Is Martinez the new Wenger?

WTTGT Writer: Stuart Court

Throughout Arsène’s long tenure at the helm, many managers have been tipped and compared to the inimitable Frenchman.

The latest to be cast under the looming shadow is Wigan’s Roberto Martinez; something that could hold some ground and not only with their football philosophy.

Martinez, along with his chairman Dave Whelan, left us with one of the more striking images this past season with a warm embrace at the Britannia following the club’s last-gasp survival.

Like Wenger, Martinez spent most of his playing career in the lower reaches of the game and moved into management with a look towards reaching the higher echelons of the game.

Martinez, who holds a degree in Physiotherapy and also Business Management is seen as a student of the game and upon moving to Wigan, somewhat similarly to Wenger, changed the team’s philosophy and style on the pitch; whilst picking out and moulding some of the world’s unearthed talents off it.

It this eye for talent, as Martinez has seen the progressions of Columbian Hugo Rodallega and Scottish duo of James McCarthy and James McArthur under his Wigan stewardship that possibly leads one of the more prominent ideologies which links the young manager to the elder Wenger.

When the time comes for Wenger to leave his throne at the Emirates, there will undoubtedly be some calls for Martinez to take up the task of leading the club in a new era. With Martinez’s record with Swansea and Wigan respectively, the voice of some Emirates faithful may be similar to when a certain Frenchman walked through the Highbury gates all those years ago.

But that turned out alright didn’t it?