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[Vote] Was Graham a better manager then Wenger?

Arsenal fans bang on about how great Wenger is…But when you look at it, Graham was a BETTER manager.

Graham ( 7 Honours WINNERS – 9 years )

First Division (2): 1988–89, 1990-91
FA Cup (1): 1992–93
League Cup (2): 1986–87, 1992–93
UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup (1): 1994
Charity Shield (1): 1991

Wenger  ( 11 Honours WINNERS- 13 years )

Premier League (3): 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup (4): 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05
FA Community Shield (4): 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004

As you can see Graham won everything ,Graham never got the credit he deserves. and on the other hand Wenger is treated as if he was GOD for winning nothing in 4 seasons.

Arsenal had not won a trophy since the FA Cup in 1978–79 when Graham took over in 1986. Graham cleared out much of the old guard and replaced them with new cheap signings, Players like Perry Groves from non league football, He also promoted from the youth team, Arsenal’s form immediately improved, so much so that the club were top of the League at Christmas 1986 is his first season, Arsenal finished fourth in Graham’s first season in charge. and they went on to win the 1987 League Cup. and came runners up in the League Cup final the following year, their League form steadily improved. Graham’s side featured tight defensive discipline, embodied by his young captain Tony Adams, who along with great signings from lower league teams players like Lee Dixon, Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn, formed the basis of the club’s defence for over a decade. However, contrary to popular belief, during this time Graham’s Arsenal were not a purely defensive side; Graham also employed capable midfielders from the youth side such as David Rocastle, Michael Thomas and Paul Merson, and striker Alan Smith, whose prolific goalscoring regularly brought him more than 20 goals per season.

At the end of Graham’s third season (1988–89), the club won their first League title since 1971, in highly dramatic fashion, in the final game of the season against Liverpool at Anfield. Graham changed the way Arsenal played on the night playing 3 CBs and totaly got the tactics 100% right.

Unable to retain the league title the following season, Graham signed goalkeeper David Seaman and Swedish winger Anders Limpar in the close season; both players proved vital as Arsenal won a second title in 1990–91 and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, losing to arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Graham went on to sign striker and eventual second all-time top scorer Ian Wright from Crystal Palace in October, and the club’s first entry in the European Cup since 1971–72.

After this season, Graham changed his tactics; he became more defensive and turned out far less attack-minded sides, which depended mainly on goals from Wright rather than the whole team. Between 1986–87 and 1991–92 Arsenal averaged 66 League goals a season (scoring 81 in 1991–92), but between 1992–93 and 1994–95 only averaged 48; this included just 40 in 1992–93, when the club finished 10th in the inaugural season of the FA Premier League, scoring fewer than any other team in the division.

Graham’s Arsenal become Cup specialists, and in 1992–93 Arsenal became the first side to win the FA Cup and League Cup double, both times Arsenal beating Sheffield Wednesday, 2–1 in the League Cup Final and 2–1 after a replay in the FA Cup Final replay. The next season they continued in the same vein, winning the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, their second European trophy; in the final Arsenal beat favourites and holders Parma 1–0 with a tight defensive performance and Alan Smith’s 21st minute goal from a left foot volley.

The 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup proved to be George Graham’s last trophy at the club; the following February he was sacked after nearly nine years in charge.

Would Wenger have signed players like Dixon, Bould and Winterburn? NO! Would Wenger have signed Ian Wright? NO!
Graham promoted Adams,Thomas, Rocastle, Merson, Palour from the youth team who all went on to win the title and play for England. How man English players had Wenger promotoed in 13 years? ONE..Ashley Cole!

Graham was fantastic in the transfer market and hardly made a bad signing. Wenger on the other hand has wasted £Ms players like Jeffers, Reyes, Diawara, Cygan, Stepanovs.

Wenger was lucky to come in and have the back 4 that Graham set up. He has never really replaced them.

So you can see that Wenger is not really as great as some people think!!!

Sinbad

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