It would be hard if not impossible to overstate the impact that Arsène Wenger has had on this club. To put it one way, there’s an entire generation of fans that might possibly believe that the Arsenal borrowed its name from his, as if it hadn’t existed at all prior to 22 September 1996. It would be a day that would sound down through the ages, even if the early reactions were anything but. The skepticism was and, to varying degrees, justified. Who was this wisp of a man who had only managed AS Monaco for a few years before jetting off to Japan? I hope I’m not going too far out on a limb to suggest that no one else in the history of this club has accomplished or sacrificed more than Arsène.
The man is not his faults, of course, but now is not the time for muck-raking or cellar-dwelling. Before he took the wheel, we were a mid-table club with the occasional pop up into the top four. He came in and demanded a new style of play. It was no longer de rigueur to hoof it up to the big fella who would knock it down for the little fella to run on and have a go. Instead, it was up to each and every player to play a part in the build-up, a modified version of Cruyff’s tiki-taka or the broader Dutch idea of totaalvoetbal, that would define Arsène’s influence on English football. It was no longer tolerable to show up hung over or drunk; just ask Tony Adams. There would be a new emphasis on fitness and preparation, and this would drive the Arsenal to previously unforeseen sights. We went from a club largely content to finish in the top half to a club that would win the Prem three times and finish second five times inside of his first decade—and there is, of course, the small matter of that undefeated season…
Beyond those measurable accomplishments, there is the somewhat-more controversial move from Highbury to the Emirates. Highbury was hallowed ground. Sacrosanct, so much so that abandoning it was tantamount to sacrilege. Still, it was necessary. Visionary, even. For all of its virtues, Highbury was—and I hate to say this—an albatross. There was no way that any club serious about competing on an increasingly international level could do so in a stadium that sat just 38,419 fans. The move to the Emirates should have been a master-stroke. It would have and should have pave the way for this club to compete, maybe even dominate, the Premier League for years if not decades.
That it didn’t isn’t a reflection on Arsène’s lack of vision. At the time of his commitment to the new stadium, there was no Abramovich, no Mansour. Financing that stadium debt would not have been a problem, but, all too suddenly, transfer fees and weekly wages shot through the roof. What was once visionary became burdensome. In an alternate universe, Arsène would be hailed as the visionary that he was—not just because of this club achieved during his time here but also because of what this club could have and, indeed, should have achieved during his time here.
I’ll freely admit that this is quite the hagiography. The man was not without his faults, and one could almost neatly divide his time at the helm into two parts—the first, a period of incredible, almost insurmountable success; the second, a period of disappointing, almost depressing setbacks. To some degree, the latter is qualified by the former. After all, once one sets such high standards, it becomes very difficult indeed to continue to match them.
Arsène earned this statue a long, long time ago. I’ll just leave it at that.
For me there is almost always a missed point when writers, fans and those who are both refer to the ‘fall in standards’ suffered after the move from Highbury and, in my opinion, is as great as an achievement as the unbeaten season . Until Arsenal very Premier League club that built a new stadium were relegated from that division. Not only did Arsene keep us in the Premier League, even more impressively, astoundingly in fact, he kept Arsenal in the Champions League. For consecutive twenty or so years! Like the unbeaten season, unheard of in the 1900s and maybe never to be repeated, the first since the late 1800, something else no other team has done since and may never, the consistency in qualifying for the Champions League year after year was an amazing achievement. As important for Arsenal’s past and present place in football as was his astute recognition of Captain Mikael Arteta’s managerial abilities and his support for Mr. Arteta’s future career. A career that in time may surpass even Mr. Wenger’s own. A statue is the very least he deserves. Naming the stadium after him would be more appropriate.
Sadly naming rights have become a commodity that result in new names as often as a team needs money and as often as a new corporate sponsor is willing to pay what is now the equivalent of a lease for the right to flog their brand and to cover the cost of new signage. Stadia named after places or people are now becoming a relic. Even universities in the US sell those rights to the highest bidder or wealthiest alumnus.
I suspect the Emirates would ever accept the name change, but they too, may one day depart from the scene and one could hope. Maybe “Wenger Field” at The Emirates might satisfy the airline and their government
money makes the world go ’round, I suppose. “Emirates Stadium” may never have the ring to it that Highbury has, but your compromise sounds satisfactory to me.
