If you thought that the FIFA World Rankings are wacky and worse, if Inter Milan can be labelled the best club side in the world after doing no more than defeating a team of Korean unknowns and a bunch of amateurs from the Congo, try getting your head around this. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been named the “The World‘s best Coach of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century” by IFFHS – ‘The International Football Federation of History & Statistics’ an organisation which is officially recognised by FIFA. Wenger finished with 156 points, 8 ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson and 21 more than Jose Mourinho. Remember that what’s known as a ‘manager’ in England is referred to as a ‘coach’ in most parts of the world.
Now I have nothing against Wenger, as a matter of fact I have come to respect the guy in the last few years but no matter how you analyse this award, it is simply incomprehensible. The IFFHS explains that “The IFFHS has devised an equitable method for establishing the The World‘s best Coach of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century. The IFFHS will take into consideration the “Top 20” for each year and allocate points to each place. So the first placed receives 20 points, the second placed 19 points, the third-placed 18 points … and a point for twentieth place” Does that make the whole thing crystal clear now?
So let’s have a look at some undisputable FACTS which illustrates why even Wenger himself must be embarrassed by such a delusional, meaningless award.
Ferguson and Wenger have been in the Premier League for the entire decade so it was a simple, direct comparison with no complications – a straightforward apple compared with an apple exercise.
The most obvious is the amount of silverware each manager has won during the decade in question
Ferguson – Premier League 5, FA Cup 1, Carling Cup 3, Champions League 1, World Club Cup 1
Wenger – Premier League 2, FA Cup 3
Then there are the head to head clashes between the two managers which takes into account the Premier, Champions Leagues, FA and Carling Cups but NOT the almost meaningless Community Shield
Ferguson 13 wins, Wenger 8, remaining matches resulted in draws
When points obtained in the Premier League during the decade are compared
Ferguson’s Manchester United had a total of 826 points against Wenger’s Arsenal 773, an additional 53 points which equates to winning an extra 17 matches.
When you look at any of those statistics it’s very clear that Sir Alex is so far ahead of Wenger that the whole poll should have been a total no contest. But then have a look at some of the other placings to see how ludicrous the whole thing is. Fabio Capello fourth, Luiz Felipe Scolari seventh, Rafa Benitez ninth and note this, Sven-Goran Eriksson the world’s 13th best manager of the decade!
It’s also worth noting that England is represented by only three coaches among the top 176, the best placed of them being Roy Hodgson in 92nd place with Sir Bobby Robson and Harry Redknapp tied at 126.
Perhaps the best way that such a ludicrous outcome can be explained is to have a look at the following which was written on IFFHS’s own entry on Wikipedia “In a wide range of media there is massive doubt about the significance of IFFHS rankings and elections. German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur abstains from publishing news relating to the IFFHS. Karl Lennartz, a sports historian from Cologne, Germany, calls the organization “obscure”, describing it as a one man show of its chairman Alfredo Poge.
Is there any way that Wenger can be rated a better manager than Ferguson?
you are just bitter…come on mate , give credit where credit is due. Well done Arsene, you deserve it!!
‘the manager of my team is better than the manager of your team. i feel very strongly about this.’
your love of fergie is only beaten by your love of bolding certain words for no reason.
Wenger has been given it for simply his consistency, the scoring system is simple and the total is cumulative, regardless of the FACTS as you put it.
doesn’t matter, focus on the football.
Jealous, Jealous, Jealous, that what you are. The IFFHS – ‘The International Football Federation of History & Statistics’ has all the info and stats to give a good verdict but you are just a random fan who watches games and writes blogs.
Remind me the last time Wenger spent even close to £25m for a football player….now remind me what Alex has spent in the same last ten years.
Alex was buying players like Andy Cole for world record amounts back in the 90s, let alone what he has spent recently.
Wenger has built a legacy of football, a style, a philosophy and has been true to his beliefs and not spent his way out of trouble.
The trophy argument makes me laugh, as if it is the only marker that Pep Guardilo is a better manager than Feargson ever was as he won 7 cups of something in his first 2 years did he not…..exactly….
