As Wenger gears up for his farewell parade,

pulling the curtain down on an era of football

management, Manchester United fans might be

caught in nostalgia. For once, animosity may

make way for empathy when Manchester United

face Arsenal. It would probably be apt as two

clubs that withstood the rise of football's

unforgiving order pay tribute to the last of their

kinds.

With the final chapter of this great rivalry in this

era in the offing, here is a look at two of the

Premier League's longest serving managers and

how their achievements stack up against one

another.

Basic comparison

Both Wenger and Ferguson managed their

respective clubs for over 1000 games. However,

the United boss has a greater win percentage

(61.95 - 57.97) when compared to the Arsenal

gaffer. Out of the 1209 matches that Ferguson

managed at the Old Trafford club, he won 749

and lost 208. Meanwhile, Wenger has won 694

out of the 1197 he has been in charge of the

north London side so far.

In the Premier League, Ferguson has a win

percentage of 65.18 compared to 57.52 that of

Wenger. In Europe too, the Scot scores over the

Frenchman with a win percentage of 52.06 that

is almost 3 percent more than Wenger.

In their personal head-to-head, Ferguson has a

slight upper hand, having emerged on the

winning side on 23 of the 49 occasions the two

managerial stalwarts crossed swords in all

competitions.

Impact

In terms of impact Wenger was quicker to his

first major trophy than Ferguson. Unlike the

Scot, the Frenchman needed just 18 months to

lift his first Premier League title and immediately

followed that up with a FA Cup, thus becoming

the first foreign manager to win the league and

cup double.

Ferguson won his first major trophy in his fifth

season in charge of the club. While the Gunners

boss oversaw improvement almost immediately,

the United manager overcame many lows before

getting hands on his first silverware. At the start

of the triumphant 1991 FA Cup campaign, many

journalists and fans felt United needed to change

their manager to progress. However, the FA Cup

triumph in 1991 was the beginning of a glorious

era at Old Trafford.

Wenger also got Arsenal playing a more

attractive brand of football and his teams were a

stark contrast from the "1-0 to the Arsenal" side

that characterised the club.

So in terms of achievements and style of play,

Wenger made a bigger impact, but it has to be

noted that he inherited a much stable and strong

Arsenal side, than what Ferguson did. The Scot

took United from relegation strugglers to FA Cup

winners within five years, but moreover

established a strong ecosystem for sustained

success by completely revamping the club's

coaching and scouting systems.

Wenger too made revolutionary changes to

Arsenal's training regimes and diet that had a

direct impact on their game. The Frenchman's

methods were widely appreciated and eventually

accepted as norm. Wenger is

credited with abolishing the drinking culture in

English football, that helped the nation's clubs

compete with its European counterparts in a

better way in future and also enhance the overall

standard of the English league.

So on this front, Wenger probably edges

Ferguson but only by the very skin of the teeth.

Consolidation years

After making a mark in their initial years,

Ferguson and Wenger fared very differently in

the years the two consolidated themselves at

their respective clubs for the long haul. While

the former Aberdeen manager never looked back

after winning his first league title in 1992,

Wenger's Arsenal were inconsistent. They blew

hot and cold in the years after their first league

victory under Wenger.

The title success of 'The Invincibles' in 2004 was

the epitome of Frenchman's coaching abilities,

but Ferguson was able to deliver success on a

more regular basis in almost equally spectacular

fashion. Under the Scot, United thrice won three

back-to-back titles and it only once went through

a prolonged period without the champions'

crown from 2003 to 2007.

Wenger threw the first challenge to Ferguson's

United juggernaut but he almost immediately

found an answer, winning their title back in

1999. Similarly, when Jose Mourinho threatened

to alter the pecking order in English football with

his ruthlessly efficient Chelsea side, Ferguson

was able to find a way to be a champion again.

After 2004, when Mourinho's ways changed the

Premier League just like it did with Wenger's

arrival, the Frenchman failed to produce a

counter force, the way Ferguson did in 2007.