1996 saw the dawn of a new age at Arsenal Football Club when a little known Frenchman called Arsène Wenger was appointed manager. Arsenal fans didn’t know it yet, but this man, a man most had never heard of, would revolutionise Arsenal, and English football as a whole.
It didn’t take Arsène long to provide Arsenal fans with the silverware they craved. In the 1997/98 season, he secured the clubs first league and FA Cup double win since 1970/71, and he wasn’t about to slow down.
Three seasons later in the 2001/02 campaign, Arsenal won another league and FA Cup double win and Arsène added yet more honours to his ever-growing résumé. In 2003, he led the team to yet another FA Cup win, however, the best was still to come.
The 2003/04 season is written in history as the first time that a team has gone through an entire Premier league season unbeaten. Arsenal wowed football fans across both England, and the world, with their scintillating, fast-paced football and deadly attack. To put a cherry on top of an already delicious cake, Arsenal secured the league title that season up the road, at White Heart Lane.
In total, Arsenal went 49 games unbeaten and were recently voted as the best team in Premier league history. Arsène Wenger had masterminded his way to a golden Premier league trophy and etched ‘The Invincibles’ in to Arsenal Football Clubs history.
2005. Another year, another trophy. Arsène guided his team to another FA Cup win after beating Manchester United on penalties, with the skipper, Patrick Vieira scoring the winning spot kick. Things at Arsenal couldn’t possibly get better.
So, how did he do it? What was it about Arsène Wenger that brought about such rapid success?
Firstly, it was his vision. His vision of what football should look like, and be played like. His entire footballing philosophy is what enabled the team to play such dazzling football.
Fast, attacking football was the trademark of the Invincibles. Arsène employed a new style of football that the Premier league hadn’t seen before and it would prove to become the desirable way for most of the top clubs to try and play their football. Arsenal were playing the football that Manchester City are playing today, ten years ago. Visionary.
Secondly, Arsène’s meticulous attention to health and nutrition was a key factor to his success. When he took over at Arsenal, he completely overhauled the diets that the players were on and kept them on strict regimes to help their fitness. This, naturally, allowed the squad to play the football that Arsène wanted them to. And don’t think that Arsène was easy on his own diet, either. He led by, and still leads by, example. He keeps to the same, strict diet that he has his players on. This attention to nutrition is another way in which Arsène Wenger has influenced English football. He brought about another ideal that has had a positive impact on the English game. Quite remarkable.
Let us not forget a few of the players that Arsène bought either. He put together a squad consisting of some of the biggest names in Arsenal’s history. Patrick Vieira, Marc Overmars, Freddie Ljungberg, Sol Campbell, Robert Pires and, of course, Thierry Henry, all joined on Arsène Wenger’s watch. Not to mention countless other that came and went.
However, after the huge success that Arsène enjoyed in his early years at the club, the 2005 FA Cup was to be the last that Arsenal would lift for a long nine years. What ensued for Arsène over that period of time was criticism, abuse and non-stop ridicule about the way the club was going.
Player after player walked out, winning the league seemed a million miles away and embarrassing cup defeats to teams such as Bradford City set about hammering the nails in to Arsène Wenger’s cannon shaped coffin. But he persisted.
He worked tirelessly, under immense fan pressure, carrying out work that went unappreciated by most. ‘Wenger Out’ became one of the most prominent phrases associated with Arsenal. But he continued to work, and work, and work.
He built a new, 60,000 seater, state of the art stadium and paid it off in under a decade. He worked with limited resources due to this, but managed to keep Arsenal in the Champions League places.
Because of the work that Arsène did from 2005-2014, Arsenal now have a secure future as a financial superpower in world football. A brand new, state of the art stadium, and a global brand that has spread to unite Gooners all across the world.
The fruits of Arsène’s labour has already been tasted, too. Last season he signed Mesut Özil for a record £42.5million fee and added yet another FA Cup victory to his CV. This summer he has brought in four new signings already, including Alexis Sanchez for a fee of around £35million. That’s over £77million spent on two players. Before Wenger’s hard fought revolution, those numbers would have been unthinkable for Arsenal.
The work Arsène has done has propelled Arsenal football club in to a new era, and the boss has sacrificed a lot to get it there. He has signed boys and turned them in to legends, and he is now building a team that can write a new chapter in Arsenal’s history books.
Since the beginning of his career at Arsenal, he has won League title’s and FA Cup’s. He has re-written history books and changed the face of English football forever.
But, his biggest achievement is one that, for most, won’t be recognised for many years to come. He has given Arsenal a stable future and when he moves on from Arsenal, he will leave behind a legacy. His finest work will only be truly appreciated once he is gone. He is football’s very own Vincent Van Gogh.