Its funny you mancs are soo bitter and yet call Liverpool the bitters….lol
Why does anyone bother even trying to argue with Man Utd fans like this? They play the best football, never get any help from refs, have the finest and most honorable manager who spends less than every other and never tells his players to dive. Their club is the best in the world and every other club is total rubbish in comparison. They have the best and fairest websites slavishly devoted to their club and what’s more Man Utd is run on scrupulously honest and financially balanced lines. It should go without saying that English football would not even exist without them and Mr Alex Ferguson is a towering paragon of human dignity and fair play. As far as that dreadful man Wenger goes? Well, he’s French isn’t he. He never sees anything and his players are bad sports who play shockingly awful long ball football. Did you see that animal Sagna attack Rio’s boot with his chest. It was appalling. And what about that cheat Clichy and that blatant handball? Shocking. I could go on about Sol Campbell tripping poor Wayne in the area, but you get the point.
.
Is there any way that Wenger can be rated a better manager than Ferguson?
how about the fact that Wenger has had so much less money to spend on players. Wenger has achieved his success without spending 30million on Ferdinand, 28 million on veron, 20+ on hargreaves, 20 or so on carrick, 20 plus on berbatov, 28 on rooney, etc.
Bitter man united fans. Hahaha!?
It’s also based of Transfer spending where Sir Alex lets himself down significantly.
(estimates):
Veron 30m
Berbatov 30m
Rooney 30m
Rio 30m
Van Nistelrooy 20m
Anderson 18m
Nani 18m
Hargreaves 18m
Carrick 18m
Valencia 16m
(All of these are higher than any transfer Wenger has made at Arsenal).
In fact, looking at the net spending of both Wenger and Ferguson since Wenger took over:
(in euro’s- couldn’t find or be bothered to convert to £)
Man Utd
2010-2011: -12.175.000 €
2009-2010: +76.200.000 €
2008-2009: -37.550.000 €
2007-2008: -62.300.000 €
2006-2007: -6.850.000 €
2005-2006: -23.900.000 €
2004-2005: -51.685.000 €
2003-2004: +2.920.000 €
2002-2003: -44.425.000 €
2001-2002: -35.250.000 €
2000-2001: -1.825.000 €
1999-2000: -7.595.000 €
1998-1999: -41.000.000 €
1997-1998: -12.605.000 €
1996-1997: -4.475.000 €
TOTAL: -262.515.000 €
Arsenal:
2010-2011: -9.800.000 €
2009-2010: +37.700.000 €
2008-2009: -16.350.000 €
2007-2008: +27.275.000 €
2006-2007: -2.050.000 €
2005-2006: -17.770.000 €
2004-2005: -8.085.000 €
2003-2004: -43.375.000 €
2002-2003: -1.325.000 €
2001-2002: -41.800.000 €
2000-2001: +25.675.000 €
1999-2000: +18.200.000 €
1998-1999: -17.250.000 €
1997-1998: -20.360.000 €
1996-1997: +6.990.000 €
TOTAL: -62.325.000 €
Or in other words, Wenger has spent 24% of what Ferguson has.
So yes, Fergy has won more trophies but Wenger has been very succesful relative to money spent. It’s like Schumacher competing for the F1 world title whilst driving for a rubbish team. Would Schumacher have won 7 titles (guess) if he was driving for a less well funded team and thus slower car? Most probably not.
Comparing Wenger to Ferguson’s achievements is like comparing Moyes to Fergy which is only ludicrous because Moyes has achieved absolutely nothing having spent very little (net)… the fact is, Moyes and Wenger have spent similar amounts and yet Arsenal and Wengre ARE being compared to Man utd and Fergy because of what he’s achieved.
You’d think with Man City spending obscene amounts of money and u lot moaning about, you’d have some prespective on money and competition. With the money Wenger has spent, he deserves the award as much if not more than anyone.
