The day Wenger changed everything with a cigarette in the Highbury box

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On October 12, 1996, on the way to Ewood Park, the Arsenal bus thundered a cry of protest: "We want our Mars bars!" Those footballers, with

,

,

and

at the helm, still did not understand the nutritional methods of their new coach. They were old-school guys, steeped in the centuries-old

tradition

, who didn't need too many excuses to go out for a few pints together. A dozen if necessary. However, in a seat of that vehicle, while finalizing the details of the team that was going to debut in the Premier against Blackburn Rovers,

managing other plans.

By then, nearing his 47th birthday, Wenger had just become the third foreign coach in the history of English football and faced a hostile climate, fraught with misgivings. Not only from his players, but also from the press and fans. In reality, his only support was

, vice president of Arsenal and responsible for his signing. It was all set on New Year's Day that same year, when Wenger traveled to Highbury to attend a game against Norwich. At break, he wanted to light a cigarette in the guest room, and a friend of Dein's wife handed him a lighter. That same night he was invited to dinner at the home of the club's main shareholder.

Four years later,

, a right-back who had been emerging with Real Mallorca

, would go to that same London address

.

«Everything we talked about in that meeting prior to my signing was fulfilled.

For me, he has been a sports father in every way, ”the current Arsenal ambassador told EL MUNDO.

“He made me see from the beginning where he was.

That was very important for a young man like me: letting him know where you want to go with him.

He made it clear to me and for that I am very grateful, "adds Lauren, who would end up playing 241 games with the red-and-white shirt.

"Understand his anger, admire his art"

In fact, the landing of any footballer in the Islington neighborhood brought to Wenger's memory his formative years at Mutzig and Strasbourg, under the command of

, the man who most influenced his interpretation of the game. “At that time I learned to infinitely respect the players, particularly those who had personality and were not afraid to face fear, but faced it. I learned to understand the feelings that animate a footballer, to understand his anger, to admire his art when he serves the team, to always respect the coaches, to listen ... ", recalls the coach in his book

, published last March in Spain by the Corner publishing house.

Those tools would be indispensable in the cyclopean task that awaited him in London: that of reformulating the

Arsenal, a team that under

had distinguished itself by a rudimentary, defensive and perfectly forgettable football.

"I wanted to change the style, propose a creative game based on greater technical solidity", Wenger emphasizes.

The first course maintained the 5-3-2 of its predecessor, but later, with

and

at the controls, it gave flight to a 4-4-2 that would astonish the world.

17 titles

Among them, three from the Premier League (including that of 2004, when it remained undefeated) and seven from the FA Cup (historical record).

This balance represents 38% of the club's trophies in its 135-year history.

According to Wenger's ideology, the evolution of any club must be based on three criteria: strategy, planning and application. As for the day-to-day with footballers, his concept was always even broader and more innovative. In fact, at the London Colney facility, the classic preparation was completed with "invisible training". The meticulous care of the diet, the biomechanical studies or the help of the psychologists - with whom he already worked in a pioneering way in Strasbourg - made a deep impression on the islands.

“We won with an attractive football, which mixed possession with fast transitions in the last meters, introducing an offensive mentality in the wings, as happened with

or me. There were also centrals converted to containment midfielders, but with arrival, like

. He brought footballers without prior background in any major competition and made them leaders, like

. He placed

, a center forward, on the right wing, as we see

at Manchester City. It was one innovation after another, ”Lauren analyzes.

The 1998 initiation title was closed by an Adams goal against Everton, with the symbolic charge of a captain rescued from the hells of alcoholism. In 2002 he sealed the second Premier-FA Cup double, so a year later, Wenger finally felt ready to launch the message that had been thrown so many laps in his head: "I know you can win without losing a game." It was there that the leyeda of

, the team that would link 49 days without knowing defeat. "We live a kind of collective state of grace," recalls the Alsatian in the aforementioned text. “Those footballers did better than the others because they had made our project, our desire their own and had developed their own style, which ended up becoming that of Arsenal. They opted for a formula for success based on individual talent, collective intelligence and humility ”, concludes

.

The frenzy of that campaign was encoded in a series of rituals. Always the same. Always at the same time. The coffee, the food, the meeting the day before, the walk, the stretching session, the scream of

in the center of the pineapple. The conviction that they could be immortal guided by a feeling bordering on plenitude: "We were no longer afraid of losing." Everything was cut short on October 24, 2004, at Old Trafford, with goals from

and

. "We felt that we had been robbed by armed hand," he laments even today about that Sunday when a 17-year-old adolescent named

stamped a slice of pizza in

.