One element I resisted exploring was the idea that Wenger “sold his soul” when he moved the club to that larger, revenue-generating stadium. Had Wenger’s vision come to fruition, we would have won a few Prem titles and maybe even the Champions League, and that would have gone a long way to assuaging any lingering misgivings about the move.
Eddie, you may have said it better than I did!
I believe the only other club to have qualified for UCL longer than we’d done is Real Madrid, and, they, of course, never had to do it with Danny Welbeck up top, Manuel Almunia between the sticks, or the likes of Santos, Senderos, or Squillaci in defense.
Ironically, his decision to stay away from the club seems to have only burnished his reputation (by contrast with someone like Ferguson who looms over his successors whenever he attends a match). It would be nice to see him assume some role at the club, even if if were only ceremonial.
Aside from the success he delivered, we’ve been blessed to have such a humane, humble and intelligent manager here. My hat’s off to him.
Amen, Eddie.
I’d only add that the football continued to be a purists dream.
The true giants are those who, not only achieve greatness, success, and rewards, but are also astute and aware of when it is time to rest on their laurels, step back to survey the scene of their achievements, and depart before their inevitable decline occurs. Sometimes that moment occurs without planning, possibly even due to death that leaves our hero as a martyr, even if not deserved, but sadly, our heroes stay too long or outstay their welcomes and the subsequent decline is painful for most to witness and bear.
Wenger’s achievements, not only in lifting a mid-table team to great heights, but for bringing the beautiful game to many who never knew what football could be, and for building Colney and the Emirates without many funds and while still maintaining a high level of play, will always be a part of his legacy and why he deserves a statue at the “house he built”.
Sadly, like many a hero, he stayed too long and tried, somewhat unsuccessfully to hold back the tides of history. The game changed, not only stylistically, but also by becoming a rich man’s toy that allows players to come and go without a sense of loyalty or betrayel. Players are bought for as much as the Emirates cost to build and they and managers are tossed aside without regard.
Whether Wenger ever saw this coming ng is hard to tell, since he seemed to keep trying to play, both on and off the pitch, the way he had when he began, only to draw the ire of the fandom that had idolized him and to be deposed when it became apparent that success would not return as was hoped and that was now a shadow of the hero we once looked upon with awe.
With luck, when such writings as this are needed as eulogies, history may be kinder than it was when he left Arsenal, most probably because harsh memories often fade first and we will only recall the high points such as the Invincibles, the undefeated seasons, and we see seethe stars he found and developed.
Oh my…I applaud you Jon for at least recognizing his largely self-inflicted period of mediocrity, which was aptly defined by emergence of the Wenger Cup…I have to wonder what might have been if Dein had found a way to avoid his excommunication, as it became increasingly clear that, when left to his own devices, Wenger was like Belichick without Brady…of course, he deserves plenty of flowers for the first half of his tenure, but maybe his statue should have had an asterisk or at least a zipper
defined by “the” emergence
I was only after a hagiography related to the unveiling of the statue and thought it best to only touch briefly on how things faded from the admittedly inimitable heights to which Wenger took the club. Without Dein, Wenger struggled with transfer dealings, due in part to the financial limitations he put on the club through committing to the new stadium, in part to his own purist philosophy around a self-sustaining club, in part to seeing other clubs spend money in a way that would make drunken sailors blush. Whatever the recipe was, I’d say it’s a testament to what he achieved when the playing field was more-level that 20 years of Champions League qualification on the budget he had dissatisfied so many fans. As he put it, if you eat caviar every day, it’s difficult to return to sausage. If we could switch the two halves of his tenure such that he’d won the Prem and went undefeated in the last decade instead of the first, no one would ever question his achievements.
Wenger deserves his plaudits but…”a mid table club”?
Tell that to Gorgeous George!
Fair point – I should have added more context. Prior to Wenger’s time, we’d pop up with a league title here and there but were usually outside the top four (I think our average league position pre-Wenger was something like 7.2). It speaks a lot to what he’s achieved that 20 years in the top four still left so many fans unsatisfied. If we could flip the second decade with the first, there’d be no question about his legacy. He burned too bright at the start, and nothing could ever match that (although another Prem title would have been quite nice).
