#wener

Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-2 RB Leipzig (Forsberg 31', Werner 55' - Vestergaard 81')

RB Leipzig bounced back from their recent rut in productive fashion on Sunday afternoon, with a 2-1 win away to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Ralph Hasenhüttl had seen his side's outstanding start to the season come to abrupt halt with defeats to Borussia Dortmund and then Hamburg in recent weeks, yet all three points against the Foals has them back on track and just five points off Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga table.

The opening 45 minutes served up two exciting, counter-attacking sides with huge appetites for goals yet it was Leipzig who opened the scoring just after the half hour mark. On the edge of the Gladbach box with time and space, Emil Forsberg offered another glimpse of the skill and natural talent that has seen him stand out even in such a gifted side, with a wonderful long-range finish in to the bottom right corner of Gladbach's goal.

Before the break Gladbach had an opportunity to equalize when Marvin Compper's clumsy tackle led to a spot-kick for Thorgan Hazard. The Belgian picked the wrong corner and saw his shot parried wide by Peter Gulacsi in goal.

As they have done several times this season, RB added further insult to misery soon after Hazard's misfortune. Just 10 minutes in to the second half, another counter saw Forsberg play Timo Werner through to score a simple one-on-one.

The debate about Arsene Wenger and his coaching abilities is an endless one unfortunately. Some people who love the guy would back him up beyond measure because of his invincible title and 49 game run without a loss. Others will bash him for his inability to win a Champions League title, or even perform on the league level since that famous title.

Wenger came to Arsenal at a time where Arsenal were looking for someone to build the club from within. At that time, he was the best man fit to manage the club. Again, clubs in England have a by shoppi"> manager

and not just a coach. People like Arsene, Jose or Sir Alex are club by shoppi"> managers

, and they are in-on every single detail. To the English FA, this is the perfect way to manage the club. Although it clearly seems that it makes the manager/coach lose focus. Why do they lose focus? It is simple, because when one person and his team are responsible for all the club activities, they are no more just concerned with the football of the club, but they are also involved in development, marketing and maybe every other aspect of managing a football club. This also makes it easier for English club owners to find someone who they can put the blame on for bad results or failure to meet expectations. Open budgets in the league for most of the teams, except for Arsenal, until the recent years.

Wenger started his career off when Sir Alex’s career was booming more than ever. Sir Alex was not only forming a magical world behind the number 7, he entered the zone in which he would never leave the top 3 of the premier league. Sir Alex’s career is highlighted by a lot of respect between him and his half-rival Wenger. They both had similarities, but the differences make the cut as to why one succeeded, and the other still struggles. Struggles and not fails. When someone fails, then they have messed up everything their hands came on. So did Arsene really fail? Or is he really a “specialist in failure” as Mourinho said? A lot of people think Arsene came directly from Monaco, but in truth, he went to coach a team in Japan for 18 months. A time in which he still couldn’t win a league title, so that leaves us with him winning 1 league title and 1 cup title in France. He won two cup titles in Japan but never the league, and in all fairness his spell was short at a year and a half only. October 1996, Arsene came to Arsenal in hopes that he starts things in a positive manner and he did. The results came quickly and with consistency when he won the Premier league three times in 6 years. He also won 3 FA cups, and 4 community shields in that same period. To the press that mocked him, Arsene was only short of a European title to make his assignment at Arsenal a legendary one. One where he could leave a legacy behind for other managers to come and try to imitate or copy, but to Arsenal’s surprise, that wasn’t the case. After the invincible triumph, things went downhill.

Let’s start the by shoppi"> analysis

by saying Arsene is NOT a “specialist in failure.” He was able to prime at clubs and help them reach levels that were away from them, high levels. His ability to acquire talents was phenomenal and he building the invincible team might be one of his greatest achievements ever, if not the greatest. To attract the unwanted talent of Henry and create a crazy scoring machine, Wenger was more than just a football coach. But was he doing much coaching?

1)      Arsene is a phenomenal scout. This point should always be iterated and mentioned and repeated. No one in our current day is able to copy what Wenger does. Forget the crazy sums spent over Ozil and Sanchez. Arsenal were built and strengthened only then to be weakened by top talent leaving the club. No need to mention the players he discovered, if someone needs to know, Google is there.

2)      Arsene is not a very tactical coach. Ferguson reached a point where the ending minutes and his substitutes made a lot of difference. But Arsene lacks the ability to substitute correctly and at the right time. Is it fear of changing the starting formation? Or is it just stubbornness towards the players on the pitch? Arsene’s latest show against Monaco was a completely hideous example of coaching. His consistent losses at home in the Champions League where the away league plays an important role are unacceptable and shameful. With a bench full of talent, he was unable to make the right choices as to who is underperforming on the pitch. He honestly seems to be very lost at times and confused with his own approaches. 

3)      Arsene lost consistency. Getting the 4th spot every year just barely to make it to the Champions League is not the consistency a club like Arsenal would look at. The by shoppi"> management

might have turned football into business, but the fans are the ones suffering. Arsene has to go back to challenging on the title and he has to win it to begin the resurrection of what seems to be a dying Arsenal side. 11 years without a league title is not understandable for a club with the abilities of Arsenal. This point is not fully blamed on Arsene, since the management forces him to sell players that he would rather keep. Therefore, he has to struggle with chemistry when the schedule becomes crowded with games.

4)      Wenger is a successful by shoppi"> manager

. YES, he is. He isn’t a title winner and that talks about his football. But as a manager in the Premier League, Arsene succeeded. The jersey sales are always off the roof, the season tickets are the highest in Europe but still the fans buy them and fill the stadium. He has branded Arsenal and thus created all the expectations that he has to meet. Although the closest he got to a champions league was a final, his coaching abilities are still to be recognized. But, as a manger, he is a successful manager.

5)      Arsene is not a football coach. When it comes to the football factor, the main goal should be titles and nothing else. What gives the likes of Mourinho and Pep the upper hand is that in the end they do get titles. Yes there are differences discussed in previous articles, but if they aren’t the ones getting titles, then at least they are motivators of players who have been complacent. Arsene can’t motivate like Mourinho or gather a team around like Pep. His tactics are always questioned and his dependency on his invincible system approach doesn’t have to by shoppi"> work

with all sets of players.

In the end, Arsene is one hell of a scout and an amazing manager. He can be more of a businessman than a football coach. And in a world where the winner is only remembered, Arsene might be forgotten. He might be just a name Arsenal fans call out every time someone talks about the possibility of repeating the invincible run. He does have the only by shoppi"> gold

plated trophy in the history of the premier league, but he needs to step-up his act. Take it up a notch and spice things up or else, manage the club while getting a coach who is able to win titles for the team on the field. Off the field Wenger is an amazing man, but on the field, and in football, he doesn’t really rank. Maybe a picture of him in his younger years might remind him of the hunger he possessed back then.