Give him proper funds and managerial power at any club, he'll do better than any active coach on planet earth
Proof? The invincibles! He owned SAF and Mou in the same league When Arsenal had to introduce the wage cap and pay back debts for their stadion, they became weaker over time. Coincidentally, SAF spent lots of money to overtake Chelsea in EPL
He also seems to be very loyal to Arsenal, a trait that's extremely hard to come by nowadays. People go for money first, Pep and Mou aren't different, they get millions for their job

If people wondered about spending in EPL:

Arsenal
__________________________________________________ ___

10/11 [£16.720.000]
Laurent Koscielny (Lorient) 11.000.000 £
Sébastien Squillaci (FC Sevilla) 5.720.000 £

09/10 [£8.800.000]
Thomas Vermaelen (Ajax) 8.800.000 £

08/09 [£35.332.000]
Andrey Arshavin (Zenit S-Pb) 14.520.000 £
Samir Nasri (Marseille) 14.080.000 £
Amaury Bischoff (W. Bremen II) 264.000 £
Aaron Ramsey (Cardiff) 5.632.000 £
Mickaël Silvestre (Man Utd) 836.000 £

07/08 [£25.916.000]
Pedro Botelho (Figueirense Futebol Clube U19) 1.056.000 £
Bacary Sagna (Auxerre) 7.920.000 £
Eduardo (Dinamo Zagreb) 10.560.000 £
Łukasz Fabiański (Legia Warszawa) 3.828.000 £
Lassana Diarra (Chelsea) 2.552.000 £

06/07 [£13.266.000]
Tomas Rosicky (Bor. Dortmund) 8.800.000 £
Denílson (São Paulo) 4.400.000 £
Rui Fonte (Sporting Lissabon U19) 66.000 £

__________________________________________________ ___
Chelsea
__________________________________________________ ___

10/11 [£33.440.000]
Matej Delac (Inter Zapresic) 2.640.000 £
Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool) 6.160.000 £
Tomás Kalas (Sigma Olomouc) 5.280.000 £
Ramires (Benfica Lissab.) 19.360.000 £

09/10 [£25.124.000]
Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow) 18.480.000 £
Daniel Sturridge (Man City) 5.104.000 £
Nemanja Matić (MFK Kosice) 1.540.000 £

08/09 [£26.840.000]
José Bosingwa (FC Porto) 18.040.000 £
Deco (FC Barcelona) 8.800.000 £

07/08 [£53.592.000]
Nicolas Anelka (Bolton) 17.512.000 £
Franco Di Santo (Audax Italiano) 3.960.000 £
Branislav Ivanović (Lok. Moscow) 10.560.000 £
Florent Malouda (Lyon) 16.720.000 £
Belletti (FC Barcelona) 4.840.000 £

06/07 [£83.336.000]
Salomon Kalou (Feyenoord) 3.520.000 £
Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan) 40.480.000 £ (most expensive player)
Ben Sahar (Hapoel Tel Aviv) 440.000 £
John Obi Mikel (FK Lyn) 20.768.000 £
Khalid Boulahrouz (Hamburger SV) 11.616.000 £
Ashley Cole (Arsenal) 6.512.000 £

__________________________________________________ ___
Manchester City
__________________________________________________ ___

10/11 [£127.996.000]
Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio Rom) 19.976.000 £
Jérôme Boateng (Hamburger SV) 11.000.000 £
David Silva (FC Valencia) 25.300.000 £
Yaya Touré (FC Barcelona) 26.400.000 £
Mario Balotelli (Inter Mailand) 25.960.000 £
James Milner (Aston Villa) 19.360.000 £

09/10 [£129.624.000]
Adam Johnson (Middlesboro) 7.040.000 £
Carlos Tévez (West Ham) 25.520.000 £
Gareth Barry (Aston Villa) 12.232.000 £
Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn) 18.656.000 £
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) 25.520.000 £
Kolo Touré (Arsenal) 16.456.000 £
Joleon Lescott (Everton) 24.200.000 £

