Arsene Wenger: Too Good to be True

Arsene who?

That was the cry that could be heard when the media got wind that a certain monsieur Wenger would be taking charge of an Arsenal team that hadn’t sustained a challenge for the EPL title since its inception in 1992.

I was a young 12-year-old boy not yet fully educated in the ways of football before Arsene took over, but over the next decade I, and others, have been taught a true football master class.

Innovator

When Arsene finally took charge in September 2006, one of the first things he changed was the players' diets and training techniques (isometrics being one of them). In doing this he extended the playing careers of the elder players in the team like Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Adams, Bould, Keown, and probably Bergkamp as well.

When the English players would meet up with the England squad, players from other clubs were amazed at the fitness levels of the Arsenal lads. This in turn filtered back to other Premiership clubs and they soon started to follow suit.

Style

Arsenal have won titles in the past and will win them in the future, but never in the style in which Arsene got them playing from the moment he took over. Gone were the days of the English style of booting the ball up field for the striker. These days you vary rarely even see the Arsenal goalkeepers hitting it long, instead preferring to look for a short pass to launch another attack.

Arsenal always look to play fast-flowing, attractive, attacking football that neutrals—even rivals—can't help but watch and appreciate. The way of playing football that Wenger instilled in his team led to Arsenal completing the 2003-04 season unbeaten. This invincible achievement may never be done again and is something that the great Scotsman up at Old Trafford can only dream about.

The funny thing is, Wenger predicted that his team would do it a season earlier.

Eye For Talent

Arsene also used his extensive knowledge on players to build an exhaustive network and enviable youth system. He has bought relative unknowns and made them into world-class players. If there has been one gripe about Arsene Wenger and Arsenal it is that they apparently have stifled English talent by bringing through too many foreigners. Although his next batch of young superstars are English, according to the man himself and the man responsible for said youth system—Liam Brady.

On Arsenal.com Liam stated, "I’m very excited about what we have at Under-16, Under-17 and Under-18 level, especially with regards to the English boys." With the academy set to be churning out English talent, the English media may see that Arsene has been sorting out the state of English football all along.

To add to all his achievements, he also helped design Arsenal's youth academy, training ground, and stadium. The legacy Arsene will leave at the club in the way that he has transformed it very much draws comparison to what Herbert Chapman achieved in his time there.

So enjoy the lesson while you can because, like Herbert, you don't know what you've got until its gone.