Stade Louis II started the legend of Wenger, it may end it

As the Arsenal manager returns to Monaco, his former club are almost unrecognisable


Taha Anis December 18, 2014

KARACHI: When, in 1987, Nancy were relegated to France’s Ligue 2, interest for its 37-year-old inexperienced manager was understandably not at its highest.

Monaco, however, saw something in the bespectacled and lanky former right-back and signed him. In his first season at the helm, Arsene Wenger won the Ligue 1 with the principality side, as he had done with Strasbourg as a player.

But from there on it was all downhill as Wenger failed to replicate the initial success and added only a single Coupe de France to his trophy collection in the next six years. He hit rock bottom in 1994 when, with Monaco in 17th, he was removed from charge.

And so Wenger left Monaco and after a few months joined Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan to confine himself to football’s wilderness. He would later go on to reveal that he left France due to corruption in the sport in the country; Monaco were found guilty of being involved in match fixing that year.

Nearly 18 months later, when Arsenal dismissed Bruce Rioch, they brought back Wenger from the forgotten lands to everyone’s surprise instead of bookmakers’ favourite Johan Cruyff; who was already an established manager with four La Liga titles and a European Cup to his name.

Arsene Who signed by Boring Boring Arsenal at the Highbury Library. A recipe for disaster many predicted but the Frenchman proved them wrong.

Wenger, perhaps the first great foreign manager to grace England, would go on transform the country’s most boring team to its most exciting. The only manager to consistently challenge Sir Alex Ferguson’s great Manchester United side domestically, Wenger’s Arsenal became one of the most successful sides in the Premier League era, with three EPL titles and four FA Cup wins in his first nine years.

In the process, ‘Arsene Who’ transformed not only the club, but the league as a whole, with United and the chasing pack forced to adapt; becoming more physical and faster to take its current shape.

It all culminated in the ‘Invincibles’ of 2004 as Arsenal went through the entire season unbeaten; the first team to do so in more than a century, an achievement so nearly impossible that in all likelihood it will never be repeated again. Wenger’s stock was never higher but advances from France, England, Real Madrid and Barcelona were all turned down at one point or the other in that first decade.

But just like at Monaco, things would go downhill. A new stadium meant Wenger could no longer compete with the big money sides and he lost his best players regularly; Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Ashley Cole, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie  to name the most high profile ones.

Regular top-four finishes at a time of transformation were an almost miraculous achievement but the Gunners wanted something more tangible as The Emirates waited impatiently for its first silverware.

It arrived in the shape of Wenger’s fifth FA Cup triumph last season but instead of kicking on from there, Arsenal’s old problems continue to plague them. Four consecutive round of 16 knockouts in the Champions League have left the supporters especially frustrated as Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayern Munich all showed that Wenger’s brittle sides are not fit to fight against the best of the continent.

But Wenger has been granted a kinder draw this time around; a return to Monaco, where it all started. It almost belies belief that Arsenal’s most successful manager is questioned almost every year despite all that he has achieved at the club but calls for Wenger’s head continue to grow.

Now, as he returns to the Stade Louis II, Monaco are almost unrecognisable; big-spending and financially-irresponsible. But Wenger knows there is much more at stake than the last time he stepped onto the same grass as manager more than 20 years ago; or indeed for the first time nearly 30 years ago.

Back then, Wenger was fighting to make his legacy, now he is fighting to save it.

 

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COMMENTS (1)

umair mahmood | 9 years ago | Reply

Fantastic article! Really enjoyed it! Makes the Arsenal trip to Monaco so interesting...

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