08/09 [£138.468.000]
Craig Bellamy (West Ham) 13.640.000 £
Shay Given (Newcastle) 7.920.000 £
Nigel de Jong (Hamburger SV) 15.840.000 £
Wayne Bridge (Chelsea) 11.440.000 £
Jô (CSKA Moscow) 21.120.000 £
Tal Ben-Haim (Chelsea) 5.632.000 £
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea) 9.900.000 £
Pablo Zabaleta (Esp. Barcelona) 7.656.000 £
Vincent Kompany (Hamburger SV) 7.480.000 £
Robinho (Real Madrid) 37.840.000 £ (second most expensive player)

07/08 [£68.596.000]
Felipe Caicedo (FC Basel) 6.160.000 £
Benjani (Portsmouth) 4.576.000 £
Nery Castillo (Shakhtar D.) 4.400.000 £
Martin Petrov (Atlético Madrid) 6.160.000 £
Elano (Shakhtar D.) 10.560.000 £
Javier Garrido (Real Sociedad) 1.980.000 £
Vedran Corluka (Dinamo Zagreb) 11.440.000 £
Gelson Fernandes (FC Sion) 4.840.000 £
Rolando Bianchi (Reggina Calcio) 11.440.000 £
Valeri Bojinov (AC Florenz) 7.040.000 £

06/07 [£6.600.000]
Bernardo Corradi (FC Valencia) 2.640.000 £
Andreas Isaksson (Rennes) 2.640.000 £
Dietmar Hamann (Bolton) 528.000 £

__________________________________________________ ___
Manchester United
__________________________________________________ ___

10/11 [£25.784.000]
Anders Lindegaard (Aalesunds FK) 4.400.000 £
Chris Smalling (Fulham) 7.040.000 £
Chicharito (Guadalajara) 6.600.000 £
Bébé (Guimarães) 7.744.000 £

09/10 [£24.112.000]
Gabriel Obertan (Bordeaux) 3.520.000 £
Mame Biram Diouf (Molde FK) 3.960.000 £
Luis Valencia (Wigan) 16.632.000 £

08/09 [£39.600.000]
Zoran Tosic (Partizan) 6.160.000 £
Dimitar Berbatov (Spurs) 33.440.000 £ (joint third most expensive player)

07/08 [£91.080.000]
Rodrigo Possebon (Sport Club Internacional B) 3.080.000 £
Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich ) 22.000.000 £
Anderson (FC Porto) 27.720.000 £
Nani (Sporting) 22.440.000 £
Tomasz Kuszczak (West Brom) 3.784.000 £
Carlos Tévez (West Ham) 11.176.000 £
Manucho (Petro Luanda) 880.000 £

06/07 [£23.936.000]
Michael Carrick (Spurs) 23.936.000 £

__________________________________________________ ___
Liverpool
__________________________________________________ ___

10/11 [£26.422.000]
Brad Jones (Middlesboro) 2.464.000 £
Danny Wilson (Rangers) 2.420.000 £
Jonjo Shelvey (Charlton) 1.760.000 £
Christian Poulsen (Juventus Turin) 4.818.000 £
Raúl Meireles (FC Porto) 11.440.000 £
Paul PFK (Fulham) 3.520.000 £

09/10 [£38.280.000]
Sotirios Kyrgiakos (AEK FC) 2.640.000 £
Glen Johnson (Portsmouth) 18.040.000 £
Alberto Aquilani (AS Roma) 17.600.000 £

08/09 [£62.656.000]
Javier Mascherano (West Ham) 19.800.000 £
Andrea Dossena (Udinese Calcio) 7.920.000 £
Diego (Palmeiras) 3.872.000 £
David N'Gog (Paris) 1.320.000 £
Robbie Keane (Spurs) 21.120.000 £
Albert Riera (Esp. Barcelona) 8.624.000 £

07/08 [£77.176.000]
Martin Škrtel (Zenit S-Pb) 8.800.000 £
Krisztián Németh (MTK Budapest) 2.640.000 £
Lucas (Grêmio) 8.800.000 £
Nikolay Mihailov (Levski Sofia) 132.000 £
Fernando Torres (Atlético Madrid) 33.440.000 £ (joint third most expensive player)
Yossi Benayoun (West Ham) 6.424.000 £
Ryan Babel (Ajax) 15.180.000 £
Charles Itandje (Lens) 1.320.000 £
Damien Plessis (Olymp. Lyon B) 440.000 £

