SRK, Big B, Harry Potter, and Sherlock Holmes: I am not a fan of any of them, not to mention Kajol and Beyonce. I am a fan of Arsene Wenger, the Gunners boss. Surprised, eh! Well I have my reasons to fall for the tallest manager in the premiership, apart from the fact that I have a crooked and pointed nose like him!
When Arsene Wenger took over as manager of Arsenal, the club languished in mid-table, behind the lowly Wimbledon. Since then, Arsenal has come a long way, and so has Arsene. Currently, it is one of the top-flight clubs of Europe, the 7th most earning club overall, and one of the most feared opponents. It has won 3 premierships and 4 F.A. Cup triumphs, including two doubles. Last year, it narrowly missed out on the European Championship (by 10 minutes!). It now holds the record for the longest unbeaten run in English football, surpassing Nottingham Forest’s streak of 44 games back in 1977. It also holds the record for maximum number of minutes a team held clean sheet in the European competition, which was broken only in the final ten minutes of last year’s final match.
But, I insist on the fact that I am not allured by all these glitzy stats. It’s Wenger’s football philosophy that earned him an ardent follower in the other half of the globe. Thierry Henry was played as a right back in Juventus in his early and was discarded after a short stint. Wenger got him on loan and chiseled him into the terrific striker he is today. Nobody heard of Patrick Vieira before he came to Arsenal. He has already made superstars out of Fabregas, Van Persie and Reyes, still in their teens. I am hopeful that I will be able to say the same about Theo Walcott some day soon. I support his policy of bringing up young and talented players than simply spending in the transfer market. It’s a measure of your insight as a manager.
Despite all his successes, I have a few words of caution for him. Using too many teenagers increases the speed of the game, but they are injury-prone, and against physical teams like Chelsea, it becomes difficult to win tackles and aerial balls. The Arsenal setup has been too much dependent on Henry for scoring in pressure situations. After retirement of Bergkamp, the team needs another mature striker. When Reyes, Pires and Cole were in the team along with Henry upfront, the teams attacking balance shifted way too much too the left. But now, with Persie, Hleb and Eboue operating on the right, Henry is stranded on the left, and the balance has shifted the other way.
Arsene must be thinking about all these. His team has made a great start in Europe, and after initial hiccups in the Premiership the boat has steadied with successive wins. Good luck Arsene!
