How good a manager is Wenger?

I think we can safely say that Wenger must be a good manager, if we calculate his success by the trophies won during his tenure. But how good is he?

Only the players that have played under him really know and even then it would depend on who you ask. If you asked Andrey Arshavin I'd imagine he wouldn't give a glowing report on a manager who played him out of position for much of the time and left him on the bench for most of the rest. As I've always maintained, a player who plays out of position for the team cannot be judged in the same way as one who plays where he is accustomed to playing.

But try telling the fans that! The player out of position gets stick for poor performances gets the blame and fans say things like: 'he is as much use as a chocolate teapot'. The truth is the use of the chocolate is the decision of the manager, so the failure of certain superstars lies squarely at his door, as does the credit for the blossoming of Ramsey and Sanchez among others.

Then again, if you asked Tony Adams and the defence that played alongside him about Wenger, no doubt they'd wax lyrical about the benefits of creatin and the additional years they played professionally as a result. Wenger has to get the credit for that and the trophies that came with his appliance of science.

Since the Invincibles turned to also-rans in the league, there's been a growing school of thought that believe Wenger has stagnated. They ask if he grasping the nettle offered by Mourinho given that it seems he nearly always gets stung when Arsenal play Chelsea.

However, the signing of Cech might change all that. Perhaps Mourinho's nearly perfect record against Wenger is now in danger and Arsene will finally record his first ever victory against his old adversary. Maybe even another league title has become a possibility.

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