I think that what Wenger says and what Wenger means deep down are two entirely different things. He aims to win the league every single season. He aims to win the Champions League at the beginning of every season. The contempt he's shown in the recent past for the two domestic cups through team selection would suggest he's not after those trophies so much. This is why, when he says 3rd is 'like a trophy', I don't read too much into it. He doesn't have a poker face. You can tell he's disappointed for having gone through a trophyless campaign. Furthermore, coming back to the age-old argument, would we take a Carling Cup success over Champions League qualification? Speak to any Liverpool fan this month. They certainly wouldn't. However, I do agree with Arsenal fans when they say such successes shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

Back to the question about a top-bracket manager going so many years without a trophy- I can only think of Fabio Capello, but I'm not entirely sure if he was manager at Real Madrid when they won La Liga back in 2007