History favours Wenger’s Gunners

06 Nov, 2016 - 00:11 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Arsene Wenger has not had it all his own way since joining Arsenal two decades ago – his record against Jose Mourinho is the stuff of nightmares after all.But when it comes to north London, Wenger reigns supreme.  In his 20 years at Arsenal, the Frenchman has seen off 10 permanent Tottenham managers and four caretakers (so far).  Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that, heading into today’s north London derby, Wenger does not have a losing record against any of them.
In all, Wenger has presided over Arsenal in 48 games against Tottenham in the Premier League and won 22 of them – a 46 percent victory ratio.

Wenger has drawn a further 19 games against Spurs, meaning that his team have claimed points in 85 percent of the north London derbies he has managed in. During Wenger’s long spell in charge at first Highbury and then the Emirates Stadium, he has lost just seven times against the club’s most heated rivals – 15 percent of the time. Only five of the 11 Tottenham bosses Wenger has faced have ever claimed victory over him in the battle of the Seven Sisters Road.

Those men are George Graham, Harry Redknapp (three times), Andre Villas-Boas, current boss Mauricio Pochettino and, rather surprisingly given the embarrassment of his short reign at White Hart Lane, Juande Ramos.
The Spurs bosses Wenger has sent packing are, in chronological order: Gerry Francis, Christian Gross, Graham, Pleat, Glenn Hoddle, Martin Jol, Ramos, Redknapp, Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood, with Pochettino very much still standing.
Sadly for Wenger, he never got the chance to pit his wits against Jacques Santini in the Premier League – probably a good thing for Tottenham and Santini given his hasty demise – nor caretakers Chris Hughton, Clive Allen and Alex Inglethorpe.
Wenger enjoys a winning record against every Spurs manager he has faced, with four exceptions.
Heading into Sunday’s derby, Pochettino has held his own against Wenger, winning one, losing one and drawing three of their five meetings so far.

The two sides have both scored and conceded seven goals each in those games, showing how little there is to choose between the pair. Redknapp’s three victories over Wenger was especially impressive as he drew three more and lost just three of their nine meetings. Ramos’s record springs another surprise as he also enjoyed parity with Wenger – with one win, one draw and one defeat from their three duels. But perhaps most curious of all is that Wenger does not hold a winning record against, of all people, Gross.

The Swiss became a laughing stock in English football thanks to his odd behaviour and questionable management, not least in brandishing the tube ticket he used to get to his unveiling Press conference while declaring “this is the ticket to my dreams”.
Gross, however, inspired his Spurs team to a creditable 0-0 draw in his only meeting with Wenger in August 1997.
His record against Arsenal’s biggest rivals should be a badge of honour for Wenger, although today he might be king of north London no more.  A victory for Pochettino would mean that he becomes the only Tottenham boss to enjoy a winning record over Wenger in Premier League history. – Daily Mail.

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