I feel sorry for you mate..ferguson spendz,wenger buildz n he iz still consistent.wt does dt tel ya?
you are a complete moron,even after the facts have been explain,for you to then go on such a rant on wenger shows a lack of respect to the man himself.A man who has done nothing wrong than to win an award deservedly,this makes you on to look like a total prick.
Wenger’s best 11 (played v Chelsea and Man City recently) cost £40m in total. Rooney and Rio cost £60m by themselves.
Perspective.
The award is based on nominations and resultant seedings from the annual managerial awards also based on money spent, playing style of said managers team and league and cup progression. In the original statement announcing the award they state that Arsene Wenger has not even been placed top in ten years of managerial voting, its the fact that he has always been (ala Arsenal) in the top four, consistently generating teams who play with a trademark style, regarded around the world. Doing all this AND developing (and helping to design no less) one of the most beautiful stadia in europe, buying players no one had ever heard of and turning them into stars – all on a shoe string budget when compared to the spending of others. He introduced an awareness in the premier league that player wages and fees were out of control, he has built the club around his own footballing mantra and should be commended for it. It was Wengers ethos that made Fergie realise that shelling out 30 million on star names was no longer the way to go and that nurturing youth and development was the way forward, as we can see with Chelsea manager Ancelottis recent quotes that Arsenals way is the best way. (see were chelsea spending is now failing) At the end of the day for all the sick chants our manager has had to endure (always with great dignity may i add), all the media hatred that is directed towards Arsenal, this 5-6 years without a trophy crap! – its bloody fantastic to see him get some recognition for the wonderful things he has done not only for arsenal but for the premier league and British football. No football fan would ever deny that Alex Ferguson is probably the best manager that has ever been in the profession, but this award is for the last decade, and in that time i think with all things considered – spending less than spurs, man city, Your lot, Chelsea, liverpool and still finishing consistently above most of you. The new stadium, always qualifying for the champions league. Give a tip of the cap and recognise that someone other than your SAF can be more than a bit special.
Enough said daniel.
Can I just ask what you’re all doing on a United blog?
The author published it in Arsenal’s news section.
You Gooners are both hilarious AND deluded! So winning honours means nothing if you spend large amounts to achieve success. You seem to forget that much bigger amounts are brought into the club through that success from attendances, television, sponsorships, merchandising and so on. It’s an argument that can only be made by people who have probably forgotten what it feels like to win a trophy.
“It’s an argument that can only be made by people who have probably forgotten what it feels like to win a trophy.”
No it’s an argument made by the people who decided this award and the variables that influenced the decision.
Everyone can have their opinion. Most, like yours and mine, are biased.
Spending 200m more is a variable that cannot be ignored, no matter how ignorant you choose to be to it.
”You seem to forget that much bigger amounts are brought into the club through that success from attendances,television, sponsorships, merchandising and
so on”. And you guys are still in debt? Lol.
Ur a dimwit, while the organisation is a team of experts. Its kinda stupid that u are sour about fergi not being voted as the winner.
Check ur facts before posting shite on.
Wenger is by far the worlds best…
@ welsh gooner. At least you provide a good, well thought argument. You may have noticed that one of the points made in the article is that “Now I have nothing against Wenger, as a matter of fact I have come to respect the guy in the last few years” Yes, Wenger has been a bit special which is why he has been at Arsenal for 15 years but being the intelligent person that he surely is, I’m confident that even he will concede that no manager can even come close to what Ferguson has achieved at United. If this award was based on consistency as most gooners insist, no manager has shown that quality as well as Sir Alex not only in the last decade but in the previous one as well.
@Van heusen? Did you read the article? Can you digest facts?In fact can you read?
Sorry Daniel, get it right. The author published it on NewsNow. THEY decide on which club news section it appears in
If I were a Gooner in the last 15 years I would be asking myself why am I paying for the third most expensive season ticket in the Premiership to provide a new stadium but no Glory, No feeling we did it we are the best in that Competition! on a piddly amount of occasions.
@ frank, stop being so petty, the lnk was on news now…end of.
