The Professor: Arsène Wenger

250 Pages·2011·2.01 MB·English

by  Myles Palmer

About the Book

The French technocrat needed owners who trusted his ambitious, radical ideas, and Arsenal became the
ideal vehicle for him. That’s why he has stayed so long, won seven trophies, transformed the brand, and put
Arsenal on the world stage. Arsenal is a club where the directors do not interfere in the football side, so it
suites Arsène Wenger perfectly.
An Arsenal reporter for ten years before Wenger arrived in 1996, Myles Palmer already knew the club
intimately. He has studied Wenger’s methods and obsessions for twelve years and The Professor vividly
charts the changes, season by eventful season, including the dramatic Champion’s League final against
Barcelona, the historic move to the Emirates Stadium, the sale of Thierry Henry, the exit of David Dein,
and share acquisitions by billionaires Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov.
THE
PROFESSOR
Arsène Wenger at Arsenal
Myles Palmer
This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased,
licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the
publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted
by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement
of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9780753546611
www.randomhouse.co.uk
Published by Virgin Books Ltd 2008
Copyright © Myles Palmer 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008
Myles Palmer has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as
the author of this work.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired
out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than
that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the
subsequent purchaser.
Picture credits for photo section: page 6 (bottom) © John Stillwell/PA Archive/PA Photos; page 7 (top) ©
Christian Liewig/Corbis; (bottom) © Jon Super/AP/PA Photos; page 8 © Morton-Taamallah/ABACA/PA
Photos
First published in Great Britain in 2001 by
Virgin Books Ltd
Random House
Thames Wharf Studios,
Rainville Road
London W6 9HA
www.virginbooks.com
www.rbooks.co.uk
Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:
www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780753513446
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
CONTENTS

Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PREFACE
PROLOGUE: MISSION STATEMENT
1. FRANCE
2. JAPAN
3. BOOZE AND IGNORANCE
4. 1996/97: THE SEASON OF ANALYSIS
5. 1997/98: THE SEASON OF THE DOUBLE
6. 1998/99: THE SEASON OF ANELKA
7. 1999/2000: THE SEASON OF HENRY
8. 2000/01: THE SEASON OF ROTATION
9. 2001/02: THE SEASON OF THE SQUAD
10. 2002/03: THE SEASON OF 15 DRAWS
11. 2003/04: THE SEASON OF 38 GAMES UNBEATEN
12. 2004/05: THE SEASON OF FABREGAS AND SENDEROS
13. 2005/06: REAL MADRID, JUVENTUS, BARCELONA
14. 2006/07: THE FIRST SEASON AT THE EMIRATES STADIUM
15. 2007/08: ANOTHER DEVELOPMENTAL SEASON
Picture Section
Dedication
For Johnny Brooks, Keith McCormack, Vic Brooks, Chick Gilks, Steve Shaw, Dave ‘Fido’ Findlay, Mal
Chadwick, John Turner, Dick Labrom, Kevin Taylor, Keith Bell, Dave Murby, Sean Hobson, Joe
Matthews, Bob Crow and John Storey – the Manchester University footballers who gave me so many of
my happiest Wednesdays and Saturdays.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my journalist friends, especially Nigel Bidmead, Philippe Auclair, Kevin Connolly,
Gassan Waked, Amy Lawrence, Gary Jacob, Kaz Mochlinski and, in particular, the inspirational Rob
Hughes of the International Herald-Tribune, the man former UEFA chief Lennart Johannson and I regard
as the conscience of football. Conversations with Mitch Lawrence, Martin Wengrow, Doug D’Arcy,
Stewart Joseph, Mark Jacob, Alex Fynn and Kelvin Lewis have been entertaining and illuminating. Thanks
also to Virgin, for the title of the book, to my agent John Pawsey, and to my editor Gareth Fletcher.
In addition, many thanks to Ian Grant, who created arsenalsnewsreview.co.uk, the website where
some of these ideas were first kicked around. We are encouraged by the emails we receive from Arsenal
fans all round the world.
PREFACE

