Arsenal finally immortalized Arsene Wenger with a statue at the Emirates Stadium, etching his place in the club’s amazing history for his 22-year stint with the club. As expected, the club took to social media to celebrate the legend and current head coach, Mikel Arteta, waxed lyrical in his praise of Wenger,

“It’s such a great tribute that the club has done something special for Arsène that he fully deserves and merits. With a statue now at the stadium, Arsène can have that recognition and be here at our club forever.

“I’m so grateful to have played for Arsène at this club in my career. He chose me to be one of his players and selected me to be the captain of the club and that’s something I will never forget.”

With Wenger spending over 8,000 days as Arsenal’s head coach, he had a lot of moments with the club, so it was difficult to pick my top 10, but here’s my best of the lot

The Invincibles

You can’t mention Arsene Wenger without speaking about the Invincibles, the amazing team that went through 38 matches without experiencing defeat in the Premier League, raking up 26 wins and 12 draws.

The team was led by Patrick Vieira and has so many important players with Jens Lehmann protecting the goal, Kolo Toure and Sol Campbell in the heart of the defense, Robert Pires providing attacking returns from the left wing, and Thierry Henry raking in phenomenal numbers in attack. Sadly, that Premier League win of 2004 still remains Arsenal’s last title win, and the clock was almost reset by Mikel Arteta last season.

18 Consecutive Champions League Appearances

We will always remember when Wenger stated that finishing in the Top Four is a trophy, but Wenger must be lauded for his consistency in qualifying for the competition, with Arsenal always finishing in the European qualifying places in the Premier League.

It’s really amazing when you think of the fact that Arsenal’s second place finish last season ultimately ended Arsenal’s wait to return to the competition, as they had been out of it for seven seasons.

The 98′ and 02′ Doubles

Arsenal dominated the domestic scene in the early years of Wenger’s reign in the club, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United providing stiff competition for the right to be the alpha club in the division.

However, Wenger and his lads blew the division away with two Premier League and FA Cup doubles in 1998 and 2002, which epitomized his legendary status with the club. Wenger went on to win six FA Cups in the course of his managerial career with Arsenal.

Promoting Project Youth

In Wenger’s time at Arsenal, there was enhanced focus on producing young talent that went on to be world beaters for the club. One of the greatest prodigies the club ever had was Francesc Fabregas who was poached from Barcelona’s La Masia Academy, but there were some phenomenal talent like Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott, and Wojciech Szczesny.

Under Wenger, Arsenal unearthed so many gems and gave them opportunities to shine at the club.

Ending the Trophy Drought

When Patrick Vieira scored that penalty against Manchester United in Wembley in May 2005, Arsenal fans and Arsene Wenger probably didn’t believe that they’d go through nine years of a trophy drought.

There was the 2006 Champions League final heartache against Barcelona in Paris, the failed 2007/08 Premier League title challenge, reaching the Champions League semis in 2009, shockingly losing the 2011 Carabao Cup final to Birmingham City, and yet another failed title challenge in 2012/13.

The 2014 FA Cup final against Hull City was meant to be a walk in the park, but the Gunners found themselves two goals down, but goals from Santi Cazorla, Laurent Koscielny and Aaron Ramsey allowed Arsenal win the FA Cup, which coincided with the biggest trophy ground parade of over 250,000 fans!

Signing Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry was a struggling winger Juventus signed from AS Monaco and shipped him off to Arsenal at the first call from Wenger.

377 games and 228 goals later, Henry is regarded as a one of the greatest ever forwards to play the beautiful game.

This was all down to Arsene Wenger.

An Unfortunate Night in Paris

It started with five wins on the trot against FC Thun, Sparta Prague and Ajax, before the dead-rubber draw with the Dutch giants in Matchday 6. The first knockout round fixture was against the illustrious Real Madrid, but an exceptional solo strike from captain Henry was enough to seal victory. The departed Patrick Vieira and his Juventus teammates came to Highbury and were outclassed by Fabregas, before Kolo Toure’s header and Lehmann’s penalty save from Juan Roman Riquelme spot kick sent Arsenal to the Champions League finals against Barcelona.

