Arsenal fans have rallied to the defence of Arsene Wenger after the most successful manager in the club’s history came under attack from his former Premier League rival Graeme Souness.
The Frenchman masterminded the transformation of the north London club during his 20-year reign and tuned what was a sleeping giant into a modern footballing superpower.
Indeed, three Premier League titles, an unbeaten season and a record seven FA Cup wins hardly to justice to the impact Wenger had on Arsenal, let alone English football as a whole.
Souness, by contrast, might have been a world class player during his pomp with Liverpool but his managerial career was nothing to write home about.
A return to Anfield as manager following a successful spell at Rangers didn’t work out as Liverpool surrendered domestic dominance to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United machine.
After a spell at Galatasaray, where he earned cult hero status, Souness returned to England and managed at Southampton where he is chiefly remembered for being tricked into signing Ali Dia, who was not, as it transpired, related to former AC Milan superstar George Weah.
Brief stints at Torino and and Benfica followed and although he enjoy a measure of success at Blackburn, where he won the Worthington Cup, his managerial career ended in 2006 following a dismal spell at Newcastle.
Discussing Wenger’s legacy, however, on his Three Up Front podcast with ex-Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan and former Watford captain Troy Deeney, Souness struggled to hide his bizarre disdain for Wenger.
Asked if he thinks Wenger is ‘a football man’, Souness responded to Jordan: ‘No, not particularly. I’ve been on the bench listening to what he’s telling his players to do. I’ve been working for Sky in games where he’s made very strange decisions.
‘My take on him was he got very, very lucky at a time when French football produced its greatest ever group of players. Inherited the best back five in world football and a 22-year-old [Dennis] Bergkamp. I think Wrighty [Ian Wright], there was still life in him.
‘And then he had 10 years where he won a couple of FA Cups, because that cycle had been and gone. I’ve never spoke to him about football. He would never come into my office after a game, the only manager that never did.
‘I’d go to his office after a game, he would never be there to talk football. I don’t know if he’s a football man or not. I never spoke football with him.’
Souness’s stringing criticisms have spread quickly across social media with Arsenal fans struggling to comprehend how anyone could reserve such ire for a man who was as dedicated to his profession as Wenger was.
‘Wenger was not a football man, he was very lucky!’ said one fan on X. ‘Wenger sacrificed his life for football, and suffered for it. Only to be spoken about like this by miserable and ignorant **** like Souness. I hate how shows exists because of extreme opinions and hate.’
‘Arsene Wenger signed George Weah, one of the finest players of his generation,’ pointed out another fan. ‘Graeme Souness once played Ali Dia in a Premier League, because he was fooled by a phone call from a man claiming to be George Weah who said Ali Dia was his cousin.’
And another neutral football fan said: ‘The disrespect shown by Sourness here is quite frankly criminal. The Pogba stuff I could kind of get but Wenger not being a football man is utter nonsense. A legendary player, who’s crossed the line from forthright to incessantly clickbait.’
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