Saluting the stubborn, principled perfectionist that is Arsene Wenger

Premier League / Feizal Rahman / 04 October 2009 / Leave a Comment

"Where once Wenger enjoyed a competitive advantage over his rivals with his superior knowledge of the continental transfer market, now there is perfect knowledge throughout the league, with Arsenal also priced out of signing the best talent by what he terms the 'financial doping' of clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City."

The Frenchman became Arsenal's longest serving manager this week, yet despite the great success he has enjoyed in north London some are beginning to question the direction the club are going. Feizal Rahman offers an appreciaton of the last 13 years

When Arsene Wenger first walked through the marble halls of Highbury 13 years ago, no-one could have predicted his footsteps would leave such a lasting impression. While most initially questioned 'Arsene Who?', the Frenchman has this week become Arsenal's longest serving manager and is arguably its greatest.

It's easy to forget the magnitude of Wenger's impact on the North London club. Derided as a boring, long-ball team with few redeeming features, in 1996 Arsenal was a club in crisis. The trophy-laden years of George Graham were distant memories with bung scandals and drug and alcohol addictions off the pitch exacerbating the on-field woes. Coming in not so much as a breath of fresh air but as a tornado of rejuvenation, Wenger revolutionised training methods, player diets and more importantly the footballing ethos of the club.

With the defensive old-guard revitalised, Wenger sought to introduce a style of attacking football previously unseen on these shores and in his first full season delivered a Premier League and FA Cup double. But like history's greatest pioneers, where Wenger led, others soon followed.

The transformation of Arsenal filtered through to the rest of the top flight with other clubs looking to advance themselves using methods long taken for granted on the continent. With footballers becoming athletes, the standard of the game improved drastically and the Premier League has now overtaken Italy's Serie A and arguably Spain's La Liga as the finest in the world. Where foreign players were seen as a gamble, now they form the majority of most teams and where clubs never looked beyond the white cliffs of Dover for their manager, now even the national job is undertaken by an Italian.

Throwing down the gauntlet as he has done, Wenger has undoubtedly brought the best out of his main rival over the years, Sir Alex Ferguson. Bar a cash-fuelled blip in 1995 when Blackburn landed the title, Wenger was the first to genuinely threaten Manchester United's dominance of the Premier League. Yet, like a mythical Greek beast, having cut one head off, another grew back. Along with the advancement of billionaire-backed Chelsea, Wenger perhaps gave Ferguson a new lease of life, where once he looked set to retire.

Having fallen behind in the title race over the past four seasons, with United, Chelsea and Liverpool duking it out (United [3.35], Chelsea [2.88] to win Premier League 2009/10), Wenger's biggest challenge now is maintaining his side's top four status. Where he once enjoyed a competitive advantage over his rivals with his superior knowledge of the continental transfer market, now there is perfect knowledge throughout the league, with Wenger also priced out of signing the best talent by what he terms the 'financial doping' of clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City (City [2.16], Arsenal [1.41] for a top four finish).

As such, the task he is faced with today is perhaps even more demanding than when he first arrived. In an ironic twist, the Frenchman who was once criticised for not promoting enough home-grown players is now developing a group of youngsters with a distinct British flavour. Theo Walcott is already a regular when fit while the likes of Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Aaron Ramsey are pushing for first team action, having proven themselves in Carling Cup action ([10.0] to win 2009/10). This the result of Wenger's long-term vision of a club that can become self-sufficient on the pitch as well as the balance sheet.

Without a trophy in four seasons, however, the potential for greatness needs to be realised sooner rather than later. The Champions League remains unconquered but may be Arsenal's best chance of ending the drought ([13.0] to win), having gone closer to European rather than domestic glory in recent years.

Undoubtedly a flawed genius, Wenger's stubborn adherence to his footballing philosophy may have cost Arsenal a degree of success in recent years and where he was once viewed as a deity by the Emirates faithful, some have been forced to question their faith. But the romantic notion to create something not just functional but also beautiful and principled keeps Wenger believing. Some may say he's a dreamer. He's not the only one.