrong to sell Robin Van Persie? Yes and no. Was he right to sell him, yes. Was it right to sell him to Alex Ferguson, no. However, look at RvP now. Maybe Arsene just miscalculated a little. Did he foresee the dramatic decline of Robin and just fold too soon? I think there is enough evidence to suggest this is at least worth considering.

Arsenal have been competing forever with clubs with more money. First it was Fergie and Man Utd, the richest club in the world. Then it was Jose and Ambrovich's billions and the Man City and their oil money. Add to that Arsene's unwillingness to risk huge transfer deals on players he is unsure of and you have a recipe for 10 years of nearly but not quite. Does this mean he is unfit to now manage our great club? Hell no. In fact, I still think he is the right man, but he needs to adapt.

So what of Mr Mourinho. When Jose won the Champions League with FC Porto many heads were turned and he subsequently went to Chelsea that summer, where he willingly spent Roman's money to ensure that he always had the best team, if not necessarily the best squad. So we see a huge disparity between the two men in question. They have completely different approaches to football, man management, tactics, everything.

I respect Jose Mourinho for what he has achieved in football but I don't like him. I think he is a flawed individual who sulks if he doesn't get his way. I think he is dictatorial and disrespectful. And the business with his medical staff this season has only highlighted this. I don't think he is a master tactician either. I think he plays the big teams well, most of the time but has been undone on many occasions by smaller teams or by Pep Guardiola.

Who would I rather have in charge of Arsenal? Wenger every time. He cares about the club more than his own ego. Does Jose really care about Chelsea? I don't believe he does, or he surely wouldn't act the way does. A club to Mourinho is merely a vessel with which to serve his own lugubrious personality. If Wenger genuinely cared what people though of him he would probably do exactly what Jose does; spend whatever he can just to make sure he wins.

I am not going to say either approach is entirely right. Could Mourinho win everything on a tight budget? I am not sure. Certainly his tactical proclivities towards defence suggest his teams will always be hard to beat but flair comes with a hefty price tag. Let's also remember that he inherited at Chelsea the finest English centre back in the last years and the most prolific goal scoring English midfielder ever. Quite helpful if you want to be successful.

In my opinion Mourinho will always win more than Wenger all the time he has the money to just buy whoever he wants. For how much longer that will be the case we shall see. Will Mourinho stick around at Chelsea if Roman gets bored and pulls out? I doubt it. Where as we know that as long as he has a hole in his arse Wenger will stay at Arsenal, regardless of their financial status. Because Arsene Wenger loves Arsenal. And we should love him back, just a little bit more.

by Benjamin Dungate

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