When Arsene Wenger was announced as the new manager of Arsenal F.C., in September 1996, few in the country had heard about the Frenchman and one of the common exclaimations was "Arsene Who".

Personally I was also one of those who hadn't a clue who he was. At first my thoughts were very apprehenisve but apprehension soon lead to optimism after I had viewed the bio-data of Mr Wenger.

Arsene Wenger The Player
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He started his amateur playing career with a French Third Division side called Mutzig. His position was as a sweeper-defender.

He turned professional in 1978, whilst with Strasbourg. He also played for other sides Mulhous and Vauban during his playing career.

His achievements as a player are rather neglible other than the French title winners medal he secured with Strasbourg one year after his debut with them.

But as one sports writer put it, the atributes required to play football at the highest level often go into reverse when it comes to management.

Arsene Wenger the Manager
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He secured his manager diploma during 1981 in Paris. He first assignment was as youth team coach at Strasbourg.

He also had a brief spell as assistant coach with Cannes and after two years he was appointed as manager of Nancy. Unfortunately his inaugural managerial appointment did not get off to a good start as Nancy was relegated in his first season in charge.

In 1987 he was appointed as manager of Monaco. This was the start of success for Arsene Wenger and he won the French Championship in 1988, the French Cup in 1991, the final of the Cup Winners Cup aswell as qualifying for the European Cup in 1988-89.

During his seven years at Monaco his team always finished in the top three positions. He also worked with and signed players that would one day become icons of football in their respective countries. Glenn Ho
ddle, George Weah, Jean Tigana, Mark Hately were some of fine examples.

Due to his success with Monaco he was offered jobs with the French National team and with the German giants Bayern Munich.

He was surprisingly sacked by Monaco in 1995 and promptly took his managerial experience to far away Japan, where he joined Grampus Eight. He took the Japanese club from third from bottom to second place and also won the Japanese Cup.

In 1996 he was appointed as manager of Arsenal F.C. and replaced Bruce Rioch.



During his tenure at Arsenal he has become undoubtedly the north London clubs most successful manager.

As mentioned earlier in this op the cries of “Arsene Who”, when his appointment was announced, were soon replaced by “Theirs Only One Arsene Wenger”.

During his first season in charge he was met with an ageing squad and a dilapidated youth setup.

His first acquisition was of Patrick Vieira from A.C. Milan at a cost of £3.5 million. Emmanuel Petit and Nicolas Anelka soon followed this. Later Marc Overmars was added to the squad.

That very season saw Arsenal put in a spirited title challenge for the first time since 1991.

Emmanuel Petit and Nicolas Anelka followed, with Dutchman Marc Overmars adding to the foreign influx.

Arsene Wenger not only bought his managerial experience on the pitch but also off the pitch. He prompted Arsenal into drastically improving the training facilities and into concentrating heavily on the youth policy.

He also introduced his own blend of training routine, which included changing the player’s diets and introducing hitherto unknown exercises and tactical training maneuvers.
All of this was done in the shortest possible time and today Arsenal Football Club have born the fruit of Wenger’s actions.

In his second season (1997/98) at the helm Arsenal went on to do “The Double
221; by winning the Premiership and the FA Cup. This was second time that Arsenal had achieved the domestic “Double”.

Prior to the start of the 1999/00 season Wenger purchased Thierry Henry, Savor Suker, Silvinho, Oleg Luzhny and Stefan Malz.

More players were brought in prior to the 2000/01 season and these were Robert Pires, Lauren, Wiltord, Ljungberg, Kanu and Igors Stepanovs.

What is quite amazing about Arsene Wenger is his foresight in the transfer market. Players like Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars and Nicholas Anelka, who were pivotal in the Double Winning campaign of 1997/98, were later sold off for huge profits. Wenger seems to be able to bring out the best in so many players and thus significantly improve their market value.

Again the start of the 2001/02 campaign saw Wenger introducing even more players to the Arsenal roster. These included Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Francis Jeffers, Richard Wright and Junichi Inamoto. However the most amazing of these new signings had to be that of Sol Campbell who made the move from arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur, on a free transfer.

Wenger’s style and approach have won him many plaudits from sport personalities the world over and these include players. Gone are those days when Arsenal was sometimes referred to as playing a very boring style of football. Gone are those days when the fans used to chant “Boring Boring Arsenal” or “1-0 to the Arsenal”.

Wenger has introduced his own style of attacking football that is a joy to watch. No doubt more goals have been conceded but that is more than made up in goals scored.

He has created a squad with great depth and this was strenuously put to the test during this current campaign. Arsenal came through that with flying colours and today are 5 points clear at the top of the Premiership table with only two games to be played.
The next premiership game is against Manchester U
nited at Old Trafford and just a draw will be enough to secure Arsenal with the championship.

This Saturday May 11, 2002, will see Arsenal take on Chelsea in the FA Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Arsene Wenger has made Arsenal into a formidable team that is well respected not only in Britain but also worldwide. Some improvements have still to be made in away matches played in Europe. This is surprising considering Arsenal’s unbeaten away record in the Premiership so far this season.

After finishing runners up in the Premiership to Manchester United in the last three seasons, Arsenal has now significantly closed the gap. Infact I am confident that there is now no gap whatsoever and in the seasons to come the race for the title will be just as exciting and close as this current one.

As an Arsenal supporter from the age of five, that’s 32 years now, I think that the club owe all their success to Arsene Wenger. Not only has be built a formidable team but he had also laid the framework for future generations with his insistence and personal attention to the youth policy. He has also filled the coffers with his shrewd acumen in the transfer market, which has given him immense respect at the board level.

I expect to see much more success for Arsenal in the future and with Arsene Wenger at the helm.