Former coach Arsène Wenger turns 75

 

Since leaving Arsenal FC, Arsène Wenger has stayed away from English football. He also only comments sporadically about what is happening in the league. The reluctance is not a reflection of a lack of interest after coaching Arsenal for half an eternity, from October 1996 to June 2018. But a sign of respect for his successors. His presence could pose a problem for the club, Wenger said two years ago. He is holding back, he wants to give Arsenal the chance to usher in a new era.

There is no reason for Wenger to interfere. His life’s work will continue, as he always hoped. Players influenced by him have followed in his footsteps: Mikel Arteta is the coach, Edu is the sports director and Per Mertesacker is the youth director. Arsenal is also playing for the championship this season. This is possibly the best present for him, Wenger celebrates his 75th birthday on Tuesday.

The Premier League record coach coached the club to 704 wins in 1,228 competitive games, including an unrivaled seven triumphs in the FA Cup. Wenger won the last of his three English championships without defeat in the 2003/04 season. “I was impressed by his vision because he is one of the few coaches who have a clear idea of ​​​​the offensive game,” says Jens Lehmann to the NZZ.

Lehmann was the goalkeeper for Wenger’s undefeated championship team and later worked as his assistant. Wenger gave the players freedom because he was convinced that they would always find the best solution. This style of play, which was based on quick ball circulation, went down in history as “one-touch football”.

“Arsène who?”: England’s media is skeptical

When he arrived on the island, hardly anyone believed Wenger could revolutionize the then dreamy Arsenal with avant-garde ideas, including nutrition and regeneration of the players. The Evening Standard greeted him with the headline “Arsène who?” – because Wenger was the first French coach in England and had previously only managed clubs in his homeland and Japan. Nobody knew him except Arsenal’s deputy chairman David Dein.

Dein had already met him at an Arsenal game in 1989 and invited him to dinner. In his book, Dein notes that Wenger in no way seemed like a classic football coach, but was “worldly.”

“A tall, slim Frenchman steps onto the podium and we immediately notice that he is a completely different animal,” wrote reporter Myles Palmer in his homage “The Professor” about Wenger’s introduction to Arsenal. Because of his intellectual demeanor, the English press gave him this nickname.

The “most economically successful manager”

Lehmann also talks about Wenger’s intellect. Even after working together for a long time, he still says something that makes you think about it. Unforgotten is Wenger’s correct prediction from 2005, when he saw an imbalance looming between the clubs due to the influence of investors, which was only just beginning at the time. He criticized the cash injections as “financial doping”.

Such a competitive advantage contradicted Wenger’s attitude, which was shaped by his parents, who ran a bistro in Alsace. His childhood was an “education in ingenuity, persistence, passion, physical effort,” he noted in his autobiography “My Life and Lessons in Red and White.” This is how he later led Arsenal. If you look at his transfer record and take into account that the club under him built a new stadium with its own resources, Wenger is the “most economically successful manager” of the past decades, says Lehmann.

The gentleman’s personality also includes a quality that is not yet generally known. According to Lehmann, Wenger has a healthy sporting aggressiveness. The former German national goalkeeper remembers an away game at arch-rivals Manchester United when a fire alarm went off in the hotel the night before.

Wenger was insulted by a drunken United fan in front of the entrance. This time the coach, who was always in control, was unable to hold back. “He grabbed the fan,” reports Lehmann, and the supervisors had to mediate. Lehmann is certain that without this mentality you cannot be successful.

 

Wenger now works as a football promoter around the world

In his final years at Arsenal, Wenger’s qualities were only partially expressed. The generation of players had changed; it seemed as if they were taking advantage of the coach’s team leadership, which emphasized personal responsibility. The club slipped and Wenger left. No matter what kind of life you lead, you have to find the meaning in it: He did that because football was his meaning in life, said Wenger, summing up his work.

He is now FIFA director responsible for global football promotion. He travels all over the world – but if you want to see Wenger in England, you have to come to the Arsenal stadium. There is now a statue of him in front of the entrance gates.