Arsenal are expected to challenge for the Premier League title this season.
Former Arsenal man Ray Parlour
Arsenal legends Ray Parlour and Nigel Winterburn were speaking live on Sky Sports now at 10:37 am on September 22nd, and discussed Arsene Wenger’s impact on the club when he joined 20 years ago.
During Wenger’s tenure, Arsenal have failed to finish outside of the top-four, but Parlour claims he was unaware who the Frenchman was upon his arrival in 1996:
“To be honest with you, I didn’t have a clue who Arsene Wenger was, and I think a lot of the squad didn’t. David Dein said this man will take the club forward – he knew him from his Monaco days. I remember his first meeting with the players, you could sense he wanted to move the club forward.”
The Arsenal boss has received his fair share of criticism in recent years for his failure to win the Premier League title since 2004, but his ability to ensure the Gunners’ Champions League qualification in every single season during his tenure cannot be underestimated.
Nigel Winterburn
Winterburn discussed Wenger’s initial impact on the squad, and when asked what the first thing to catch his attention was, he told Sky Sports:
“For me, when we started the training, the attention to detail with Wenger, he was the first one out on the training pitch, and last one to go in. I loved everything about his training. It was high-energy. It was short, it was sharp, it was precise. It would have been very, very difficult for a player not to like the style that Arsene Wenger played in.”
One of the main criticism’s of Wenger is that he has failed to evolve with the times, and the once revolutionary ideas and philosophies that he brought to the club in 1996 have now been surpassed by new innovative ideas.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
The Gunners have put a poor start to their season behind them, with three consecutive league wins, and currently sit fourth in the Premier League table.
Next up for Arsenal is a home game against Chelsea on Saturday in the 17:30 kick-off live on BT Sport.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
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