Wenger’s European record is not exactly up to scratch

ARSENE WENGER came out fighting in defence of his position at arsenal, and understandably so. Few will dispute that he is their greatest manager; that he has built the modern club and set incredible standards. The use of his record in europe, however, is disingenuous and he must know that, too.

‘if you look at the history of the club, arsenal had less Champions league games when i arrived than i had in my career,’ Wenger said. ‘it is not like arsenal had already won the european Cup five times — they had never won the european Cup. They had played 10 games in the history of the club, so you have to take some perspective on the demands.’

indeed. Perspective. Here goes. Wenger is right in saying arsenal had never won the european Cup before he arrived — but they haven’t won it since he’s been there, either.

They had, however, won two european trophies — the 1970 inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the 1994 european Cup-Winners’ Cup — which is two more than they have won under him.

and, yes, they had only played 10 matches in europe’s biggest competition, but that was because the european Cup was a much smaller affair than the bloated Champions league, and only the champions of each country went through, rather than england’s top four.

also, in one of the years when arsenal would have qualified as champions, 1988-89, english clubs were banned from europe.

So, without the ban, and using modern Champions league rules, arsenal would have played 22 games, minimum. Their six-game european Cup quarter-final run in 1971-72 would have been worth between 10 and 14 games, depending on the format, while their fourgame round two exit in 1991-92 would have been worth at least six, even had they gone out in the group stage.

another group stage exit in 1989-90 would have brought six more matches, meaning a conservative estimate of arsenal’s pre-Wenger european Cup record, under Champions league rules of engagement, would have totalled at least 22 games and maybe nearer 30.

Now let’s apply european Cup rules to Wenger’s time in charge. Far from qualifying in 19 consecutive seasons, arsenal would have made it to the tournament on three occasions: 1998-99, 2002-03 and 2004-05. Their campaigns in those years amounted to 26 matches — a group stage exit, a second group stage exit and a round two knockout.

yet considering they did not make the quarter-final in any of those years, Wenger’s record in european Cup terms would have been measured at around 12 games at best. as it is, he has played 190 Champions league matches with arsenal.

and that is a fantastic achievement. But let’s not pretend it is solely his doing. Wenger came along at a time when qualification and format changes rendered the two competitions unrecognisable.

Wenger’s arsenal once played 14 Champions league matches to reach exactly the same stage of the european Cup competition that Bertie Mee accomplished in six.

The arduous nature of the modern Champions league makes it the harder to win of the two, no doubt, but racking up the matches is considerably easier these days. Making Wenger’s record more than a simple numbers game.

as an economist, he, of all people, should know that.