The FA Cup Specialist: Arsene Wenger seals Arsenal legacy with record 12th FA Cup title

If you are a fan of any other club other than Arsenal, you must have loved the comment from Jose Mourinho: “(Arsene) Wenger is a specialist in failure.” But that’s only half the truth — only applicable to the Premier League and Champions League. If you consider the FA Cup - the oldest association football competition in the world — then Wenger is a specialist in success. A specialist of the FA Cup — a record-breaker in the FA Cup — a man who for many survives at his club because of winning the FA Cup. [caption id=“attachment_2271466” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Nacho Monreal and Arsene Wenger manager of Arsenal lift the winners trophy following the FA Cup Final between Aston Villa and Arsenal. Getty[/caption] After Saturday night’s triumph against Aston Villa, Wenger is now joint-record holder for leading teams to FA Cup final wins — top with six winners’ medals — ironically, with Aston Villa’s former manager George Ramsay. That Ramsay won his last medal in 1920 clearly makes Wenger the most successful manager in modern football history when it comes to the FA Cup. And if managers can survive in their jobs by avoiding relegation or securing a top four position or making a final or winning a league, why shouldn’t they survive if they win English football’s premier cup competition? Especially if you have a record like this in it: D-W-W-L-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W. That’s Arsenal’s FA Cup record in the last three seasons. It’s brilliant. It’s unreal. It’s record-breaking. It’s historic. This is not to say that Wenger’s position should come under scrutiny. This is not to say that Arsenal’s board, players and fans are displaying less ambition (at times) — being content with a top four finish and a last eight exit in Europe. But this is to say that Wenger, however despised in some quarters and undeserved of the legacy that Alex Ferguson created, is still a legend when it comes to a competition that manages to create giant-killing magic in English football’s economically divided club hierarchy. Wenger has now won more FA Cup medals than Ferguson. If Ferguson was the man who led Manchester United past Liverpool’s record 18 titles, then Wenger is the man who led Arsenal past United’s 11 FA Cup wins (last night was their 12th triumph). Credit is certainly due for a man who has repeatedly been accused of failing to take Arsenal to the heights of the early 2000s. Wenger is a manager who lives in the shadow of his past — the only spotlight he receives is in the FA Cup, where his legacy is now stamped with indelible ink. Modern football will not allow for a manager to spend 20 years at the same club — Wenger is an example of the dying legacy of continuity and it’s the FA Cup laurels that keep him alive — that will, eventually, be his legacy. He may probably never win another league title given the spending mettle of Chelsea and Manchester City; his Arsenal side are way behind the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and even Juventus in European competition; League Cups don’t count for anything now unless you’re a minnow; but when it comes to the FA Cup — when it comes to the FA Cup, Wenger brings his A Game — he plays to win — he plays for records and history — he plays as a specialist. Mourinho’s (who has won just one FA Cup in five-plus seasons) comments will go down in history as one of the most stinging towards another manager — but when it comes to FA Cup wins, no one — absolutely no one, can touch Wenger.