Mark Hughes spoke after Stoke’s win on Saturday about his respect for Arsène Wenger and what the Arsenal boss has done for the English game.

The Stoke City boss said to SFR Sport via Tribal Football: “What do I think of Wenger’s career at Arsenal? He’s had an enormous influence on football in England. When he arrived, his ideas, his philosophy of play, his preparation were of a level above.

“Everyone understands the importance of his methods now. Sometimes when you are in a club for so long as Arsène Wenger, people want change for ‘change’. But it must be admitted that he had great success in England. He has a lot of merit because it is not easy to have as much success over such a long time. It deserves recognition.”

It’s true that Wenger had a lot of innovative ideas about preparation for matches when he first arrived in England. Being ready for a match meant more than just formations and players, it meant having the right diet, training regimes and everything else that goes on off the pitch.

Now, many of these ideas are commonplace, so it’s easy to forget that this wasn’t the case until the manager’s arrival. But some fans would respond that whilst it’s good to appreciate what he gave to the game, any decent manager out there now is doing the same.

However, Hughes clearly thinks that Wenger still brings something extra to the game, talking about the longevity of his success. The French manager first won the FA Cup in 1998, and most recently won it in May 2017, as well as five other times in between.

To win seven FA Cups over 21 years – one every three seasons – is a pretty incredible feat. If this sort of success had been repeated in the Premier League, there would be no questions around the boss.

But unfortunately, while title and FA Cup success came hand-in-hand early on, only the cup wins have returned in recent years. Changing that this year would surely win fans over, but losses against teams like Stoke City won’t help Wenger go about that.