Arsene "who?" to Arsene Wenger .

   

 

 On this day exactly 15 years ago , the French professor took up the Arsenal job . And when he signed the paperworks at Highbury the question on everyones lips were "Arsene who ?" . But he erased all doubts as the team finished a healthy second and in his first season incharge he completed the double thereby becoming the first overseas manager in the history of the Premier league to complete the double. He brought in unknown youngsters and transformed them into superstars and mega stars. Patrick Veiera , Nicolas Anelka , Thierry Henry , Cesc Fabregas are just to name a few . The late 1990's and the early 2000's witnessed the rivalry between Manchester United and Arsenal reach an all time high. Every game was intensely fought and his personal rivalry with Sir Alex Ferguson increased . He created the French revolution at London .At one point the first names on the team sheet were Sylvain Wiltord , Thierry Henry , Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires. All French. They revolutionised the way football was played in the premier league and mesmerised everyone . He brought back total football to England . He went to Old trafford and snatched the title away from Manchester United . He went to White Hart lane and sealed the title there . These two stadiums have given Arsenal the frostiest of welcomes and to go there to win the title just shows the mental strength of Wengers team .

Ever since Wenger took over there has not been a single season where Arsenal did not qualify for the Champions league . This feat is bettered only by Manchester united and Real Madrid .

Arsenal went through an entire season unbeaten . And went on a 49 game unbeaten run . That feat wil never be achieved again because "Invincibility was born and buried in highbury " . That statement has a literal meaning to it as Arsenal completed the switch to the Emirates stadium in 2006 and ever since they have never been able to reproduce the football that they used to . They are still contenders but fall in the final hurdle. Ever since moving to the Emirates , Wenger lost his talismans in Henry , Pires , Adebayor and most recently Fabregas and Nasri .

Wenger has come under a lot of criticism this season for not buying major players to boost his squad . And he was forced to go against his policy and made 5 signings on transfer dead line day . To all those who doubt Wengers policy here is an explanation . He lost the man around whom the team was built and it takes a lot of time to recover from it . And Arsenal are no different. In another 2-3 years time Wengers plan will be executed . He , in my opinion , has created a team for the next ten years that will rule the premier league .

Wilshere(19) , Walcott (22) , Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (18) , Frimpong (19) , Jenkinson (19) , Gibbs (19) , Miquel (18) and Szczesney (21) are all looking like household names already . But look at the age of all these players . This is what Wenger has always stressed and his hardwork is going to pay off starting from this season . This team will win something this season and Wenger will lift the trophy with that smile on his face and then again we will repeat " In Arsene We Trust "

From an ardent fan of Arsenal , Wenger and his philosophies !