Sure, Lehmann’s red card for his professional foul on Samuel Eto’o put Wenger’s men in the lurch, but Campbell’s header put Arsenal ahead, and they had the uphill task of holding on for the entirety of the game, which seemed insurmountable. Eto’o’s equalizer was inevitable but Juliano Belletti’s effort from the byline was heart wrenching to say the least.

The quest for a triumphant campaign in Europe’s premier competition is still on the hunt, but Arsenal has Wenger to thank for coming really close.

Creating Wenger-Ball

Arsenal under George Graham was a bore-fest, with the manager building a reputation for having one of the meanest defenses in the division.

The uber-talented David Seaman had a rearguard of Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon, Tony Adams and Martin Keown / Steve Bould in front of him that took no prisoners, with 1-0 to the Arsenal becoming an instant cult classic.

Arsene Wenger revolutionized how Arsenal played, going the further mile in enhancing the well-being of his players, which translated to orgasmic football on the pitch.  

Moving to the Emirates Stadium

In May 2006, Arsenal hosted Wigan Athletic in what would prove to be the final fixture at the club’s old ground of Highbury. Henry scored a magnificent hat-trick and the Gunners got all three points, but the major milestone was that Arsenal were leaving their eternal home to the state of the art Ashburton Grove, or Emirates Stadium, when you factor in the greens.

This turned out to be a monumental time with everyone associated with the club, as it coincided with some years of lack of silverware, but Wenger was there to steer the ship and kept the team competitive.

There you have it, my top 10. What’s yours?

Sayonara.

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The only inevitable thing in life, they say, is change.

Unless you’re living under a rock with no access to the internet, you must have finally heard the breaking news – Arsenal’s longest serving manager, Arsene Wenger, has announced his resignation,

“After careful consideration and following discussions with the club, I feel it is the right time for me to step down at the end of the season.  I am grateful for having had the privilege to serve the club for so many memorable years.
 
“I managed the club with full commitment and integrity. I want to thank the staff, the players, the Directors and the fans who make this club so special.”
 
“I urge our fans to stand behind the team to finish on a high. “To all the Arsenal lovers take care of the values of the club.
 
“My love and support for ever.”

1,228 games, 704 wins, 279 draws and 245 losses – these numbers will change as the season progresses with the Gunners having only seven games left in the campaign – or potentially eight games, which is dependent on the two legged result against Atletico Madrid. This also means that the Europa League, Arsenal’s first trophy in Europe for a long while, could potentially be Arsene Wenger’s last piece of silverware with the club, after the three Premier League titles, seven FA Cups and seven Community Shields he won for us.

It has been one hell of a ride with Wenger, from being an unknown manager following his move from Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan to being one of,  if not, the most powerful managers in world football. We know how he revolutionized the English game and came up with innovations that made Arsenal a dominant force in the English Premier League, locking horns with Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United for supremacy. The battles were so intense and the rest of England watched as Arsenal and Manchester United battled every season for the league’s biggest prize.

Then there was the football – oh Lord, the mesmerizing and orgasmic style of play that could only be matched by the likes of Barcelona. Superstars rose to prominence and made themselves counted in the world stage, with the club’s finest ambassador, Thierry Henry, earning himself a place in two FIFA World Player of the Year Silver Awards (03, 04), one Ballon D’Or  runner up award (03) and one Ballon D’Or bronze award (06), three EPL Footballer of the Year Awards. Then there were the consistent golden boot awards across several competitions and it all happened under Arsene Wenger’s guidance and tutelage.

