Arsene Wenger has completed 21 years at Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger is a legendary figure at Arsenal. The Frenchman has been at the helm of the north London club for 21 years, and could continue for a few more years to come.
Popular football pundit Stan Collymore has described Wenger’s tenure in five adjectives. He wrote in his column for The Mirror:
“To sum up Wenger’s 21 years at Arsenal in five words I’d go for: Innovative, exceptional, invincible, average, poor,” wrote Collymore for The Mirror (printed edition; October 3rd – page 51).
Collymore is spot on here. When Wenger joined the Premier League in 1996, he brought new ideas to the club. He banned the drinking culture in the club, and introduced new food habits for the players.
Slowly and steadily, he built a strong squad capable of challenging for honours, and won his first Premier League title in 1997-98.
Post 2000, Arsenal reached a new level under Wenger who made some great signings – some of the players went on to become club legends later on.
He won two Premier League titles between 2001 and 2004, of which the 2003-04 was especially brilliant as they finished the season unbeaten.
However, post 2004, financial problems after moving in to the Emirates stadium, and failing to keep hold of top players, have seen Arsenal struggled to challenge for the title. But Wenger kept the team competitive and always finished within the top four.
In recent years, Arsenal have performed below expectations, and last season, they finished outside the top four.
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