Now you and redscot can go back to republicofmancunia and talk about other things arsenal as you so often do.
redscot, surely you would know that we have had glory in the last 15years, bit of a silly statement to make
As an Arsenal fan I totally see where this article is coming from… With Benitez and Sven so high up? This organisation also reckons that Karim Bagheri (who??) is current;y the world’s most popular footballer
I think what you’re missing is that Wenger has consistently kept Arsenal up in the Champions League with the financial constraint of paying off the debt of moving to a new stadium. Lots of clubs fall apart when they move – this is the deciding factor in my opinion. I don’t think Ferguson has achieved more than you’d expect him to looking at the beginning of the decade.
Wenger’s exceeded expectations from the pundits most years this season. Ferguson has no average met them.
You cant but deny in tandem with Uniteds success Manchester United is a global brand admired and watched bye 70- 300 million people world wide with a I “Love United” admiration there is no other club in the British Isles that can command this support and attention, the Gooners and Chelsea and Liverfail can only look and think ” I want a bit of that” Envy is such a bitch it cant be tamed.
@ lew I did admit if you read, i said a piddly few. Can you read?
@ Lew Ohhh you Read ROM as well? Good lad you will learn something from Scott The Red and other United lads on there about your club.
I would stick with Lady Arse Lew, it will provide you with more Arse enjoyment
Clearly I can read, thats why I know about the karzie constatnly wrote on republicofmancunia.
its not really a piddly few trophies is it, its sad to hear but most expected from a united fan.
“You cant but deny in tandem with Uniteds success Manchester United is a global brand admired and watched bye 70- 300 million people world wide with a I “Love United” admiration there is no other club in the British Isles that can command this support and attention, the Gooners and Chelsea and Liverfail can only look and think ” I want a bit of that” Envy is such a bitch it cant be tamed. Redscot”
What?? I don’t even understand what you’re trying to say.
What has that got to do with Wenger and Ferguson?
In regards to envy, this whole article is driven by the author’s envy for Wenger winning the pointless award and not Ferguson.
Van heusen jr. asks “And you guys are still in debt?” Only someone who’s completely dumb or totally ignorant of the facts can ask such a stupid question.
unfortunately there seems to be a link to utd’s blogs every other day on newsnow, its like you lot are voyers looking and talking about us all the time.
What would I learn from ROM, oh yeah today I learnt that becks had a dif haircut when training at arsenal to his haircut when training at spurs. real interesting, but when there own team is on the wane they have to find someting to write about
What?? I don’t even understand what you’re trying to say.
What has that got to do with Wenger and Ferguson?
In regards to envy, this whole article is driven by the author’s envy for Wenger winning the pointless award and not Ferguson. DANIEL
Read through the article, and how we got to that point!
Tell me its quite simple the point of the Article, ignoring finances,How can you compare Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex for delivering trophies and the names that appear in the top 10 of the list and those that dont?
Try equating in your mind the return of Silverware. Its not rocket science there is no comparison, Simples.
@ LEW thats a Classic “Voyers. Remind is this a United blog or do you just closetly love us.
@ Lew On the wane Really? what was the score that evening at Old Trafford on the 13TH December when you tried to kick us off the park! that sort of Wane?
i respect united as a club yeah sure i do.
I think thats the dif, you cant accept anything that aint united or cant accept when someone else wins something etc, i guess that is your loss though.
the award that wenger won/earned is not based on trophies alone, although srrrr alex has done very well at united, he has bought many many titles, just like blackburn did, and chelsea’s first two titles.
ps this is a united blog, talking about things arsenal so I think there is good justification for any arsneal supporter to post on here.
@ Lew agreed, you are welcome if you discuss The article and dont try to aim childish insults.
Nobody as far as I have read is slagging of your manager we are simply asking is the award based on fact and record of achievements.If it were Sir Alex would achieve the award.
Well done Arsene Wenger, you finally won something in the last 5 years, congratulations i am sure all the Arsenal fans will enjoy seeing your paper award.