A fine write-up Jon.
Just as fine, the followup by Eddie.
I’ve had the good fortune to have been a fan of two clubs whose reputations had greatly been forged by a visionary manager or head coach.
Don Shula and Arsene Wenger.
Shula, the head coach of the NFL Miami Dolphins was the winningest coach in the league’s history. Growing up in Miami, I was inspired by Shula’s methods and ability to innovate. I became enamored with sports strategy early in life mostly due to his brand of leadership. Shula coached the Dolphins for 26 seasons. Winning back-to-back Super Bowls in ’72-’73, including the only undefeated season in NFL history in ’72.
I went on to captain teams as a player in several sports, and began coaching in youth leagues at age 15. In my early 20s I took up the game of Ultimate (Frisbee), a game I captained teams in for over 20 years– mostly at the highest level– competing in a pair of world championship events in the 90s.
About the time I hung up my cleats, I learned of Arsene Wenger. His early career at Arsenal closely mirrored that of Shula’s– in successes, vision, and innovation.
While I’d only played soccer for a few years in high school and college– the parallels between Wenger and Shula– was the bond which welded me to Arsenal (and Arsene)– as a fan for life. Supporting Arsenal seemed as familiar as when I was a teenager cheering on Shula and his Dolphins.
It’s a comfort then, that Mikel Arteta has stepped into Arsene Wenger’s shoes. The traditions, the culture, the club’s DNA as it were– were nearly lost to history.
With Arsene’s recent return to The Emirates, and now his legacy being honored for posterity– the circle has been closed.
Here’s to Arsene Wenger.
Here’s to Arsenal.
COYG!
your love of all things overrated and lacking in self-awareness is duly noted…it’s all starting to make sense now (lol)
Is this a pot/kettle moment? Hmm…
obviously you didn’t understand the context of my comment Jon, but I get why you might want to stir the like-minded pot…in a way it’s like agreeing with your ventriloquist dummy
I’ve got pimples on my ass bigger and more bothersome than you.
Pimples are annoying, aren’t they?
jw1—I would have no doubt that’s the case, but surely it’s not something worthy of bragging about…you and consolsbob should start a two peas in a pod old school radio show for those who want nothing more than a little like-minded, lightweight banter in the background when they’re doing their Stuart Smiley-esque daily affirmations…much like Wenger, your other managerial/coaching hero should have left a decade or so earlier, which btw is just one of the reasons why he’s likewise overlooked when people of some import talk about the greatest ever
Lads, you have me over there clutching pearls and smelling salts.
I don’t want a like-minded echo chamber in which we’re all holding hands and singing kumbaya, but I do want light-hearted banter, real friendly like. Things got toxic enough in the waning Wenger days when this club felt like a ship without a rudder, taking on water, listing to one side, etc. etc etc. Here we are on the back of our best season in decades, but the tone of some of these comments is more-personal than I’d care for. If we can’t take the piss out of each other in a way that brings out a wry chuckle or at least a grin out of both sides, I may have to take what we’ll call measures.
Please set aside the ad hominem stuff. Critique the idea, not the person offering it.
my comments were specifically about the coaches/managers he referenced and weren’t meant as a direct personal attack…don’t you think it’s a little wierd that his two favourites followed an eerily similar script, which ultimately harmed the very teams they supposedly cherished more than anything else…as such, it was more of a glutton for punichment take, which I then related to his love of all things Arteta…hardly personal, unlike their primary school retorts…Cheers
punishment
AST, it’s a bit flimsy to hide behind the idea that your comments “weren’t meant as a direct personal attack” when almost the entirety of the comment I’ve replied to consisted of snide jibes more likely to win people up than to advance a meaningful debate. This isn’t the first time we’ve touched on this issue. I’d love for it to be the last.
to be fair, my comments were made before I read you admonishment…not to mention, I simply responded in kind to comments made in my direction
your admonishment
Trolls will have fun…So much for welcoming opinions respect.
nice word salad bobby…one good have a
By the way, I wrote several blog articles of the ‘Wenger out’ variety over several years. Still, don’t let truth get in the way of your assumptions, eh?