Arsène Wenger is a charismatic sports scientist who loves attacking football. He creates teams which
combine power, pace and artistry.
One of his most fervent admirers is Marcello Lippi, the only manager who has won the European
Cup and the World Cup. On 14 March 2008, before a Champions League quarter-final draw that featured
four English clubs, the great Italian coach said: ‘Any of the four could win the Champions League, but at
this moment the way Arsenal play is the one I like best. It would be good for football if Arsenal could win.
They play on the ground, they manoeuvre the ball very, very well. It’s very fast and very technical.’
Unfortunately, Arsenal lost 4–2 at Anfield.
Something many people still fail to understand is that Wenger is a developmental manager who gets
his kicks watching young players improve. In late February 2008 he said, ‘I believe a football team is not
about buying and selling. I believe it is more about building and working together and going through a
growing process. It is enjoyable now to see the team going slowly up and seeing what they can do.’
Unfortunately, Flamini jumped ship and joined AC Milan.
At the AGM on 18 October 2007, chairman Peter Hill-Wood said, ‘We have two new major
shareholders. Their arrival has, unfortunately, brought some degree of speculation about the future of the
club.’ He did not mention billionaires Stan Kroenke or Alisher Usmanov by name, but he clarified the new
‘lockdown’ agreement. The club’s directors would only be allowed to sell their shares to ‘permitted
persons’, such as close family, before April 2009, and had to give other board members first option until
October 2012. The board was ‘committed to the principle of developing the long-term stability of the club
through maintaining a business that pays its own way’.
Hill-Wood noted that the extension of Wenger’s contract till 2011 would make him the longest-
serving manager in the history of the club. ‘Arsène, we thank you for your immense contribution to Arsenal
Football Club, and long may it continue. And now I would like to ask Annie Wenger to unveil this bronze
sculpture.’
Wenger was on the stage facing his wife with the bust between them as it was unveiled to loud
applause.
‘What a surprise, a double surprise,’ he said, smiling at his other half. ‘Thank you very much, it’s a
great gesture, and I’m personally very touched because I think it’s too big an honour that you made here for
me.’ He thanked everyone for their support over the last eleven years. ‘I’m sorry if we could not win every
game but I promise we will try in the future. I decided to extend my contract because I feel I share the
vision I have for the team with you. We want to win in a modern way, with a big hunger for success, of
course, but we want to win with style, with class, with respect, and with a great solidarity we have always
shown through the difficult periods we have had at this club.’
In conclusion, he said, ‘It’s a special day today for me and what I’ve liked at this club is that under
pressure we have always been very strong, resilient. We didn’t give in to any media pressure. I’ve been in
many board meetings and we just did, always, what we thought was right. And that kind of strength is very
needed in a club because this is a special job, we are always under public pressure, everybody has an
opinion about everything. This year we have been very strong under fire. And that’s a great point because
it’s not shared by many clubs and I would like to keep that quality inside this club.
‘I’ve known a few clubs in my life. And that is a special quality, faith and strength under pressure,
that I have found here in this club. I’d like to finish my speech on that. And hope that quality will remain
here at this club.’
He looked across at his wife. ‘Thanks as well, Annie, we have shared eleven years, difficult ones. I
didn’t expect you here today but it’s very nice. I’m very pleased.’
Afterwards, as shareholders chatted, mingled and drank coffee, Annie was there, so I introduced
myself.
‘Hi, I’m Myles Palmer. I wrote The Professor.’
‘Nice to meet you at last,’ she said.
Annie is obviously very proud of him. She talked about the deception, about going secretly to the
sculptor’s studio, and Arsène having no clue that she would be here. That morning it had been the usual:
See you tonight, darling. On Thierry Henry, she said, ‘I play basketball and I’ve played in teams that had a
star – and it is intimidating.’
Later on, when I was about to leave with two friends, I found myself alone in a corridor and saw
chief shareholder Danny Fiszman walking towards me, carrying his briefcase. Having written some pieces
about the share price, and a possible takeover, I stepped forward, shook his hand and apologised.
‘I’m sorry about the things I’ve been writing on the Arsenal News Review. Some of them were a bit
misinformed and misguided.’
Danny smiled.
‘Eight thousand was never my price,’ he said.
‘What is your price? Eleven thousand?’
‘There is no price,’ said Danny, laughing now.
He started to walk away.
‘There is no price,’ he repeated, as if pleased with the line.
It was a comment I was relieved to hear. That was that, really. There is no price. In other words, the
price at which Danny Fiszman would sell his 24 per cent stake is irrelevant because he is not selling. He
seemed relaxed and happy. The extension of the ‘lockdown’ agreement was what he wanted. He realised
long ago that there is only one Arsène Wenger.
But would Danny want to be around if Arsène wasn’t around? And would Arsène want to be around
if Danny wasn’t?
PROLOGUE: MISSION STATEMENT

