Sir Alex Ferguson is a man who has never been afraid to voice his opinions and his knack for being brutally honest has earned him a few admirers and a few critics over the years. He is the greatest manager in Premier League history and managed Manchester United to heights they’d never seen before and have never reached since his retirement in 2013.
Ferguson won 13 Premier League titles with the Red Devils and competed against the best of the best, more often than not coming out on top. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, his United side were embroiled in a fierce rivalry with Arsenal as the two competed for supremacy at the top of English football. He was no stranger to clashing with former Gunners boss, Arsene Wenger.
The two had quite the rivalry, but the Scot actually came to Wenger’s defence after he left Arsenal and slammed the club’s fans for their treatment of the Frenchman.
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Ferguson Said Arsenal Fans Should Be Ashamed
He wasn’t happy with how they treated Wenger
Ferguson vs Wenger on the sidelines
Wenger is one of Arsenal’s greatest ever managers. Throughout the majority of his time with the club, he was beloved by fans. That changed towards the end of his stint in charge, though, and his last few years at the Emirates were particularly toxic. Arsenal supporters wanted change and they resorted to booing Wenger and demanding he leave.
Eventually he did and during a documentary film about the Frenchman, Ferguson appeared and criticised Arsenal fans for how they treated him during his final years in charge. Speaking on the film, via quotes shared by The Sun, the Scot said:
“He kept them in Europe every year and yet he was criticised. The supporters should be ashamed. Arsene and myself are dinosaurs, but we didn’t do so badly.
“I won 13 leagues, but I was never near going through a season undefeated. The achievement stands above everything else, and it was Arsene’s.”
Wenger was in charge of Arsenal for 22 years and he won a total of 17 trophies during that time, including the legendary 2004 Premier League title in which his team went the entire campaign undefeated. It’s a feat no one has been able to replicate in the two decades since and it marked the high point of his tenure in North London. That was the last league title his side won, though, and over the course of the next 14 years, things took a downturn which ultimately led to supporters turning on him.
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Years after his exit, you’d struggle to find any Arsenal fan who doesn’t appreciate everything that Wenger did for the club and he’s once again held in high regard at the Emirates. Speaking about the treatment he received towards the end of his reign, however, Wenger admitted it ‘hurt’, saying: “I am not resentful of fans, I just feel if my personality is in the way of what I feel our club is. For me, that is more important. But I believe this club is respected all over the world, much more than in England.
"Our fans did not give the image of unity I want at the club all over the world – that was hurtful.”