Sunday 21 May 2017 17:41, UK
Sir Alex Ferguson has told Sky Sports the pressure Arsene Wenger has been under at Arsenal is "ridiculous" - and that he wonders whether the club could find another manager like the Frenchman.
Wenger, whose contract runs out at the end of the season following 21 years with the club, is yet to announce his future intentions at the Emirates.
And Ferguson, who went head to head with Wenger for 17 years in the Premier League before retiring in 2013, questions whether Arsenal know what they really have in the Frenchman.
Ferguson was speaking to Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday at an event for the League Managers' Association, who have named their Manager of the Year award after the former United boss.
The 75-year-old said: "At the moment, of course, with the ridiculous situation of the pressure Arsene is under, I just wonder if they realise the job he's done.
"The most amazing thing about him is this: he has come through a forest of criticism for months now, and has never bowed. He has seen it right through, he has shown a determination, a stubbornness. I think when you look at that, it's a quality, and I'm not sure they'll ever get another manager like that.
"It's quite easy to say 'Get rid of him', but who do you get? Who do you get in to keep that club the way they are for the next 20 years?
"I really feel sorry for him because I think he's shown outstanding qualities, and I think he has handled the whole situation. I don't know many that have done that."
Ferguson won 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns with United, though all three of Wenger's English titles came in a seven-year period where United and Arsenal were battling it out at the top of the division.
The Scotsman has questioned the short-termism creeping into football and urged clubs to implement a more long-term approach to their managerial decisions.
Asked if times had moved on from having one manager in charge for a lengthy time, Ferguson said: "I hope not, because I think that stability that a manager like Arsene Wenger has brought to Arsenal, and Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest, myself at United... there's no evidence that sacking a manager brings success.
"But there is evidence, through myself, Clough and Wenger, that you can gain success with long-termism."
Ferguson admitted to moments of missing football, despite enjoying his retirement, but he remains indebted to a Manchester United that was "easy to fall in love with".
"I made up my mind I was looking forward to retiring because I did what I wanted to do in life," he said. "I think I picked the right time but there are moments when of course you miss it. You miss the banter in the dressing room, you miss the humour of some of the players and you miss the cup finals.
"I was lucky. I was at the right club, there's no question about that. Manchester United is a special, romantic club that's easy to fall in love with."
