RSS Feed
Twitter
Facebook
Welcome to the second instalment of FM-Britain’s What Ifs? series for FM08. In the first part here we saw how our managers performed at their real life clubs, now it’s time to swap things around a little by handing Messrs Wise and Wenger the opportunity to manage each other’s clubs.
Lets start by looking at how Wenger fared at Elland Road. Wenger was obviously happy enough with his squad at the start of the season as he failed to add to it until shortly before deadline day when he brought in a winger to strengthen the right-side of his team. By the time January rolls around Wenger has spotted the need for a third experienced striker and pulls off something of a coup by signing the Watford striker Marlon King for just £450k. King’s return of 13 goals in 21 games goes a long way to paying back his fee and driving Leeds towards promotion.
So, while Wenger was clearly happy with the general quality of his playing staff he was much less impressed by his backroom team where he made a total of nine changes to the coaching and support staff (six incoming, three outgoing).
Attacking flair wasn’t a problem for Wenger’s Leeds with three strikers and both wingers chipping in with 76 goals and 22 assists between them. In fact, of Wenger’s whole squad, only the two keepers, one central defender and a barely used AMC failed to find the net. Player ratings were a little less encouraging with only four players reaching the magical average of 7.00 or more.
Trivial matters completed, lets look at what Wenger achieved in his time at Leeds. Surprisingly enough it took his team eleven games (until the 17th of October) to wipe out the 15 point penalty imposed by the FA.
However, once that particular ghost had been exorcised his team went from strength to strength powering up the table to eventually finish in a highly creditable third place, just two points behind Swansea in second. Without the penalty they would have topped the table by four points. Leeds were the division’s top scorers smashing 87 goals past their opponents (almost two a game) and had the best defence (a little under a goal a game conceded), statistics which suggest attacking football can prosper at lower levels.
In real life, Wenger has a habit of fielding weakened teams in the cup competitions, particularly the Carling Cup. In FM this was not to be the case, Wenger sent out his teams to win matches, which they did beating Derby and Wolves in the CC before falling, unluckily, to Sunderland. The FA Cup followed a similar vein with good victories in the early rounds being rewarded with a trip to Premiership side Birmingham who triumphed 2-1.
Moving on to Wise and Arsenal we can see that he too felt happy with the squad he had (and why shouldn’t he? For all their alleged weaknesses, they are still a world-class outfit capable of challenging for trophies), adding just one player – a centre-back for £12m. Perhaps more telling in terms of Wise’s transfer nous (or lack thereof) is the fact that he allowed two players capable of offering good back-up to the team to move on loan to other Premiership clubs.
Having been sacked by Leeds for almost getting them relegated in our control experiment with a squad that was as good as, if not better than anything else in the division, you’d assume that he would fare similarly with the Gunners. Not a bit of it. Wise lead his side to 5th place, only being denied third or better by a devastating run of injuries over the last handful of games. Indeed, his haul of 67 points was just five less than Liverpool attained in second place, what’s more Wises’s Arsenal were second-top scorers, had the fourth best defensive record in the division and only champions Manchester United lost fewer games. Yes, the Gunners would be disappointed to miss out on the Champions League places but it was by the slimmest of margins.
Wise’s cup record was a little less impressive though as he crashed out of both the Carling and FA Cups fairly early on to opponents they would have been expected to beat (Derby and Sunderland respectively). The Champions League was a slightly better hunting ground for Wise however as he inspired his team to reach the Quarter Final where they lost 3-0 on aggregate to Liverpool.
It’s fair to say that Wenger got the best out of Leeds during his time there, two good cup runs and a fine performance in the league prove just how much Wise under-achieved in our control experiment. Wise on the other hand proved something of a mixed bag at Arsenal, performing well in the league but narrowly mixing fourth spot and under-achieving in domestic cups while strolling through the Champions League Group Stages. Ultimately it must have been good enough for the Arsenal board as they handed him a 4-year deal on vastly improved terms.
Our other managers fared as follows:
Sir Alex Ferguson – Premiership winners; Carling Cup winners; Community Shield winners; FA Cup knocked out in the 4th Round; Champions League fell at the Group Stage; UEFA Cup beaten finalists.
Avram Grant – 4th in Premiership; Carling Cup knocked out in the 3rd Round; Community Shield beaten finalists; FA Cup beaten finalists; Champions League winners.
Rafa Benitez – Premiership runners-up; Carling Cup Quarter-finalists; FA Cup winners; Champions League Semi-finalists.
Next time we look at how Sir Alex Ferguson, not exactly a favourite in West Yorkshire, fares in charge of Leeds. Surely he must out perform Wise, but can he better Wenger?
