Arsene Wenger reached the tremendous milestone of 1,000 matches in charge of Arsenal this weekend, a tally that has only ever been achieved once before- by Manchester United's legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The stats show us that when you compare the two managerial greats, it is Wenger who has the best record during his first 1,000 games. Which in itself is a compliment. During his 18 year tenure in charge of the North London club he has helped to make some fond memories for both Arsenal fans and football fans worldwide. There was the double winning sides, taking Arsenal to their first ever Champions League final, toppling Alex Ferguson's dominant United side and of course the invincible side of 2004 that went the entire Premier League season undefeated, stretching their run to 49 games in total. On top of this, Arsene Wenger was the prominent figure in moving Arsenal from the ageing Highbury to the beautiful Emirates, which has secured the long-term financial future of the club and has given them stability. He's also been a key figure in the development and emergence of many of footballs greatest stars, which we have to thank him for. In the run-up to this marvellous landmark, many of his former players have come out to congratulate their boss and thank him for the work they did for them during their careers. The list includes names like Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song, William Gallas, David Seaman, Emmanuel Petit, Eduardo Da Silva and Ray Parlour, amongst many others. The praise has been across the board from current and former managers, even if Mourinho couldn't help but take a dig. The landmark does throw up some compelling arguments though, like which was his best squad? Who was the best player of the Wenger era and who was the worse? It's all a matter of opinion but one thing that can't be argued is that Wenger is the greatest manager in the history of Arsenal football club. Here, I have compiled the best of the players to play for Arsenal under the Frenchman and put them in a standard 4-4-2 formation. It wasn't an easy task and players like Lehmann, Gilberto, Bacary Sagna and Marc Overmars have missed out along with over 150 more. You're sure to have your own views, I'd love to hear them- so comment below!
Josh has had work featured in the Evening Gazette and on Newcastle United website. He is a Multimedia Journalism student at Teesside University and runs a successful sports blog. He also enjoys films, comics and TV, writing about anything he can. Josh has recently started writing his first of what he hopes will be many books.
