Arsenal Opinion

Thursday the 1^st of October 2009 and Arsene Wenger celebrates thirteen long years in charge of Arsenal Football Club. He has today become the clubs longest serving manager and in my opinion the best signing we’ve ever made.

Listening to David Dein talking on Football Today brought a smile onto my face as I listened to how he wooed Wenger to dinner and how the Frenchman ever so calmly took the reins at Highbury in a laid-back, laissez faire style we’re are so use to seeing in all his dealings.

Dein met the then Monaco manager in the cocktail lounge of Highbury (although the vice chairman assured watchers that it was merely tea and biscuits on offer) and asked Wenger how long he was staying in town to which the Frenchman replied 24 hours. David Dein managed to conjure the greatest feat in one evening by landing Arsenal with their maker. Wenger took hold instantly changing players diets, positions and styles of football. He propelled the club to new heights and filled the trophy cabinets on a wonderfully regular basis wining the FA Cup three times in four years. If you fancy a little wager on Arsenal winning the FA Cup, check out Sports Betting.

Wenger who has studied medicine and economics has assured the survival of the North London football club for the next fifty years with his prudence and frugality. Since 1996 the Daily Mail is quoting that Wenger has spent less than Man Utd, Tottenham, Chelsea (of course), City (equally obvious), Liverpool and all manner of clubs leaving us down with the likes of Fulham & Co.

The word ‘best’ is thrown around a lot, so-and-so is the best striker, so-and-so is the best midfielder but I truly think that Arsene Wenger is the best manager in the world at this moment in time. Any Joe-Football-Manager-Player could walk into a club with a limitless check book and provide success and victories by signing the best the world has to offer. It takes true skill and a trained eye to pick up wonders like Robert Pires and Mark Overmars for tiny sums and turn them into stars. Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Andrey Arshavin (15 Mil was an absolute raping for Zenit) the list goes on and on of players who have arrived at the club and Wenger has turned into house hold names. Get involved in some Football Betting.

Now with players like Aaron Ramsey turning down a move to Manchester United to play at Arsenal (unthinkable pre-Wenger) it’s easy to see what affect this fifty-something has had on the footballing world, not just simply the premiership.

Arsenal are at a point of change again however. You can feel it every time you step out onto the terraces at the already fabled Emirates Stadium. You can see it in our fans; you can see it in the board members.

The footballing world has become and ugly, tyrannical place where everyday values and skills are replaced by the almighty dollar and wealthy owners looking for the shortcut to success. Owners whose sofas contain more loose change than the average person’s gross income!

With teams like Chelsea, United, Spurs, Liverpool and now City spending sums of £30 Million plus on a single player or hundreds of millions in a window it’s incredible that Arsenal still even compete.

Can you imagine Sralex’s face if he was told he had £10 Million to spend and that a Belgian centre-back could be his only signing? The gum would fall right out of his gaping mouth!

Yet Wenger does it. Thomas Vermaelen was our only signing (barring Jamie Edge from Cheltenham who’s fifteen) in the summer and has gelled with Gallas instantly.

Wenger’s legacy will be financial frugality, silverware success and propelling Arsenal to heights they could not have fathomed 13 years ago. Challenging Manchester United with a new brand of continental-football ensuring any team that can pass a ball is compared to Arsenal.

We can only hope (as David Dein said today) that Wenger will take a position on the board when he finally hangs up his boots. With uncertainty regarding two multi-billionaires eyeing up our club a level-headed, frugal, charismatic, cool character on the board would be a God send. And I think he would have just as much success on our financial playing field as he did on the one he parades up and down on a weekly basis.

So, there can be little left to say except, 13 unlucky for some:

Not for us.

Article written by Super Cesc.

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