06/07 [£42.152.000]
Sebastián Leto (CA Lanús) 2.640.000 £
Álvaro Arbeloa (Dep. La Coruña) 3.432.000 £
Emiliano Insúa (Boca Juniors) 88.000 £
Javier Mascherano (West Ham) 1.760.000 £
Francis Durán (FC Málaga) 88.000 £
Gabriel Paletta (CA Banfield) 2.376.000 £
Jermaine Pennant (Birmingham) 8.008.000 £
Craig Bellamy (Blackburn) 7.920.000 £
Dirk Kuyt (Feyenoord) 15.840.000 £

__________________________________________________ ___
Tottenham
__________________________________________________ ___

10/11 [£19.184.000]
Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid) 8.800.000 £
Sandro (Internacional) 8.800.000 £
Bongani Khumalo (SuperSport Utd.) 1.584.000 £

09/10 [£35.464.000]
Younes Kaboul (Portsmouth) 5.192.000 £
Peter Crouch (Portsmouth) 9.240.000 £
Kyle Naughton (Sheff Utd) 5.192.000 £
Kyle Walker (Sheff Utd) 5.192.000 £
Sébastien Bassong (Newcastle) 8.184.000 £
Niko Kranjcar (Portsmouth) 2.464.000 £

08/09 [£125.400.000]
Pascal Chimbonda (Sunderland) 2.816.000 £
Robbie Keane (Liverpool) 14.696.000 £
Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth) 14.432.000 £
Wilson Palacios (Wigan) 13.200.000 £
David Bentley (Blackburn) 19.360.000 £
John Bostock (Crystal Palace) 1.760.000 £
Giovani dos Santos (FC Barcelona) 5.280.000 £
Luka Modric (Dinamo Zagreb) 18.480.000 £
Gomes (PSV) 7.920.000 £
Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow) 15.312.000 £
Vedran Corluka (Man City) 12.144.000 £

07/08 [£83.732.000]
Jonathan Woodgate (Middlesboro) 9.504.000 £
Chris Gunter (Cardiff) 3.696.000 £
Alan Hutton (Rangers) 11.440.000 £
Gilberto (Hertha BSC) 2.464.000 £
Daniel Rose (Leeds United U18) 880.000 £
Gareth Bale (Southampton) 12.936.000 £
Younes Kaboul (Auxerre) 10.560.000 £
Adel Taarabt (Lens) 3.520.000 £
Darren Bent (Charlton) 21.780.000 £
Kevin-Prince Boateng (Hertha BSC) 6.952.000 £

06/07 [£53.680.000]
Ricardo Rocha (Benfica Lissab.) 4.400.000 £
Ben Alnwick (Sunderland) 1.320.000 £
Dorian Dervite (OSC Lille U19) 1.320.000 £
Dimitar Berbatov (Bay. Leverkusen) 13.816.000 £
Benoît Assou-Ekotto (Lens) 4.400.000 £
Didier Zokora (Saint-Étienne) 10.868.000 £
Radek Černý (Slavia Prag) 176.000 £
Mido (AS Roma) 5.940.000 £
Steed Malbranque (Fulham) 2.640.000 £
Pascal Chimbonda (Wigan) 8.800.000 £


Another quick overview over spending in last 10 years:

I can never tell if your serious or not

He is best at smashing bottles.

Berbaflop wrote:He is best at smashing bottles.

He was best at smashing Manu in pre Mou time

babun1024 wrote:

Berbaflop wrote:He is best at smashing bottles.

He was best at smashing Manu in pre Mou time

He is the "best" coach is last 6 years. Especially Carling Cup

Football isn't about assembling the best youth team though, it's about winning trophies.

If Wenger had the balls to spend money on quality players he would have as good as chance as any at winning any title imo

His actual gameplay and tactics is very good/entertaining

Just wish he would spend, it's frustrating to watch

Crimson wrote:If Wenger had the balls to spend money on quality players he would have as good as chance as any at winning any title imo

His actual gameplay and tactics is very good/entertaining

Just wish he would spend, it's frustrating to watch

He's limited at Arsenal. Until they repay their debt back, he'll go with the hard line... I really wish to see more of his philosophy on highest level but oh well...

