Arsène Wenger: Invincible
Born in Strasbourg and raised in Duttlenheim, France, Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger has served Arsenal Football Club as a manager for over 20 years, from 1996 to 2018, leaving behind great achievements, unforgettable records, and an interesting management philosophy.
But how does Wenger really put his personal touch in the history of football?
1- Wenger was a revolutionary? maybe
“The biggest things in life have been achieved by people who, at the start, we would have judged crazy. And yet if they had not had these crazy ideas the world would have been more stupid.” — Arsène Wenger.
Wenger was the role model of “thinking out of the box,” a man who was anything but traditional. Coming from Japan, a country and culture completely different from England, he did not follow the bias of the English game and started to bring new players, new strategies, and a new spirit of thinking. He brought national diversity and the principle of “laissez-faire” with more intuition and freedom of thought for the players themselves.
2- The team spirit we need
“I believe [team spirit] is a little bit like a flower. You have to take care of it and look after it every day, or else it will slowly die. But as well, you can make the flower bigger, better and prettier if you care for it.” — Arsène Wenger.
Football, like any other popular sport, has more pressure on every member of the team, from the club owner to the player himself, and this requires a strong team spirit to maintain the connection and good motivation in the most difficult moments. Wenger keeps his players in good physical and mental shape by adopting a resilient management style. In one of his interviews after Arsenal’s 1–1 draw with Middlesbrough, he said, “If you eat caviar every day, it’s hard to go back to sausages,” which illustrates the difficulty of keeping a winning mindset in all situations, even the least profitable ones.
3- Believe the young:
“If you have a child who is a good musician, what is your first reaction? It is to put them into a good music school, not in an average one. So why should that not happen in football?” — Arsène Wenger.
POV: You’re signing a 16-year-old player with no experience in the major European leagues, no history, and no fan base. What will the fans and the football community think of this decision? a stupid move? a risky one? or maybe a waste of time and money? Well, the 16-year-old player that Wenger signed was Cesc Fàbregas.
Investing in young talent and giving them the means to achieve excellence was one of Le Boss’s best management skills, despite all the criticism he received.
4- An optimistic, no? A realistic, YEP!
“The only moment of possible happiness is the present. The past gives regrets. And future uncertainties. “ — Arsène Wenger.
When Wenger announced that they would finish the 2003/04 season undefeated, all the journalists laughed at him.
And yes, Wenger was quite aware of his own words, with 26 wins and 12 draws, Arsenel won the title with a margin of 11 points, undefeated! to this day, no other football club can beat that record.
But with great achievements come great sacrifices, as shown in the Netflix documentary “Arsène Wenger: Invincibles”, the team underwent enormous mental and physical pressure to count in a “perfect” way until the last whistle of the season.
5- Speaking data
“Of the nine red cards this season we probably deserved half of them.” — Arsène Wenge.
What many people do not know is that Wenger has a master’s degree in economics. He and Arsenal became one of the first football clubs to adopt StatDNA, an US sports performance analysis company, which was purchased by the club with the aim of creating an internal analysis department, providing measurable information to inform everything from tactical development to talent strategies.
A leadership role model, that’s what he is! Arsène Wenger has not only brought pure entertainment to the Premier League, he has also changed the point of view toward management tactics and team spirit that could inspire the organizations all over the world.
