Can Rovers break the symmetry?
There is a certain symmetry about Arsenal taking on Blackburn Rovers this weekend. It was against Rovers, at Ewood Park, that Arsene Wenger managed his first game for the Gunners. That was in October 1996; this week Wenger became Arsenal’s longest-serving manager, and Blackburn are the visitors to the Emirates as the Frenchman embarks upon extending that record of longevity. Thirteen years ago, Ian Wright scored twice as Arsenal won 2-0 in Lancashire; it was the first of 288 Premier League victories masterminded by Wenger, whose 492 games in charge have also yielded 126 draws and 78 defeats, giving him a goal difference of +486 (923 scored; 437 conceded) and a points per game average of 2.01 – coincidentally the same as Sir Alex Ferguson’s from his 890 Premier League games as Manchester United boss. Long-time rival Ferguson was this week generous in his praise of Wenger’s achievements at Arsenal; but amid the many plaudits that have come the single-minded French tactician’s way in rece
