Video: Arsene Wenger Greatest Teams Documentary- FC Barcelona + FC Porto

Arsene Wenger is undoubtedly one of the great philosophers of modern football. He shares a good relationship with the Qatari broadcaster, beIn Sports so it makes sense that they tapped into this for his Greatest Teams series. Two episodes focus on FC Porto and FC Barcelona and they highlight a number of factors as to why those teams have been so great.

Ever a brilliant raconteur, one story stands out. In Guillem Ballague’s Guardiola biography, there’s a suggestion that he almost joined Arsenal when he left Barcelona. Wenger’s account is that Guardiola called him seeking audience and they had dinner at his house where Guardiola pleaded with him to sign him. Wenger opted not to ‘cos he had Patrick Vieira but says this incident deepened his interest in him and meant that he kept up with his career progression.

Discussion points include: the Cryuff influence, van Gaal, similarities between Romario and Ronaldo, Guardiola, Messi (of course), the Catalan political movement, The Nou Camp as a cathedral, Samuel Eto’o as one of the more underrated players ever, Ronaldinho being an “artist” immune to pressure amongst others.

The Porto episode pays tribute to Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa as the “the brains behind FC Porto”, their transfer strategy and why it’s so difficult to buy players from them before going through a history of the club showing his knowledge of their history and evolution and complimenting the current Julen Lopetegui helmed side namechecking the likes of Jackson Martinez and Yacine Brahimi.