well .....as a lifetime Arsenal supporter i have to disagree and say Sir Alex Ferguson is the best manager in the Premier League ....his success rate and style of management cannot be bettered .

Arsenal may play the most attractive football . not sure it is a clear cut winner if they play the best football , Man Utd have played some wonderful football this season ....ripped some teams apart with their play .

What is certain is Arsene Wenger needs to spend well in the summer to strengthen the squad .....and maybe even try and get a few english players ...Michael Owen ..?

He will be unlikely to sign English because they can't pass or keep possession which is the crux of Arsenal's football.

To claim Ferguson is the best, despite the fact that he spends a few hundred million more on his product at a bigger Club which he has managed for longer and then claim that Wenger should try to sign English players in particular, and in particular sign Michael Owen makes me [beep!] myself laughing but at the same time cringe with annoyance.

You can't hold it against ferguson that he spends money. Part of being a good manager is using what you have to attract and retain good players. Wenger has the ability to do that but chooses not to because he wants everyone to think he's a genius who can win without spending big money. One does, the other doesn't, and one wins trophies while the other doesn't. Pretty clear cut case if you ask me.

Agreed in part, but think of it this way, if you had a fixed amount of money and told each manager he could only buy 18 players (thus really eliminating any handicaps and putting each on a level playing field), who would have the better team? I think Wenger hands down would have a better team in both the short term and the long term. His ability to spot and develop young talent is unmatched. He knows what players can play in his system and his system is extremely effective with the right amount of talent and experience. No one saw Henry coming, no one. Fabregas, Clichy, Vieira, and even Anelka. The list goes on and on. This list does not exist for other managers. Unfortunately for Arsene and Arsenal fans, the Premiership nor any other league for that matter employs such a capped spending system.

Either his pride has gotten in the way of trophies or we don't have the money the Arsenal executives say we do, which wouldn't surprise me. Most teams don't have nearly as much money as they say they do.

Anyone could win trophies with the amount of spending that Fergie and Benitez have done. You could feed entire countries for years on the amount that they spend. You know it, I know it, and Arsene knows it. He's really done a great job of branding himself. He's created a unique brand of football and management, but that brand has decreased in quality over the season and is need of a serious injection of top class talent up front.

In terms of managerial ability, Arsene is clearly the favorite, but if you're looking for results and tenacity it's Fergie. Fergie will do whatever it takes to win, even if that means big spending.

But you could work that the other way around too. If you give each manager £50m to spend on their squads, then going on past records, it would more than likely be Fergie that comes out on top. Wenger has missed a trick this season, leaving Arsenal short in a few areas. Arsenal have the money, and should start strengthening the squad. He can go out and get as many bargains as he likes, but if he and Arsenal have nothing to show for it then is his methods really working?

Over the last 4 years, what would you say Arsenal's objectives were? In my opinion, they would be to win the league and/or The Champions League. Has Wenger or Arsenal acheived this? No they haven't. He needs to sit down and look at where it all went wrong this season. Although he is a great coach/manager, he has to take some of the blame for Arsenal throwing away their points advantage in the league. Also look at some of the embarrasing results in the league, and work out where it went wrong there.

Wenger is a great boss, but he needs to learn from his mistakes. There is money available, so he needs to go out and spend it. Arsenal have a great team, but they don't have the strength in depth of teams like United and Chelsea.

I have to launch a solid defence of Arsene Wenger here.

What he has achieved at Arsenal is every bit as good as what Ferguson has done at Manchester United - all things being equal. He's had a far lower budget, far less time at the club yet his teams have stood toe to toe with Fergie and his trophy count stands up pretty well too.

Arsenal have gone off the boil recently but let's recall the beginning of the season and where most people thought Arsenal would finish: 4th - maybe even 5th If Jol got Spurs going. But instead of struggling to qualify for the Champions' League, Wenger has struck back fiercely and seen his squad launch a big challenge for the title, despite selling their best player and spending far less than his rivals. It really is an astonishing acheivement itself when you consider those pre-season expectations and circumstances. Of course, most people will come out and say "why didn't he spend the money? He had the money available this time!" Sure, sure, sure...but who was saying this during the January transfer window when Arsenal were top and playing beautiful football? I didn't hear anyone.

There are several reasons why Arsenal have slipped recently, and injuries and bad luck would be high on the list. Who could have forcast them losing Sagna, Flamini, Van P and most painfully Eduardo in this period? They have had some rotten luck too when it comes to decisions in games. Both Birmingham goals came from fouls that clearly were not. Chelsea had three men offside when they scored their equaliser on Grand Slam Sunday. I also recollect Adebayor scoring a perfectly good goal against Middlesbrough. And we all know that Kuyt fouled Hleb in the first leg. So we have to weigh these things up fairly to assess why Arsenal's results have declined. I reckon that Arsenal will end up third now but they've done absolutely fanstastic to get this far. Few would have expected that.

