How will history judge Arsene Wenger? I am sure very sympathetically, even though many Arsenal fans feel that in the last few years he has been unable to create match-winning teams in crunch situations.
Wenger joined Arsenal in October, 1996 and during his first decade in charge, won four FA Cups and three league titles, including two doubles (Premiership and FA Cup in a single season in 1998 and 2002) and the undefeated 2003-04 season when his team nicknamed the “Invincibles” are still considered by many to be the best side ever to have won the Premiership. Pep Guardiola and Manchester City fans may disagree.
Wenger guided Arsenal to two European finals, losing on penalties to Galatasaray in the 2000 Uefa Cup and the 2006 Champions League final when they led Barcelona till the 76th minute but then lost 1-2. But since then it has been downhill, though Arsenal won the FA Cup in 2014, 2015 and 2017. However Wenger’s contribution cannot be evaluated on statistics alone.
His historical role is of immense importance. Before Wenger no foreign manager had succeeded in English football (he was the first to have won the League title). Dr. Jozef Vengloos managed Aston Villa in 1990-91 and Ossie Ardilles was in charge of Spurs in 1993 but both were sacked within a year.
I met Wenger at the media centre in Johannesburg on the day of the final of the 2010 World Cup. Suave and courteous he had a brief interaction with me and laughed when I asked what he had changed in English football. Then in a serious tone the cerebral Wenger said, “the eating habits and attitude to training.”
Elaborating, he said, “players weren’t allowed to eat chips with brunch, they weren’t allowed butter, sugary desserts, biscuits and fried food. I tried to cut down the habit of excessive drinking also.” He said that he learned of dietary requirements during his two-year stint in Japan with Nagoya Grampus Eight. He persuaded the English players to adopt a diet of boiled vegetables, rice, pasta and fish.
Asked if it was difficult to change eating habits, he said the players were very responsive as they realised it made them fitter. He said he brought a nutritionist to make the players understand how important it is to eat properly and felt it prolonged the careers of his famous defenders, Lee Dixon, Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Steve Bould, who were all in their thirties.
Then he explained that his training sessions were meticulous in their detail and not just tests of endurance. Sessions were shorter and intense. All the running was done with the ball. The combination of pre-match stretching and use of masseurs and osteopaths added years to the careers of his veteran players.
But above all Wenger will be remembered for the way he scouted and developed world class players like Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Emmanuel Petit, Robert Pires, Nicolas Anelka, Cesc Fabregas, Ashley Cole, and Robin van Persie. Also he developed Arsenal into playing an attractive style of passing football, with quick penetration. Arsenal’s rivalry with Manchester United and later Chelsea made the Premiership a worldwide brand.