The transitioning from Highbury to the Emirates wasn’t easy but it needed the right man to stir the ship and Wenger was there to make it work. Yes, there were challenges associated with that move – debts to pay, players sold without proper replacements and the whole nine yards, but we still tried to compete, even though we fell short on several occasions and none hurts more than the 2006 Champions League final but nine years of a trophy drought changed to sheer elation when the Gunners won the FA Cup in 2014. The trophy was retained in 2015 and the Gunners made history when they won the tournament last season, making Arsene Wenger the most successful manager in the competition.

They say if you love someone, sometimes you have to let them go. Arsene is a man of honor that stayed with the club against all odds and remained loyal to his contracts. You can tell that Arsenal was a big part of his life and he gave the best of his abilities to the team for 22 years. You can’t fault that kind of commitment from an individual to his job.

In the end, all we will have are very fond memories of what Wenger did for us in his time with the club and at this point we can only wish our appreciation for his endless years of service to the very club we call our own. The onus will be on the players to end the season on a high and I pray they rally themselves up to beat Atletico Madrid over two legs as well as the winner of the RB Salzburg vs Marseille match to give the boss the closing ovation he wholeheartedly deserves. Returning us back to Champions League will be a massive way to end what has been a tumultuous campaign for Arsene Wenger and his team.

Here’s to Arsene Wenger – an epitome of longevity, loyalty and class.

Sayonara.

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There are some things that are normal in life – England losing on penalty shootouts, Petr Cech failing to save a penalty, Harry Kane always opening his mouth during a game, Carlo Ancelotti raising his eyebrow during an interview. I guess you can add a Premier League manager earning himself a touchline ban following a rant about referees to this list. Arsene Wenger has been given a three match touchline ban as well as a fine for ‘abusive behavior and questioning the integrity of Mike Dean’ following his shitefest at the Hawthorns last week.

I don’t want to re-visit the incident as I touched on it a few days ago, but I feel that something needs to be done about these referees and their terrible officiating in the Premier League. I went on Squawka the other day and was glancing through the 15 Worst Premier League Refereeing Decisions in 2016 and I wasn’t surprised one bit. In the Manchester City vs Everton game, Raheem Sterling was clearly scythed down by John Stones in stoppage time but Roger East waved the City penalty appeals away. There were many other incidents that turned out to be the difference between a victory and a draw but as always, the FA tends to turn a blind eye to referees incapable of handling their duties adequately.

Watching the Tottenham vs West Ham game showed how Mike Dean was under pressure not to make any more high profile decisions as he has been under the spotlight in recent weeks. Yes, he’s the experienced ref from the lot but that doesn’t exempt him from their usual ‘demotion to the Championship’ following a poor outing. I even feel it’s totally unfair to the second division having a Premier League ref that is handling a match in their league because he performed poorly in the elite league. I’d prefer if that ref sits out a few games for a week or two, so that he can reflect on what he has done.

The idea of having VAR in the Carabao Cup semifinals will be welcome. In the recently concluded pulsating encounter between Arsenal and Chelsea, Eden Hazard, hit the deck after Hector Bellerin clipped his heel but he held his shin like he’d been gunned down with a sawn-off shotgun. This is the kinda cheating VAR can easily spot and he’d be made to look like the fool for the remainder of the game, with the shame so much he would require a nun to follow him around the pitch and ring a bell Game of Thrones style. But no, we had to watch Anthony Taylor make a very poor refereeing decision to award a penalty to Chelsea, bring them back into the game. Hello VAR, where have you been all my life?

Wenger would be unavailable for the FA Cup tie with Nottingham Forest, the Carabao Cup semifinal against Chelsea and the Premier League encounter against Bournemouth, but with the improvements in communication, I’m pretty sure he’d be able to communicate with Steve Bould to pass instructions accordingly. At least, Bouldy will do something more than just chewing his gum. Arsenal’s FA Cup opponents have wasted no time in offering him a cheeky hospitality invitation, to make his touchline ban a little more worthwhile.

Maybe he’d stick to his word and attend George Weah’s inauguration ceremony or something.

Sayonara.

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