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.

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

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.

See Also:

• Best Arsenal Strikers Of All Time (Attackers & Forwards)
• Arsenal Biggest Win Ever – Highest Arsenal Win Ever In History!
• Best Arsenal Midfielders Ever (Best Left, Right, Centre, Attacking & Defensive Midfielders)