Wenger's lost the winning touch, Pep's still learning

When Arsenal sealed the double at home against Everton in 1998 - less than two years after Arsene Wenger took over as manager – veteran centre-back Steve Bould chipped a through-ball over the defence for partner Tony Adams to score the fourth goal of the day.

“That sums it all up,” said Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler.

He was bang on with that description. It’s what Wenger was all about in those days; optimising the talent on his books who had the one thing he didn’t – experience in the league.

Wenger demonstrated his knowledge and respect for English football by leaving his back four and goalkeeper untouched on day one. There would be Wenger football – sure – but he would teach George Graham’s players how to do it.

He lined up the signing of Patrick Vieira before he had even arrived at Highbury. The midfield became even more robust with the addition of Emmanuel Petit a year later.

Those two could play but they were not above leaving their foot in. That aggression – combined with a traditionally-drilled English backline - gave Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars, Thierry Henry and Robert Pires their space to work magic.

He decided to let go of Henry, Vieira and Pires more or less at their peak in order to recoup some transfer value. The experience and ability to read English matches in the Arsenal team was lost when that core was broken up.

Wenger’s team these days is lacking those very same characteristics. He shouldn’t have been taken by surprise midweek when Everton smashed his players all over Goodison Park and shook them down for two headed goals. It was a bear-pit; English football at its finest.

He complained after about the physicality of the match and said his players couldn’t cope. He’s been here 20 years.

To his detriment, he’s chased ideological perfection since that Invincible season in 2003-04. There have been glaring, repeating weaknesses in Arsenal’s squad and their transfer policy for the best part of a decade. Nonetheless, Wenger has carried on with a zealousness that betrays the pragmatism that bought him time and success early in his Arsenal reign.

Pep Guardiola is now under the microscope after a couple of months’ worth of results that are not in any way outstanding. Manchester City it could be argued have only played well for 90 minutes on three occasions this season; against Bournemouth at home, Manchester United away and against Barcelona in the Champions League.

Other times they’ve been exposed. Guardiola does not chase clean sheets with the same kind of determination that – say - Tony Pulis does and that is to his disadvantage.

Every team in England has more or less figured out how to beat Leicester City for example but Guardiola let his guard down and permitted the champions to play exactly how they would have liked. It was a set-up of Wengerian defiance.

There is no dispute that Guardiola’s football works; he’s proved it at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. He has described himself as “arrogant” and perhaps that is the right adjective to describe his unshakeable belief that winning football crosses borders. Guardiola needs to deliver change and success but he wants to do both at the same time.

Pep’s signed a three-year deal with City and is widely expected to make the same kind of impact in that time frame. There will be no empire building – three quick seasons and he’ll likely be gone. Due to his haste, Guardiola is not giving himself the best chance.

From removing Joe Hart to exiling Yaya Toure, from remaining unconvinced by Vincent Kompany - even when fit - to shifting Samir Nasri, Pep denied himself the opportunity to buy breathing space through the instincts of players who knew the league better than he did.

Moreover, he’s disoriented the players he inherited by playing them in a kaleidoscopic array of formations which has seen left backs at centre back and right backs in midfield. That shakeup has taken Guardiola a matter of months.

The apparent mistrust of Guardiola - and the methods he brought with him - from across the spectrum of British football is nothing new. Fellow out-of-towner Wenger was faced with the very same kind of suspicion from the locals when he first landed in 1996. Then - as now – the new foreign manager provoked hostility with his very presence.

Wenger confounded his critics. The wheels of his revolution turned slowly and wasn’t complete until eight years after he started. After assembling a winning unit custom built for winning in English football over the course of 8-10 years, Wenger spent the next 10 taking it apart.

Pep’s pulled it all down and tried to start again in a matter of weeks– less a long revolution than a coup – and as a result is coming up against plenty of criticism from the systems he is attempting to jolt.

Wenger and Guardiola have plenty in common. The difference is Wenger has forgotten what it takes to create success in English football whereas Guardiola hasn’t learned it yet.