Ultimately, I think their Premiership challenge will end for good on Sunday. Wenger does need to strengthen his side in certain areas, as the back up players such as Senderos and Eboue (as a midfielder) are not quite up to scratch. But if there's one thing that should please Arsenal fans this season is that their team rekindled themselves a title challenging force this season.

You beat me to it j-axe.

What baffles me is that some so called "lifetime Arsenal fans" can't see the quality of the Football their team plays and the amount of technical superiority they have over the rest of the world as a team.The media creating the idea that Arsenal should sign Owen was nauseating to me personally.Owen isn't even the best striker on his current team.Nobody questioned wenger when he had the invincibles on a the cheap ,so why question him now.Obviously he needs depth in the squad ,but thats all.The type of player that fits his team won't be found in Britain that you can count on.To say that Man U play better football than Arsenal is criminal.Watch a Man U game and see who can't control the ball under pressure,who can't make a pass when the heat is on and you will find that it will be a British player.Rooney is the only player of British decent that could make an Arsenal team in terms of quality.Man U technically are inferior to Arsenal,but they have numbers and depth in quality.They play enjoyable football in the purest form,but are behind Arsenal.

The problem with buying a big established name is the ego that goes with it ,when a player comes to a team knowing that he as well as his teammates are on equal ground then it stops a lot of things that can destroy a team unity.Plus ther are only a few players that are established that can do what Wenger wants out of a player.You could say Berbatov but his tendancy to not work unless the ball is at his feet is a problem.The number one player that should be on his list is Benzema ,because he is the most generous and intelligent player i have seen at his age.He is still very young but he is dominating games with speed and size.His techinque is fantastic and he makes great decisions concerning passing and shooting.I would go for that player even if it means paying more than you like to,he is a rare quality.


Oh yeah, ben91.

do you want to back that up with facts.

Graceless! I think the majority of managers in the league will argue with that.If you want to call him graceless because he disagrees with a decision or tactic then that's on you,but it's not only his right it's his job.What i would question are those so called Arsenal fans who sat back and said nothing when their team was getting kicked off the park by the likes of Blackburn and sheff U etc .They should be ashamed of themselves .

Where was your technical superiority over THE REST OF THE WORLD when we beat you 5-1?

Or when we beat you 4-0

hahahahaha

or when we beat you 3 times in a row, including at the Emirates and Highbury

Results dont matter when you 'play the best football'

i'm glad fergie doesn't think that way

Arsenal definitely play better football than Man Utd. The only modern comparison was Barcelona when Messi, Eto'o, Ronnie, Deco and Xavi were on form.

Arsenals football is nowhere close to Man Us for quite a while now, any team can pass it around quick with vute flicks etc, watch the first half of Spurs game tonight, but Man U simply tear teams apart with their play, something Arsenal havent done for a few seasons now.

i agree.

Man United going forward is frightening. particularly on the counter.

i dont hold the same fear with Arsenal any more. no team fears Arsenal like they would fear playing Man United. if you pressure Arsenal they will make mistakes, Man United have much more to their game.

Man United are a better team in every way i feel.

I actually disagree on that. The only side i fear playing is Arsenal - perhaps that's because United have a tendency to score against us from set-pieces, whereas Arsenal cut through is like butter. I know Arsenal’s end product is considerably weaker but the chances they make makes you sense they’ll inevitably score (and i think if you checked the records, their ability to score in next to every game would back that up).



Going on a rampage, seeking Matthew Taylor's head and asking for him to be banned from football; graceless.

Saying words to the effect of, "the best team did not win", following their Champions League exit; graceless.

Claiming that every decision goes against his side, "Every single decision has gone against this team in every single game recently", citing the prior seven weeks for the worst persecution of any side since his Arsenal tenure began, in spite of them getting a penalty against Bolton 13 days ago; graceless.

To be frank, there are a handful of instances merely from the Champions League Quarter-Finals that i could probably draw on to connote a lack of grace, let alone the what is approaching 12 years he's had within the Premier League. He's tactless and bitter, i think the majority of people will need little persuading with regards to that.

You want evidence of Wenger being graceless?

No problem mate, right here at your service:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7PI6ncmby4&feature=related

Speaking of which, i don't believe he shook the hand of Benitez. I could well be wrong on that though.