Arsene Wenger: A 13-Gun Salute!

Alright, so I might have previously been a little harsh on him.

But yesterday, as he walked out of Arsenal's training ground for the 4,750th time (that's if you include summer holidays and international breaks, which, let's face it, no one would put past him), thus ensuring he has spent more days at the helm of Arsenal Football Club than any other boss, it is fair to say that all the recent mistakes (and a shed load of bad luck along the way) must be put behind to one side, saluting a true genius of the game. A true ambassador for the game.

A man who has truly changed the face of the sport as a whole, and who has changed the face of Arsenal to the world.

I say all this without even taking a moment to highlight his footballing achievements. The Doubles he has won, or going 49 league matches without defeat. Cups, unearthing legends out of nowhere, and reaching the European Cup Final on a shoestring.

For Arsène Wenger's legacy in Arsenal, English, and world football will go way beyond what he has won and what he will still surely win. A man true to his principles, and having arrived from Japan as an absolute unknown back in September 1996 (Arsène Who? and all that), not many will have envisaged that he would still be here today.

Well, I certainly didn't, not that I had any fully-fledged foresight as a mere ten year-old!

With just three years a long time in football management nowadays, it is incredible to think that Le Boss has led us for 13, with at least two more years to come!

Indeed, with the rife speculation that Wenger may pack up and head to pastures new once 2008/09 drew to a crushingly disappointing close (namely, Florentino Perez's "galacticos" era take 2), it seemed that we were headed to the end of an era. A largely glorious era coming to an inauspicious end.

But that's not the way Wenger wants it, and neither it is us. Indeed, a lot has changed since the elegantly-dressed, bespectacled 46-year-old Electric Engineering graduate with a Masters in Economics from Strasbourg (speaking six languages) took to the bench at Blackburn Rovers on 30th September, 1996, an orthodox 2-0 win.

With filthy rich clubs circling all around us, refereeing incompetence and the vultures of the media to boot today, Wenger's quiet demeanour and suave elegance has turned into one of a passionate combat fighter, full of animation, ready to outgun the doubters.

With trophies raining in on Highbury, and in some style, Le Boss was a pioneer (along with a certain Bobby Robson) in changing the style of play in English football, leading the way in demolishing the cynical "push-and-run" type of football and the 3-5-2 tactics that have for so long been the principles of English football.

Speaking of Highbury, and we can discuss at length another of Wenger's "miracles" as put so many times by David Dein. Seeing the need for globalisation and progression to becoming one of European football most glamorous names, the manager quickly pinpointed the vitality of a new, state-of-the-art, luxury training ground.

Pitches to all lengths and sizes (down to the grass blades), changing rooms, restaurants, you name it, there was one force behind it. Not content with a small capacity crowd and limited matchday revenue, he then oversaw our move to the Emirates Stadium. "Cashburden" it may seem now, but Wenger was thinking big, and it might all just start to click!

And, with every time you hear of his influence regarding the transition to a truly world-class outfit with world-class facilities from ex-players and staff alike, you learn that he was involved with it all, "from the training pitch to the teacups"!

Shrewd in the transfer market, and steadfastly committed to a free-flowing, exhilarating brand of football based on pace, power and athleticism, Wenger has revolutionised the perceptions of how English football should be played, unearthing gems along the way who would become some of the world's best.

From Vieira and Henry to Fabregas and van Persie, read an endless list of stars bought and nurtured for relative pennies, whilst others spent hundreds of millions with the net result of similar (or only just slightly better) recent successes!

I can go on all day long, after all the Away Boyz "We love you Arsène Wenger" single can succinctly sum up all I want to say! But everyone who knows anything football knows the true impact of Arsène Wenger on Arsenal and football in general.

Alright, we might be frustrated at times with the lack of silver in the club's new Emirates cabinet, citing some tactical mishaps, and more importantly, a lack of perceived necessary expenditure on tough-tackling, experienced players. However, the fact of the matter is, there is no one in the game with the class, knowledge and intelligence of one Arsène Wenger.

Everyone has their opinion and everyone sees things differently, but to me, and many, no one has quite changed the face of the game on so many levels than Arsène Wenger.

Sir Alex Ferguson has won ample trophies in his time, a true legend in the game. But Ferguson was not a changer. He might be second to none in the winning business, but if you want to talk diet, creatine supplements, revolutionary training methods, and the development of stars on a sixpence, and in fact, an asteroid named after him (that is a fact), then you will surely only find one name.

And, with the stable structure and with the team growing in maturity day after day, it is hard to bet against a new glorious era full of trophies for the Wenger boys.

A man who, before congratulating for his remarkable record as Arsenal's longest-serving manager, I congratulate you and me, and every living Arsenal supporter, for being blessed with one Arsène Wenger.

A man whose past includes the club's most glorious moments, and who has so intrinsically become an immovable part of Arsenal's future, it's hard to imagine Arsenal without Arsène.

Trust me, it's in the name...