Ferguson and Wenger: one burns brightly as the other fades
Ferguson and Wenger: one burns brightly as the other fades
Even stars die, eventually. There hasn’t been an observed supernova in our Milky Way for over four hundred years (Galileo hadn’t even seen the many moons of Jupiter, or confirmed that the Sun was the heart of the solar system when this had occurred), but that such timeless galactic fixtures can perish so vigorously only serves to epitomise the fleeting nature of everything associated with our universe. Exceptions do exist, if you believe in an eternal power gazing from the heavens, but such beings apart, you are left with just Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ten years after his arrival at Old Trafford, North London welcomed Arsène Wenger into England’s top tier. The story is famous; of everyone who could possibly have been made the manager of Arsenal, David Dein placed his trust in a friend who had only just spent eighteen months in the Far East. Oh, it was a shrewd success, and one that not everyone would have seen coming. In an era where Manchester United could have comfortably incinerated everything, and everyone, in their path, Wenger’s side proved resilient company – especially as we entered into the new millennium. Until 2006, that is.
Where Ferguson and Wenger once exchanged the most tedious public altercations, the recent fate of Arsenal negatively correlates with the blooming friendship that the two men now seem to share. The facts are more used than the men’s room during Oktoberfest; it has been six years trophyless, there is no real leadership in the team, they lack defensive cover; and the analysis and transfer policy suggestions are no virgins either; sign him, and him too, no, don’t let Chelsea sign him! Yet, for all the similarities between the two managerial names synonymous with the Premier League era, current predicaments could not be more different. Ferguson would be Britney Spears in an everlasting pomp, and Wenger the married, then divorced Spears.
In many respects, the two clubs are not of very dissimilar stature. Financially, at least, given the amount of revenue Wenger has generated the Gunners in recent years, fans should feel aggrieved that lavish, but necessary, fiscal splurging has not helped their club rescale heights, in the manner that the United boss has every time his club is under any form of pressure, be it from Chelsea or Barcelona. The new season is still early, but if the likes of Ashley Young and Phil Jones keep steady the promise they have flaunted thus far, they will long live to exemplify the future of Manchester United. Arsenal’s pockets have not yet been dug into to that same extent, or effect; Gervinho’s debut sending-off typifying this.
An Arsenal fan said on Twitter that he has faith in Wenger’s coaching, just not his transfer policy. Those words would never be uttered with Sir Alex Ferguson as the subject. Fergie might, after all, be keeping an eye on developments at the Emirates and so learn from Wenger’s mistakes, but on that same note, Wenger should do the same as his counterpart. We shall see, we shall see.
What we take from these events as they unfold will depend on what angle we watch from, but a supernova is unmistakeable. After more than four hundred years, we are being treated to another one, hosted in London a year before the Olympics. Meanwhile, along with the music of Bob Dylan, there is no foreseeable end for Sir Alex Ferguson.