Bon Nuit.From Ecosse. 🙂
childish insults, where?
your standard comment on most posts is, can you read? real mature.
so basically what you are saying is…if we change the criteria on what the award is based on then fergie would win it, yeah good one.
the awrd is based on fact and the fact is wenger is the coach of the decade, enough said
Like they said on The Game podcast, if Fergie wins the league this year (with this current squad being the quality it is at the moment) it’ll be the biggest achievement of his career. Say what you want about spending in previous years, for the last few years our net spend has declined yet we’re still way up there, despite the spending of the likes of City. Fergie is a different and much better manager since 10 years ago, Wenger hasn’t changed that much. That Rock of Gibraltor bollocks really set us back a bit.
If it wasn’t for Wenger’s poor attitude and other personality faults he’d have won a trophy in the last 5 years. I have massive respect for the man, not just for the value for money he finds in the transfer market but also for the style of play of his teams and his philosophy on football, but Fergie is without doubt the better manager now. Wenger also seems to have struggled since that famous George Graham back-four he inherited retired, just look at how he still hasn’t fixed that bloody defence.
Saying that, back when they could win stuff the back-four was Cole, Touré, Campbell and Lauren, so I stand corrected. Still, I stand by my original assessment, the man’s stubborness is of a massive detriment to the club.
oh u arsenal fans u say that fegie spend while wenger build well i think when we sold hughes and ince in the 90s and get out giggs , scholes , the nevilles , butt, beckham and many more and u see that we spen , so if we spend what do real madrid do…can u tell me a good homegrown talent for wenger rather than ashley cole and before 2006.. NO.. simply cuz wenger try to emulate what ferguson did in the 90s , u just believe this lie that arsenal dont have money arsenal have alot of money but wenger dont like to spend cuz he just have to prove that he is a good coach and be like ferguson and use his youth players but he has not won anything for 5 years while if ferguson had arsenal’s team surely he has won a trophy.the problem with arsene is that he just cant seeit u say he was consistent while in his rule arsenal never wont the twice in arow while feguson won it 3 in a row TWICE and won the treble , the only remarkable thing is the unbeaten season which was great but with his team he couldnt win the CL and we are not just talking about trophies like when SAF manutd was bad really really bad but he made them dominate for the last 20 years the english football … usay also that we win with luck and refrees as u can see last season we lost the league cuz of the refrees in the 2 chelsea matches and the birmingham game , we just have the winning mentality which u dont have , we are spirited play with our souls which u can see now liverpool (SAF showed proved documents) spend more than manutd in the last 6 years and won nothing and they are falling now , so its not about spending money we just spend it right arsene wenger made now a team with potential but not made anything yet to make him the best man to use young talents i will again say that ferguson made it before wenger about a 16yrs ago so who is the greater now think about it honestly with open minded u say we are bitter but we know well that SAF IS THE BEST MANAGER OF ALL TIME AND WE MANUTD FANS KNOW THIS AND WE APPRECIATE HIM AND WE WILL NOT WAIT FOR THIS IFFHS THING TO MAKE HIM THE BEST MANAGER OF THE DECADE , U R THE ONES WHO R BITTER CUZ U CANT SEE ANYTHING FROM UR TEAM IN 5 SEASONS SEEING US IN THOSE 5 SEASONS SEEING US WINNING 3 PL 1 CL 3 CL 1 WORLD CUP WHILE FOR THE LAST 5YEARS WE DIDNT HEAR UR VOICE , NOW WE HEAR UR VOICE TALKING AND SAYING UR MANAGER IS THE BEST MANAGER OF THE LAST DECADE ..OK AND OUR MANAGER IS THE BEST MANAGER OF ALL TIME WITH THE TESTIMONY OF MANY OF THE GRATS SO THANK U I HOPE U UNDERSTANDS THAT AND SORRY FOR THE LENGTH OF WRITING BUT ARSENAL FANS GOOD LUCK FOR U IN THE CARLING CUP U CAN WIN WITH UR BEST MANAGER OF THE DECADE.THANK GLORY GLORY MANUTD!