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood stands on a small stage covered in red cloth, welcoming television
crews, journalists, radio reporters and photographers to a hospitality suite in the Clock End at Highbury.
Unusually, it is a Sunday morning. We are seven matches into the season and the date is 22 September
1996. Hill-Wood is about to introduce the new Arsenal manager, who has flown in overnight from Japan.
This press conference is a big moment, one the fans and the media have been wondering about for weeks.
Everyone wants to know: who is this Arsène Wenger?
Is he a hard case like George Graham?
A blarney merchant like Terry Neill?
A tactician like Don Howe?
A chequebook cowboy like Ron Atkinson?
A brilliant bully like Brian Clough?
An inarticulate genius judge of horseflesh like Bob Paisley?
A combative workaholic like Alex Ferguson?
The main problem at Arsenal is an ageing team. The team will have to change and at the same time
continue to be successful. We do not know how long the period of transition will last or how expensive or
difficult it will be. The challenge is a fundamental one which all modern businesses have to face: the
management of change.
A tall, slim Frenchman walks in and steps up on to the dais. Arsène Wenger is, we quickly realise, a
completely different animal. He is not like George Graham, not like Bruce Rioch, not like anybody we have
seen before. He has an ambassadorial presence. He is firm, calm, diplomatic and very articulate, handling a
variety of testing questions with great fluency. He is authoritative, but in a friendly, accessible way. He
seems to be a man of great analytical intelligence. Everything he says makes sense and he does not waste
many words. It is a flawless performance, and, while it is a valuable press conference in the sense that he
answers each question honestly and clearly, without the usual evasions, it is something else too, something
like a political or military briefing, almost a lecture. He has given us a mission statement.
Clearly, Arsène Wenger is a gentleman rather than a well-groomed bully on his best behaviour. A
gentleman is someone who can be trusted. A gentleman’s word is his bond. A gentleman has good manners
and is public spirited. A gentleman has firm principles and unimpeachable integrity. A gentleman has an
aura of charm and intelligence. A gentleman, above all, is someone who can demonstrate grace under
pressure, and Arsène Wenger will need that quality in his new job.
Today’s football managers are powerful figures, household names, superstars of the biggest sport in
the world, ringmasters who try to control forty players and fifty reporters, but they are also lion-tamers who
put their heads in the lion’s mouth twice a week. That is pressure. They live and die by decisions made in
front of 40,000 people and twelve television cameras. It is a highly nerve-racking job, but it is well paid.
And somebody has to do it.
They have also become, in this Sky-hyped age of the Premiership, vital news providers. The
managers want to be liked by the viewers, listeners and readers and they need the approval of the reporters
who transmit their predictions, reactions and excuses. Arsène Wenger knows he has to walk a fine line, and
to be very careful about what he says while appearing to be friendly, reasonable and candid. If reporters like
him, they will tend to ignore his mistakes and the occasions when he contradicts himself. However, his
words must have substance, especially topical substance, because he is feeding a machine which services a
huge appetite for news about football clubs and star players. And if that tightrope is not tricky enough to
walk, he has to talk informatively about his players knowing that they will see and hear and read what he
has said. Every manager uses the media to wind up a player at times, to challenge him, to punish him, to
remind him of his responsibilities.
So what did Wenger say at that inaugural press conference that so impressed everyone? First of all he
said that he had been frustrated by the delay in securing his release from Nagoya Grampus Eight, who had
now hired Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz. ‘I had the feeling that I put Arsenal in an awkward situation. It
was a very difficult situation for the board, which was severely attacked. Fortunately, the team has done
very well and is in a good position. That makes me quite confident for the future.’
He had been offered the job over a month before, in the second week of August, and had not taken
long to make up his mind. ‘I love English football because the roots of football are here. I like the spirit of
the games, and at Arsenal I like the appearance of the club and the potential of the club. It’s another step in
my personal development. I’ve worked and been successful in France for ten years, and I’ve been
successful in Japan for two years, where I had to create something from nothing and had to adapt
personally. To go to another country with a football club at a high level and be successful is a very big
challenge for me.’
He admitted that he had also been approached by the FA. ‘Before I had contact with Arsenal Glenn
Hoddle had contacted me. When he took over the international team, he asked me if I would take over as
technical director of the FA. I asked him for time to think it over, and we agreed that I would call him back
in August. But then I had contact from Arsenal. I told Glenn I would take over at Arsenal because I love to
work on the field. I am not at an age where I would like to work in administration. So I chose Arsenal
because I think it’s better for me. I think I know all the best players in England. I know all the international
players. I know all the clubs. I know how the teams play, the organisation. Some of the grounds I don’t
know, but generally I think I know what’s going on here. I was always interested when I started my career. I
went every year to other countries to see how they were working and I think I have a good knowledge of
international football.’
Press reports had already been linking him with South American stars like Leonardo and Ortega, and
with German midfielder Matthias Sammer, but he denied an interest in any of them. ‘The people who write
those stories have good imagination – and expensive imagination. There’s no truth in them at all. I have
some ideas about players I might sign, but nothing concrete. When you speak about players you want you
always end up paying double what they’re worth, and many times you don’t make the agreement.’ When
asked about new acquisition Patrick Vieira, he said, ‘I think he’s a great midfielder because he’s a fighter.
He’s able to win the ball. And he’s a very good passer.’ He emphasised that Vieira, at the time an under-21
international, would be a great asset to the French national team in the future.
He was asked if he had a message for the Arsenal fans. ‘My aspiration is that when Arsenal fans
come here they are happy. It’s up to the players and me to present the game that they love. Also, I want the
fans to help us in difficult periods of the season when they are inside the gates. Because no team can be
attractive and fantastic for the whole season.’ He added that the absence of a manager in recent weeks had
not caused a crisis in morale at the club – quite the opposite. ‘I was very surprised. I read all the press but
every time I had contact with the board they were very strong and very determined.
‘I have the feeling today that the team also reacted very well. So the crisis was around the club but
never inside the club. I feel only one pressure: my inside pressure to win and to do well. When you are in a
job as long as I’ve been now, you get used to the outside pressure. The only important pressure is what you
feel from yourself, to be strong, to work hard, to make an attractive game and to go on and win the game.
All the rest, I’m used to it now. Of course, at the beginning of my career it was not easy, but these kind of
pressures are much easier now.’
He said he hoped to marry continental sophistication with the red-blooded fighting spirit of English