The disappointment was so deep that the team could not even score a win in the next five games.

We live in a kind of collective state of grace.

Everything was based on individual talent, collective intelligence and humility.

A couple of years later, the defeat in the Champions League final against Barcelona would be the beginning of the decline. «It was the game that hurt me the most and I haven't been able to see it again. It's a horrible memory and it still generates great frustration today, ”he confesses about that 2-1 in Paris, resolved with goals from

and

. A whole end of the cycle, with the farewell to Highbury and the departure of several soloists from that unforgettable philharmonic, such as

,

,

or

.

The construction of the Emirates Stadium marked a radical shift in Arsenal's priorities.

Wenger, who in 10 years had spent 167 million pounds in transfers, had to contain the expense even more.

A degree in economics from the University of Strasbourg had to be of use for something.

Those were difficult times, which are best understood in the light of one of his most rounded phrases: "In this business, especially in the windows where you can make transfers, being an easy prey encourages others to eat you raw."

1.86 goals

The scoring average with the

almost double the average of goals conceded (0.99).

Their most prolific forwards were Thierry Henry (228 goals), Robin van Persie (132) and Theo Walcott (108).

Defeats on the pitch, with terrifying punctuality, did not diminish their prestige. And at the end of that decade,

convinced

who was the ideal candidate for the Real Madrid bench.

The white general manager knew the weakness of Arsene, who had germinated with that 7-3 to Eintracht in the final of the 1960 European Cup. “It is very hard to reject the childhood club.

But I had a mission at Arsenal, I had to respect the contract and I had given my word.

(...) If money, and not passion or fidelity, had been my priority, I could have earned double or triple by going from one place to another.

I have always thought that my responsibilities and the future of my club come first ”, Wenger says in the book, translated in our country as

.

Wenger, on October 12, 1996, at Ewood Park.S.

Botterill

That total involvement, not only in the sporting part, but also in the institutional one, continues to beat today in North London.

“He designed a coordinated plan with the managers and the club has acquired a privileged position worldwide.

I think that's the legacy he has left here, ”emphasizes Lauren.

According to estimates in the British press, net spending - the difference between what was invested in transfers and what was pocketed in sales - during its 22 seasons amounted to 201 million pounds.

A figure almost traced to Manchester City's net spending only during the 2017-18 academic year.

"We stood for the right values"

At the end of October 2011, during Arsenal's 125th anniversary events, Wenger appeared before the press with an elaborate speech that epitomized a lifetime as a

. “I hope that after many years, people look back at this period and see that we put the club on the right path, that we stood for the right values. I believe that the values ​​that we defend are very valid because we defend doing things with class. Of course we want to be very ambitious and also very brave. I think this club has always been very brave in its decisions. Courage is a quality that I admire very much and it is something very necessary in our day. I fear many things and I see a lot of fear also among some of you and I can understand it because we live in a world where we have to face people with many resources. The way we can fight this is by being very smart, but also by being united,because in football it is very difficult to be consistent and we have been more consistent than any other team in the world over the last 15 years ».

Balance against other technicians in the Premier

Jose Mourinho: 2V |

7E |

10D (10.5%)

Pep Guardiola: 3V |

3E |

8D (21.4%)

Sir Alex Ferguson: 16V |

10E |

23D (32.6%)

Rafa Benítez: 10V |

6E |

8D (41.7%)

Harry Redknapp: 16V |

12E |

4D (50.0%)

Claudio Ranieri: 10V |

6E |

1D (58.6%)

David Moyes: 21V |

8E |

4D (63.6%)

On May 13, 2018, Wenger said goodbye to Arsenal for good with a 0-1 at the Huddersfield stadium, with a goal from

, the last striker in a saga that had started 22 years earlier with

, author of the double against Rovers.

Today, the Alsatian works as director of football development at FIFA.

“He is a genius and he will still give much more to this sport.

Despite his indelible legacy, he can still revolutionize soccer in many ways, ”Lauren concludes.

1,235 games

Between October 12, 1996 and May 13, 2018, Wenger had more meetings than the accumulated between Bertie Mee (540) and George Graham (460), the other two longest-serving coaches at Arsenal.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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