U dis manu fucker, won’t u know diff btw coaching/managing. Pathetic fools.
gud FOOTball finally prevail……….. Arsene wenger deserve dse, bt d writer sayz ferg is beta than wenger oh that is wot i alwayz sayz wen eva man u ref webb Howard blows………….. he also sayz dat ferg won Premier League 5, FA Cup 1, Carling Cup 3, Champions League 1, World Club Cup 1, may b u av 4got sum of dem was won in asingle season & do u no where dat put u, just 20point……….. any way Arsene wenger won dse on merit cos is not like any other team like urs dat bought trophy………… Arsene Wenger Found of Gud football
OK guys, let’s see if we can all agree on this.
Winning matches – and therefore titles, is what managers are employed to do. Spending and earning money for the club is what bean counters are employed to do, so awards like this must by definition be based on silverware a manager/coach can bring to his club.
Digest the facts during the last decade then read the last paragraph again and you will see why this poll can be viewed as being flawed. Nobody is, or should, be critical of Arsene Wenger, he has given 15 wonderful years to both his club and to English football, being highly rated is totally deserved.
The ONLY difference of opinion is that what Ferguson has CONSISTENTLY achieved over the last TWO decades – irrespective of how much money his bean counters were able to earn or spend, makes him without any shadow of doubt, a much more deserving winner of this award in the eyes of the majority of unbiased football fans – and fellow managers, than anyone else can ever be.
Why all this fuss::::::the award is about best MANAGER of the decade (Note the manager in capital).
Management of a club comprises of so many sectors
1,Arsene Wenger managed Arsenal from Highlbury to Emirates stadium in the last decade,with moderate amount and second most collection of trophies after Man U in EPL.
2,Also consistence in Champions league qualification for the past 14years never miss out.
3,Stadium debt repayment schedule fast tracked ahead of time.
4,Development of unknown players to world class, second to none in recent time.
5,Turned Arsenal to global brand and widely accepted even by his foes that apart from Barcelona his team play the best beautiful football brand in Europe.
6,Finaly he made Arsenal as the only club that regulaly declares after expensis profit yearly in the whole Europe.
All the above stated points are what they call MANAGEMENT and probably the more reason he was voted as the best by the exparts.
Please note Sir Alex might be better in the game taticaly than Arsene but that is just one out of humdreds of reason of being a manager.
Can you imagine the position of Harry Rednarp on the list and he always spend more than Wenger at all the clubs he has managed up till date and his achievement has been very minimal.
Conclusion:- if Sir Alex is retiring and Wenger is available to take over at Man U will you people say no? i dont think so.
@ Tom, you should stay out of this, too much logic mate! Its not good on a blog.
You dont want to cause another Hornets nest eruption like you did when comparing Liverpool and Newcastle fans, do you ? 🙂 🙂
Fergie only wins because United is england’s last club. Your FA cheat for him all the way to the title. It happens every year. The only reason Chelsea won it is because the Russian decided to spent and the team he bought didn’t allow United to over take them with the help of the FA. All this being said your national team will suffer this in the long run. You lot thing Fergie is helping england in any way. He is not at all. you will see. It’s so strange that such a crappy team hasn’t lost at all this season. Some questionable decisions has been going your way and you think u got a good team. You may think I’m saying this because I am a arsenal fan, but no son. A lot of people know this even the players in the perm, but they wont talk cause of fines. Look at babel twit and you will see the feeling is there, but time will tell.
Ha ha, think you’re right Redscot mate, may keep my head down for a while considering that Liverpool/Newcastle shit storm!
Facts:
1.How many world stars worth £80million has Wenger nurtured.
2.How many old legs has he kept performing at top level.
3.How many tittle winning team has he built in the last 5 years.
4.How many champions league has he won in the last ten years.
The players Alex used to carry the 1999 champions league, who was bought for more than £15million.
How many decades will it take Wenger to build a tittle winning team that has the mentality of a champion?