I updated OP, you can follow the spending spree of all the top clubs in EPL

Another quick overview over spending in last 10 years:

Thing that people seem to overlook, is that Wenger HAS won numerous trophies with Arsenal, back when Chelsea weren't a billionaires play thing and when Manchester City were hovering near the bottom of the table

But i guess it's easier to slam him now that the Russians and Arabs have taken over and throw money about like it's confetti

Doesn't Wegner have managerial power at Arsenal ? Didn't he say that he has funds ?

Magricos wrote: Doesn't Wegner have managerial power at Arsenal ? Didn't he say that he has funds ?

Qualified comments please If you're one of the but 'He didn't win anything in the last 6 years, blabla' then leave it be

Wenger's achievements so far:

Monaco

Winner

Ligue 1 : 1987–88
Coupe de France : 1990–91

Runner-up

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup : 1991–92
Ligue 1 : 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93

Nagoya Grampus

Emperor's Cup : 1995
J-League Super Cup : 1996

Arsenal

FA Premier League : 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup : 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05
FA Community Shield : 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004

Individual

French Manager of the Year: 1988, 2008
J. League Manager of the Year: 1995
Officer of the British Empire: 2003
Onze d'Or Coach of The Year: 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004
FA Premier League Manager of the Year: 1998, 2002, 2004
LMA Manager of the Year: 2001–02, 2003–04
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award: 2002, 2004
Freedom of Islington: 2004
FWA Tribute Award: 2005
English Football Hall of Fame: 2006
Premier League Manager of the Month : (March 1998, April 1998, October 2000, April 2002, September 2002, August 2003, February 2004, August 2004, September 2007, December 2007, February 2011)
World Coach of the Decade

Magricos wrote: Doesn't Wegner have managerial power at Arsenal ? Didn't he say that he has funds ?

People dont necessarily tell the truth in the media. They do tend to mislead you a lot as you never know the inside story!

Lex wrote:
But i guess it's easier to slam him now that the Russians and Arabs have taken over and throw money about like it's confetti

so? arsenal sold their starting left back and have been having injury troubled defence since forever and what does wenger do? sign an 18 year old attacking midfielder

it's not about lack of funds, it's about recognizing the team's weaknesses, which wenger is apparently oblivious to

che wrote:

Lex wrote:
But i guess it's easier to slam him now that the Russians and Arabs have taken over and throw money about like it's confetti

so? arsenal sold their starting left back and have been having injury troubled defence since forever and what does wenger do? sign an 18 year old attacking midfielder

it's not about lack of funds, it's about recognizing the team's weaknesses, which wenger is apparently oblivious to

This. You can't tell me Arsenal couldn't afford to spend 10mil and buy Enrique.

Magricos wrote:

che wrote:

Lex wrote:
But i guess it's easier to slam him now that the Russians and Arabs have taken over and throw money about like it's confetti

so? arsenal sold their starting left back and have been having injury troubled defence since forever and what does wenger do? sign an 18 year old attacking midfielder

it's not about lack of funds, it's about recognizing the team's weaknesses, which wenger is apparently oblivious to

This. You can't tell me Arsenal couldn't afford to spend 10mil and buy Enrique.

Enrique cost 6mil.

BeautifulGame wrote:

Magricos wrote:

che wrote:

Lex wrote:
But i guess it's easier to slam him now that the Russians and Arabs have taken over and throw money about like it's confetti

so? arsenal sold their starting left back and have been having injury troubled defence since forever and what does wenger do? sign an 18 year old attacking midfielder

it's not about lack of funds, it's about recognizing the team's weaknesses, which wenger is apparently oblivious to

This. You can't tell me Arsenal couldn't afford to spend 10mil and buy Enrique.

