When?
He couldn’t beat Wenger in 04/05, and that wasn’t even peak Wenger.
I just don’t see how anyone could hold that opinion.
One man has 4 European trophies including 2 Champions League titles and league titles in 4 different countries whilst the other has two European finals to his name and some early league success at Arsenal and domestic trophies.
What Jose accomplished at Porto shits on anything Wenger ever did as a manager.
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I agree… but the Invincibles campaign saves Wenger here imho. There’s a reason it’s so hard to do.
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Mourinho could never do what Wenger did at Arsenal in the late 90s.
Mourinho would just have been a Portuguese Keegan.
Wenger introduced a new philosophy, a new dimension and a creativity the likes of which the PL had never seen.
Mourinho without money is nowhere near as good as Wenger without.
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Every single Arsenal fan would swap that unbeaten season for a CL win against Barcelona in 2006.
But that’s only because we’ve never won it before. So its importance increases.
If he had won it earlier in his managerial career or we already had at least 1 to our name, nobody would swap an Invincibles run for a UCL.
Mourinho, without money, won the champions league with Porto.
Wenger would never have done what Mourinho did with Porto. We’ve got 30+ years of Wenger managing and only making one CL final where he lost.
Jose had the better career and history will righty remember him as the better manager.
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I mean, we’d take a couple of defeats in the league if it meant winning the CL and FA Cup that season, too, no doubt.
A treble in 03/04 would have been nice.
There are still some City fans out there who are butthurt that they can emulate the treble, do 4 in a row, but still can’t do an unbeaten season, so it does hold some clout.
I mean, this just isn’t the case. The landscape of PL football in the late 90s would have chewed up and spat Mourinho out.
If anything, what Wenger did paved the way for Mourinho to come in with an endless cash supply and do what he did with Chelsea. He changed the entire product of the PL and its appeal.
Wenger is regarded in most, if not all, football circles as the better manager. And that’s not just because of Mourinho’s toxic personality.
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Gonna need you to evidence this mate. I don’t ever hear anybody put Wenger ahead of Jose.
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Well, it’s all opinions. Speaking to the most die-hard Liverpool and Man United fans out there (who will be very staunch and obnoxious, we all know this), they wouldn’t put Mourinho ahead of Wenger.
In fact, the only lot I know who would are Chelsea fans. They’re a stubborn lot.
Beyond that, it’s all subjective media stuff. Those who currently put Pep ahead of Ferguson, for example, is bound to rub up a lot of people the wrong way.
You just said Wenger is regarded in football circles as being better than Mourinho? I’ve asked you to evidence that claim and you’re talking about chats you’ve had with your mates?
Yes, football fans.
What are you expecting?
But you said he’s regarded in most, if not all, football circles as being the better manager.
Are you seriously suggesting that your mates account for all football circles?
The people I’ve spoken to have regarded Wenger as the better manager.
It’s, in fact, only a handful of people (on here and Chelsea fans) who regard Mourinho as a better manager.
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It’s not even that I necessarily disagree, but the strong phrasing is upsetting to me.
I just think with time I’ve come to accept that Wenger won’t ever be in that truly elite bracket of manager as a direct result of his lack of European success.
His record in Europe when we had such a good team in the early 00s is an abomination.
He just didn’t really have that other level that a lot of managers seem to have. His refusal to leave us in the mid 00s and try his hand at Bayern / Real will always be a stain on his name too.
He basically spent 10-15 years at Arsenal longer than he needed to and in the end did way more harm than good to his legacy.
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There’s not much doubt that the attacking style Wenger played and the way he changed attitudes in the game was revolutionary.
Mourinho might have been more successful but outspent every other manager in Europe while playing uninspiring football.
Wenger would build teams through buying cheap younger players then gradually bring integrate them into the first team.
How many young unknown players did Mourinho bring through the non existent Chelsea youth set up?
He would regularly spend more than our transfer record on squad players and never had a youth policy.
Wenger at Chelsea would have would have easily been as successful and played more exciting football but it’s unlikely Mourinho would have done the same here.
As for their personalities, Wenger was class but Mourinho was a petulant wind up merchant.
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Why do you keep saying this like his Porto success doesn’t exist?
On top of that, Wenger could have managed a thousand years and never done what Jose did with Porto and Inter.
When Jose won the CL with Inter, his team spent about £70m in the transfer market and brought in £80m+ in sales.
But doesn’t fit your narrative does it do you conveniently ignore things like this.
Feels always a bit wrong to call that a rivalry when Mourinho utterly and completelty dominated Wenger. Nine wins for Mourinho versus two for Wenger.
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