Jake Swinburn 
The stories of Arsene Wenger and Arsenal football club, in the Premier League era are perhaps the two most beautifully intertwined of all. In their heyday, under Wenger, Arsenal displayed a scintillating brand of expressive, quality football.
They had players with so many qualities, that if they were to be listed, the superlatives would simply go on too long to feature in a piece of writing.
It was in 1996 that Arsene Wenger replaced Bruce Rioch as Arsenal manager. He spoke of “the spirit of the club”, but it seemed that, under Wenger, the spirit and the philosophy of the club would change forever. At a club like Arsenal, the ultimate philosophy remains the same, to win. With the size of the fanbase, the stature of the club and the richness of their history, anything less than winning will never be accepted.
In Wenger’s first season, Arsenal missed out on the Champions League, to Newcastle United, but had still managed to achieve a third placed finish. Wenger had though, already begun to stamp his mark. He had discouraged the players from drinking as much, eating too much red meat and junk food and instead promoted healthier white meat, in order to help the players’ stamina on the pitch.
In the pre-season that followed, Wenger continued to stamp his mark. Taking the players to their now regular pre-season base in Austria. He signed a number of players; most importantly, French duo Nicolas Anelka and Emmanuel Petit, as well as Dutch winger, Marc Overmars, who Wenger thought would add pace and power to the side.
Despite this, the first half of the 1997-98 season was less than successful, with the club sitting sixth at Christmas. However, as the season went on, Arsenal began to close the gap on leaders Manchester United, to the extent that a clash between the two looked set to decide the title. Arsenal won the game 1-0, with a goal from Wenger’s man, Overmars.
This was followed by nine consecutive league victories and a victory in the F.A Cup final, against Newcastle, the team who had pipped them to a Champions League spot the previous year. With Wenger becoming the first foreign manager to win the double, the progression was obvious. The added pace and power had worked.
It took until the following January for the next obvious sign of progression to be seen. Wenger had sold Ian Wright, leaving only Anelka and Dennis Bergkamp to compete for the forward positions in the side. In the January however, reinforcements arrived and they arrived in the form of the Nigerian, Kanu.
Kanu gave Arsenal another option. He had skill and a great touch, common features in an Arsene Wenger signing, but he also had strength and his large frame made it awkward for defenders to play against. Kanu, however, could not do enough to win Arsenal the league. That season they finished second and were eliminated from the F.A Cup at the semi-final stage. It was Manchester United who would prove to be the better side, in both competitions.
Wenger and Arsenal then lost another striker in the summer, with Anelka joining Real Madrid. Anelka’s transfer would seem to be a negative, but it turned out to be a display of Arsene Wenger’s intelligence in the transfer market. Anelka, who was bought for a relatively small fee, would be sold for over £20 million.
With Anelka gone, the next step would naturally be, to replace him. Davor Suker joined from Real, while Thierry Henry would also come in from Juventus.
Wenger’s Arsenal would then go through a barren spell. Winning nothing until the 2001-02 season, when they would win the double. That is not to say, however, that the evolution of the team had stalled. If anything, it was quite the contrary. Wenger had re-shaped his side, with Henry improving every year, to become the catalyst to Arsenal’s further success.
Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Lauren, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljunberg had all now joined, or in the case of Cole, graduated from the academy and their influence would go on to be felt in the most iconic side the Premier League has ever seen.
After the double in 2001-02, club captain Tony Adams would retire from football. Wenger would replace him with the dynamic, powerful and tenacious midfielder, Patrick Vieira. The role would improve Vieira even more, he would truly become the real life personification of Captain Marvel.
However, Arsenal would be pipped to the title by Manchester United the following season but they would retain the F.A Cup. It spoke volumes for Wenger and his ever-evolving side, that this would be considered something of a disappointment. It was felt, by so many, that Arsenal were capable of so much more.
The following season, they would deliver what they had promised. They would win the league, without a single defeat. They were truly ‘invincible.’ Wenger had felt his side could do it and they did. They won the league with a brand of beautiful, one touch, quick football, coupled with amazing skill, moments of individual brilliance as well as a toughness and willingness to commit to any challenge. They were a complete team, with so many different qualities.
This is, however, one example, of where football, sadly, is no different to everyday life. What goes up must come down. They would win the FA Cup the following season, before a nine year wait for the next trophy, which was again the FA Cup.
What had gone wrong? Ultimately, this may never be fully known. However, a number of factors that had contributed so much to Wenger’s success, seemed also to contribute to his downward spiral. Where Wenger had once set the benchmark where transfer business was concerned, he now seemed to be more concerned with making a profit than he was with finding adequate replacements.
This only got worse as time went on, as did Wenger’s reliance on playing football in a beautiful way. This was something that he had always done, but he suddenly seemed to believe that he had always played ‘total football’, seemingly forgetting about the combative sides of the likes of Gilberto Silva and the great Vieira and replacing them with more and more playmakers.
It may be the case that too many cooks spoil the broth and Wenger simply had too many creative players in his squad, as time went on. There was no plan B, no second option and, in short, no way to change the game.