Enrique cost 6mil.

even worse. He cost less than Clichy.

che wrote:

Lex wrote:
But i guess it's easier to slam him now that the Russians and Arabs have taken over and throw money about like it's confetti

so? arsenal sold their starting left back and have been having injury troubled defence since forever and what does wenger do? sign an 18 year old attacking midfielder

it's not about lack of funds, it's about recognizing the team's weaknesses, which wenger is apparently oblivious to

Simple maths:
In the league, if you win you'll get 3 points, if you lose you get 0 and if you draw 1. 1 win and 2 losses equal 3 draws Guess what's more important in the league, defence or offence?
In K.O. tournaments, the story is totally different, defence counts a lot more

babun1024 wrote:
Simple maths:
In the league, if you win you'll get 3 points, if you lose you get 0 and if you draw 1. 1 win and 2 losses equal 3 draws Guess what's more important in the league, defence or offence?
In K.O. tournaments, the story is totally different, defence counts a lot more

yeah, you're right... there's no way you could concede more goals than you score, defence is completely irrelevant

babun1024 wrote:

che wrote:

Lex wrote:
But i guess it's easier to slam him now that the Russians and Arabs have taken over and throw money about like it's confetti

so? arsenal sold their starting left back and have been having injury troubled defence since forever and what does wenger do? sign an 18 year old attacking midfielder

it's not about lack of funds, it's about recognizing the team's weaknesses, which wenger is apparently oblivious to

Simple maths:
In the league, if you win you'll get 3 points, if you lose you get 0 and if you draw 1. 1 win and 2 losses equal 3 draws Guess what's more important in the league, defence or offence?
In K.O. tournaments, the story is totally different, defence counts a lot more

U need a good defence to win matches .So its as important as offense

che wrote:

babun1024 wrote:
Simple maths:
In the league, if you win you'll get 3 points, if you lose you get 0 and if you draw 1. 1 win and 2 losses equal 3 draws Guess what's more important in the league, defence or offence?
In K.O. tournaments, the story is totally different, defence counts a lot more

yeah, you're right... there's no way you could concede more goals than you score, defence is completely irrelevant

A Valencia fan tells me that Of course, defence is relevant but attack is much more relevant in the league

so if you were an arsenal fan you'd be completely happy with signing chamberlain instead of enrique in this situation yes?

BeautifulGame wrote:

babun1024 wrote:

che wrote:

Lex wrote:
But i guess it's easier to slam him now that the Russians and Arabs have taken over and throw money about like it's confetti

so? arsenal sold their starting left back and have been having injury troubled defence since forever and what does wenger do? sign an 18 year old attacking midfielder

it's not about lack of funds, it's about recognizing the team's weaknesses, which wenger is apparently oblivious to

Simple maths:
In the league, if you win you'll get 3 points, if you lose you get 0 and if you draw 1. 1 win and 2 losses equal 3 draws Guess what's more important in the league, defence or offence?
In K.O. tournaments, the story is totally different, defence counts a lot more

U need a good defence to win matches .So its as important as offense

Their first string defence isn't bad at all. They're plagued by injuries now but it doesn't mean that they have to buy countless defenders which they won't use later
They only need a fullback and that's it

che wrote:so if you were an arsenal fan you'd be completely happy with signing chamberlain instead of enrique in this situation yes?

Nope, not at all

so why the hell are you trying to argue against my point that wenger doesn't realize, or worse, keeps ignoring the weaknesses of his team...?

babun1024 wrote:

BeautifulGame wrote:

babun1024 wrote:

che wrote:

Lex wrote:
But i guess it's easier to slam him now that the Russians and Arabs have taken over and throw money about like it's confetti

so? arsenal sold their starting left back and have been having injury troubled defence since forever and what does wenger do? sign an 18 year old attacking midfielder

it's not about lack of funds, it's about recognizing the team's weaknesses, which wenger is apparently oblivious to

Simple maths:
In the league, if you win you'll get 3 points, if you lose you get 0 and if you draw 1. 1 win and 2 losses equal 3 draws Guess what's more important in the league, defence or offence?
In K.O. tournaments, the story is totally different, defence counts a lot more

U need a good defence to win matches .So its as important as offense

Their first string defence isn't bad at all. They're plagued by injuries now but it doesn't mean that they have to buy countless defenders which they won't use later
They only need a fullback and that's it

Their first team will be improved more by signing Enrique than Chamberlain.And their first string left wing is better than first string left back.