When Arsene Wenger arrived at Highbury all those years ago (September 1996 to be precise), many fans wondered who on earth this guy was – someone they had never heard of was. Over thirteen years later, you’d be a fool if you didn’t know who the French tactician was!
Today Arsene became Arsenal’s longest serving manager, moving ahead of the previous manager who held this, namely George Allison… and to be honest, that’s not a name I’ve heard that often… today is Arsene’s 4,749th game in charge and in this climate, that’s credit to Arsene and credit to the board, who have kept faith in him through thick and thin…
Arsene has been key in spearheading changes in the club off the pitch including a new training ground and the mammoth task of moving to a new stadium. The Emirates has allowed us to become of the biggest clubs in the world and sets us up for an awesome future as our income will only increase moving forward.
On the pitch, Arsene has been instrumental in re-shaping the “boring, boring” Arsenal into one of most attractive sides in world football at the moment, and from the moment he arrived, he started bringing trophies back home. In his first full season, he won the double and he nearly did it again the following year. In every season since Arsene’s been at the helm, we’ve reached the semi-finals of various cup competitions, won FA cups and won the double again in 2002, the FA Cup in 2003 and then did the unthinkable feat of going a home season unbeaten in 2005…
Ken Friar spoke on the affect Arsene has had, and asked if Arsene had contributed to making the club what it was today, he said:
Most certainly, yes. Arsène came here in 1996 and he really picked the team up tremendously at that time. He took very little time to settle down and he has been in my view an absolute treasure in the success that he’s brought with him. In the period he’s been here he’s won three League titles, four FA Cups, four Charity Shields, plus we’ve been finalists in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and the Carling Cup. That record just speaks for itself and illustrates what an absolutely tremendous job Arsène has done.
Arsène had a great deal of input into design and construction of the new training ground too. That was a most exciting development and it was his forethought that really drove the whole project on. His hallmark is on virtually every detail of that training ground, whether it be the condition of the pitches, the undersoil heating, the imaginative way he designed all the rooms. Then there’s the dressing rooms themselves, the way he’s changed the catering and he’s got players now on diets that never happened before. His attention to detail has been absolutely immense.
And of course, when we decided to move to new stadium, Arsène’s input was vitally important for two reasons. One, we could never have built that stadium without the success that he’s brought us, and, two, we were so fortunate to have Arsène’s eye for detail in designing the playing areas that are used on a regular basis. The fact that we are probably now the foremost in terms of design pays great tribute to the contribution that Arsène made.
Indeed, hat’s off to Arsene, I remember the pre-Arsene days and all I can say is that we’d never be where we are without the great man at the helm…
And just in case you forgot… despite the financial handy-cap and some fans and investors disgruntle-ment with the supremo, when Real Madrid came knocking earlier this year, Arsene remained loyal…
“I want to have success by building a team with a style, with a know-how, with a culture of play specific to the club and its fans and with young people. That is what I have chosen in my career and want to ensure I continue here at Arsenal.
“I am in a construction project with a young team but my intention is to take that project to the ultimate end. For me, pleasure comes from watching those players showing the football I like to see played.
Today is all about forgetting anything outside of the club and poring accolades on our manager, over to the comments…
