Who would you choose as the manager of your professional team if you had the choice of Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho?
The argument could be made for Ferguson based solely on his incredible record with Man U over the past 20 years or so. The number of EPL titles he has won completely overshadows anything Mourinho and Wenger have achieved, even though they have pretty impressive records themselves. But hold on for a second. The same argument could be made the other way. Ferguson has had by far the greatest resources at Man U.
So let's look at these questions.
Would Ferguson have done better at Arsenal than Wenger has over the years? Would Ferguson have won three EPL titles? Would he have had an undefeated season or made the Champions League final? All while at Arsenal and with the same resources that Wenger has had. Bear in mind that Wenger has achieved much of his success based on his ability to identify and recruit exceptional young talent like Viera, Henry, Fabregas, etc. Could Ferguson have done the same?
Would Ferguson have won the Champions League with FC Porto like Mourinho did? Would Ferguson have managed two EPL titles in his first two seasons at Chelsea...even with all the money available to him?
What about Mourinho and Wenger? Would they have matched Fergie's record at Man U?
My guess is that neither would have done as well as the other. I don't think Fergie would have done as well as Wenger if he were at Arsenal or as well as Mourinho did at Porto and Chelsea. And I feel even stronger that Mourinho and Wenger wouldn't have done nearly as well as Fergie has at Man U.
Now I know that doesn't answer my first question...who would I choose? If my arm was twisted and I owned a professional team, I think it could be a flip of the coin, but I would be secretly hoping it would land for Wenger as I just love watching Arsenal play. Yes I know they can sometimes be too cute for their own good, but they play such entertaining and attractive football that it gives him the edge over the other two.
