Why Wenger needs to be Bould to Pep up the Gunners

By Andy Dunn

Published 22:30 25/02/12

• 

Why seeing the bigger picture just means a photo opportunity to PM

Why Pearce's England claims remind me of that old joke...  

Steve Bould was no Pep Guardiola.

He was a popular player not an iconic one.

Guardiola’s fierce ­Catalan ethos and pure footballing style made him a hero at the Nou Camp. Bould  was a bruiser from Stoke. But ­statistically, they were not far apart.

Bould made 372 appearances for Arsenal, scoring eight times. Guardiola managed just three more goals in 370 games for Barcelona.

However, their coaching graphs could not be more ­contrasting.

Guardiola needed just one season in charge of the ­reserves before being elevated to one of the highest-profile posts in club football. And we all know how that ­gamble worked out.

Bould has been coaching the kids for over a decade.

Still, it seems the best he can hope for is to one day take over cone duty from No.2 Pat Rice. The ­notion that someone such as Bould could replace Wenger appears outlandish. But why?

In his five years at the Nou Camp, Frank Rijkaard captured two La Liga titles and a Champions League trophy, playing an alluring brand of football and blooding homegrown talent such as Xavi and Andres Iniesta. Yet he was usurped by Guardiola.

Those who rail against a ­managerial change at the Emirates are seeing the planks of their ­argument splintered on an almost daily basis.

Regardless of its outcome, because that will not upset the new north ­London order, today’s fixture at the Emirates drops the debate into sharp ­perspective.

The respective records of the two managers are similar since Harry Redknapp breezed into Spurs 40 months’ ago.

Wenger’s reads: Played 202, won 107, drawn 42, lost 50.

Redknapp’s reads: Played 182, won 92, drawn 46, lost 44.

But while Wenger has been rightly credited with economic prudence, Redknapp has worked with a ­salary structure far more stringent than at the Emirates.

The last comparable wage bills were £124.4million for Arsenal, £91m for Tottenham.

The highest-paid player at White Hart Lane earns £70,000 a week.

Arsenal were paying Cesc ­Fabregas in excess of £100,000 a week two years back – and still could not keep him.

Redknapp has held on to his blue-chip talent, most ­notably Luka Modric and Gareth Bale.

Not only has he held on to Bale, he has accelerated his development at a startlingly quicker rate than Wenger has managed with Theo Walcott, who is four months’ senior.

Redknapp’s performance in the transfer market is clearly more impressive.

For his signing of Scott Parker alone – the sort of identikit leader Arsenal were screaming for once Fabregas left – Redknapp has shown himself to be frighteningly more adept. Wenger ended up with the pleasant but often ­peripheral midfield talents of Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun.

Redknapp’s team is about ­solidity as much as fluidity. Wenger’s can be fluid, more often it is frail.

Wenger, of course, has a stellar reputation for encouraging youth.

But the 10 outfield players who finished Arsenal’s last Premier League game had an average age just in excess of 27.

The 10 outfield players that finished Spurs’ last ­Premier League game also had an average age just in excess of 27.

Those stats can mislead, ­obviously. But the fact ­remains that while both clubs have ­remarkably prodigious ­individual talents in the shape of Bale and Jack Wilshere, there is little to choose overall between the ­respective groups of younger ­players.

For example, Kyle Walker – ­despite being a doubt for today – has progressed further and ­faster than Kieran Gibbs. Defending Wenger has become the ­impossible job. Even the ­notion that ­longevity is the golden key to ­success is a flawed one, supported only by the glaring exception that is Sir Alex Ferguson.

Inter Milan, for example, have had four different managers since Arsenal last won a competition and have collected 13 trophies.

Chelsea have had six and won six pots.

Until recently, Wenger has been ringfenced by the beautiful ­football his sides produce.

Swansea now deliver more ­attractive stuff.

No, the only piece of driftwood left for his disciples to cling to – and cling to it, they do – is that there is no-one out there good enough to fill his shoes.

Well, there is no-one out there good enough to fill the shoes of a Wenger at his most brilliant, for sure.

But those days are gone.

And right now, even someone like Bould might be a better ­option.

Fancy winning £3,000 for FREE this month? Play Mirror Football Streak for your chance to win cash prizes! Start predicting now!