Arsenal Most Attacking Managers

Arsenal Most Attacking Managers

Arsenal most attacking managers? Here, we take a look at the most attack-minded Arsenal managers. Which Gunners managers have created the best attacking style of football? Which Arsenal managers have created the most amount of goals? Well, we will find out below with our Arsenal most attacking managers.

For years, Arsenal have gained the identity of a slick passing offensive-minded team, under the management of Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman is the club’s longest-serving manager of 22 years but the foundation to play attacking football was laid down by pioneers long before him.

For decades, Arsenal have been rewarded off of playing attacking football, recording 13 League titles and 13 FA Cups, making them the third most successful football club in England. That reputation of being an aggressive side has recently been cemented due to Wenger’s long stay at North London. His successor and current head coach, Unai Emery certainly has an eye for a similar style of football as evident from the Gunners’ last season.

Best Arsenal Coaches

So, which managers at Arsenal have been more attacking? Well, here we will look at the Top six Arsenal most attacking managers. But before we do that, let’s take a look at all the Arsenal managers and their stats.

List Of Arsenal Managers

Name Nationality From To M W D L Win %
Thomas Mitchell  Scotland 30-03-1897 10-03-1898 45 23 8 14 51.11
Unknown 11-03-1898 10-04-1898 9 6 2 1 66.67
William Elcoat  England 11-04-1898 16-02-1899 44 21 6 17 47.73
Arthur Kennedy   England 21-02-1899 29-04-1899 15 8 3 4 53.33
Harry Bradshaw  England 30-06-1899 30-04-1904 235 118 44 73 50.21
Phil Kelso  Scotland 01-05-1904 09-02-1908 152 63 31 58 41.45
George Morrell  Scotland 10-02-1908 13-04-1915 309 113 74 122 36.57
James McEwen   England 19-04-1915 24-05-1919 2 1 0 1 50
Leslie Knighton  England 25-05-1919 16-05-1925 286 105 63 118 36.71
Herbert Chapman  England 11-06-1925 06-01-1934 411 204 97 110 49.64
Joe Shaw   England 06-01-1934 28-05-1934 23 14 3 6 60.87
George Allison  England 28-05-1934 31-05-1947 279 129 74 76 46.24
Tom Whittaker  England 02-06-1947 24-10-1956 430 203 106 121 47.21
Jack Crayston   England 24-10-1956 19-05-1958 81 34 17 30 41.98
George Swindin  England 21-06-1958 01-05-1962 186 76 43 67 40.86
Billy Wright  England 01-05-1962 13-06-1966 182 70 43 69 38.46
Bertie Mee   England 20-06-1966 04-05-1976 539 241 148 150 44.71
Terry Neill  Northern Ireland 09-07-1976 16-12-1983 416 187 117 112 44.95
Don Howe   England 16-12-1983 22-03-1986 117 54 32 31 46.15
Steve Burtenshaw   England 23-03-1986 14-05-1986 11 3 2 6 27.27
George Graham  Scotland 14-05-1986 21-02-1995 460 225 133 102 48.91
Stewart Houston   Scotland 21-02-1995 15-06-1995 19 7 3 9 36.84
Bruce Rioch  Scotland 15-06-1995 12-08-1996 47 22 15 10 46.81
Stewart Houston   Scotland 12-08-1996 13-09-1996 6 2 2 2 33.33
Pat Rice   Northern Ireland 13-09-1996 30-09-1996 4 3 0 1 75
Arsène Wenger  France 01-10-1996 13-05-2018 1,235 707 280 248 57.25
Unai Emery  Spain 23-05-2018 Present 37 23 6 8 62.16

Arsenal Most Attacking Managers Ever

Best Arsenal Managers Ever – Top Arsenal Most Attacking Managers

3. Harry Bradshaw

One of the more prominent success stories in football, Harry Bradshaw was one of the early leaders for Arsenal.

The man never really had much of a playing career but he found a lot of success as a manager. He was appointed into the head coaching position of Woolwich Arsenal in 1899.

Bradshaw had proved his worth with Burnley, leading them to the third spot of the England top-flight the previous season. He made his way over to the Highbury and signed plenty of quality footballers like Archie Cross, Percy Sands, Jimmy Jackson and Jimmy Ashcroft for Arsenal.

His brand of management was efficient and commanded a fluid form of play on the pitch. After several seasons of near-misses, Arsenal won promotion up to the first division in 1904 for the first time in the club’s history.

Bradshaw gave the North London club an identity of their own by signing eighteen of the twenty players in the squad. Unfortunately, the Scotsman could never lead the club to win the league title and eventually moved on to Fulham after his fifth season.

2. Herbert Chapman

Herbert Chapman was one of the most influential figures in Arsenal’s history. He laid down the very stones upon which this club stands on today, bringing their very first taste of success in the highest level of English football.

But what exactly makes him one of the Arsenal most attacking managers?

When Chapman first arrived at the club in 1925, he laid down a 5-year success plan by implementing a ruthless counter-attacking style of play, inspired by pace from his wide players and strikers. In a timely fashion, Arsenal won the FA Cup in 1930 and Chapman started the first form of football revolution at White Hart Lane.

He extraordinary signings in Charlie Buchan, Alex James and Cliff Bastin to elevate the team to such a high level. He went on to raise the team from the depths of relegation battles to two First Division titles.

His philosophy of playing attacking football is followed by the club to this day. Sure, it will get tweaked by every new manager but the basic idea remains the same. Some of his other innovations which has stood the test of time is changing the Gunner’s jersey to the red body and white sleeve.

1. Arsene Wenger

There is no debate about this but Arsene Wenger is the most successful manager in Arsenal history. Sure, his final years were not the most prolific but he followed his ideologies to the very last day of managing this football club – I mean the Gunners thrashed Burnley 5-0 at the Emirates to give a fitting sendoff.

Wenger’s loyal service to Arsenal gave the club an international recognition. To everyone, the Gunners came to be recognized as a side who plays beautiful football, the way the game is meant to be played.

I mean look at some of these goals scored by Arsenal under Wenger –

“Le Professeur” always liked to keep the opposition backtracking by pushing sheer numbers at them. His entire plan was to keep the ball moving as much as possible to trick the opponents. You can almost say it was a similar style as Pep Guardiola deployed at Barcelona during his 4 golden years as the Blaugrana manager but it did not stand the test of time.

To keep this system squeaky clean, Wenger needed quality players which he got early on his managerial career. Soon, when trophies started to dry up, all the top footballers started leaving and that pretty much halted this impeccable form of play into developing further.

Nevertheless, Wenger still won the Premier League title three times with Arsenal and the FA Cup a record seven times. More than just winning a fair share of trophies in the English top-flight, he had a major influence on the game on a worldwide scale.

He implemented a lot of changes to scouting, players’ training and diet regimens. It was because of his fighting spirit and ambition to succeed that Arsenal are at the place they are today.

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