So why did he give all this up to enter the maelstrom that is the Premiership? I think that the Alsatian who followed a German team famous for their attacking style and took a Monaco side to the European Cup semi-finals probably had the inner belief and ambition to succeed at the highest level. Japan had allowed him to rediscover his love of football after his disgust at the corruption of Marseilles and the pressure of competing on an unfair and unbalanced playing field. But his vision told him that it was in England, rather than Spain or Italy (or his native France), where the best football would be played in the twenty-first century. So in September 1996, already a handful of games into the new season, Arsene Wenger was unveiled as the new boss of the Gunners by chairman Peter Hill-Wood.

The man Hill-Wood introduced was a total contrast to the man he really replaced, George Graham (Bruce Rioch might have briefly held the reigns after Graham’s ignominious exit but he was, like Lady Jane Grey, a mere footnote in history). The task for Wenger, and indeed for the Arsenal board that appointed him, was to do what Graham had ultimately failed to do, despite winning two championships. That task was to challenge Manchester United’s superiority at the top of English football and to make Arsenal Football Club a worldwide household name and a dominant force in the European game. I think this is the real reason why Wenger came to N5, the opportunity to create something that would last for decades.

We should look back at the Arsenal team that Wenger inherited: David Seaman, Steve Bould, Tony Adams, Andy Linighan, Martin Keown, Nigel Winterburn and Lee Dixon, the formidable back line that had brought so many clean sheets and earned a witty one liner in The Full Monty. Hands in the air, rock solid and dependable, but ageing together, replacing them would be among Wenger’s long-term tasks as the new manager. In midfield there was David Platt, Paul Merson, Ray Parlour and new arrival Patrick Vieira who had been bought before Wenger’s arrival, but on his recommendation. Up front there was the powerhouse of John Hartson, the style of Dennis Bergkamp and the mercurial talent of Ian Wright. This was a team that included the rump of players from the Graham era, plus a couple of foreign newcomers, but was essentially British in character. As such it had some very British (or English) traditions and attitudes towards the role of a professional footballer. Refashioning and reforming these attitudes would be another of Wenger’s concerns.

It is hard to remember what footballers used to be like before Wenger changed the face of the English game. George Graham had been part of the Chelsea team of the 1960s, a team which epitomised the hard drinking, playboy lifestyle of so many top professionals in the sport. Arsenal’s double-winning side had its own fair share of hell raisers and party animals. When Graham was manager at Highbury many of the first- team squad were noted for their drinking, and the captain Tony Adams, was an alcoholic who had spent time in prison for drink-driving. The players also paid little regard to notions of a healthy diet or scientific training regimes. To an educated and intelligent observer such as Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal dressing room must have come as something of a shock. He also discovered that the training facility at London Colney was shabby and outmoded. The youth system was also below par. All of these things were the legacy of Graham’s nine-year tenure as Arsenal coach.

Wenger immediately set about the task of transforming Arsenal into a modern European football club by setting in place standards of excellence and an infrastructure that would ensure that, Wenger or no Wenger, the club could look forward to a bright future. While the players continued to train at London Colney they now relaxed afterwards at the nearby Sopwell Hotel which had a gymnasium, pool and  restaurant that could produced the food that Wenger believed his charges should be eating. Out went the junk and in came a carefully balanced diet personally determined by the new coach. This must have been a major shock to a squad used to their steak and chips, but somehow Wenger, in his quiet assertive way, imposed his new regime. Now wherever one goes in the Premiership you will find that managers follow the Frenchman’s lead. Even Bolton’s ‘Big’ Sam Allardyce is convinced that diet is crucial to success on the field. Wenger brought in expert dieticians to explain the benefits to the players, showing a clear lead but also demonstrating good management skills in involving his squad in the process of change.

Training regimes were also radically altered. He mixed up the routines, placed more emphasis on short- timed running rather than endurance training. Wenger insisted his players rest, get plenty of sleep and have regular massages. Again all of these changes seem self-evident and obvious to us a decade later. They were normal practice on the continent, but in Britain no one carried on like this. It began to have an effect on the team’s performances as the Arsenal players found extra energy as matches went on (a trend that other teams commented on).  Wenger warned squad members who played for the national team not to share their experiences with other team players. In short Arsene Wenger had applied the scientific principles of football coaching that he had learnt and developed in France and Japan to the most traditional of English clubs. In doing so he undoubtedly both improved and extended the careers of a number of English professionals and his methods were copied and applied throughout the English national game. Wenger has done a great deal for English football, although he seldom gets credit for it when he fields a club side packed with foreign players.

What about Arsene’s affect upon Arsenal? His achievements over the past ten years have transformed the north London club from one of England’s premier teams into one of Europe’s top sides. The Gunners have finished in the top two of the top Division in eight of Wenger’s ten seasons. They have won the League title three times including the club’s second Double, four FA cups and four Charity Shields, and two European finals.

The last championship success was won in a season where the team went unbeaten, a unique feat that may never be repeated, despite the incredible wealth invested in south-west London. Seven major trophies in ten years is an impressive haul for any team, but for a club that has considerably less funds than its two major rivals, Manchester United and Chelsea (in recent seasons) this shows the ability of the coaching staff and management team. Most of all it reflects well on Wenger’s ability to develop players and spot new talent.

Not all of the Frenchman’s purchases have proved successful but there is a pattern to his buys that underlies the character of his career both at Arsenal and elsewhere. We remember that when George Weah signed for Monaco he was an unknown, Wenger developed him into one of Europe’s greatest players. Vieira was despatched to N5 ahead of the coach and rapidly became the keystone of Wenger’s Arsenal. When Wenger lost the wayward talent of Nicholas Anelka to Madrid he promptly replaced him with an out-of-sorts French winger and converted him into one of the world’s greatest forwards. Robert Pires, Kanu, Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Freddie Ljungberg have all graced Highbury. Nearly all these players have left the club, but none have gone on to do better elsewhere (most have moved on at a profit to Arsenal).

Adams, Keown, Bould, Dixon and Winterburn have also gone and while Wenger has perhaps been less successful in buying defenders the likes of Toure, Philippe Senderos, Gael Clichy, Johan Djourou and Emmanuel Eboue will hopefully prove their worth given time. Indeed Kolo Toure already commands respect as one of the Gunners' great centre halves. The desire to bring in the best of the world’s youngsters also demonstrates the forward looking-character of Wenger’s reign. To be sure he has enjoyed the backing of the Arsenal board who have been patient when the team has struggled on occasions. But when you see the talents of Cesc Fabregas, Alex Hleb, Robin Van Persie and now Theo Walcott carving apart teams full of grown men it makes one wish for a time machine to see to how this team will develop in five years.

The new stadium, the fantastic training facilities (that have been used by visiting national sides like Brazil), the youth development headed up by Liam Brady, the attention to detail in all of these areas, and the free- flowing attacking football based on skill and athleticism - these are all facets of Wenger’s character. The obstinacy that has seen him persevere with the likes of Pascal Cygan, Sylvain Wiltord and now Alexandre Song has also born fruit with other youngsters who have succeeded. Many other Arsenal graduates now play for Premiership and Championship teams throughout England and Arsenal reserves currently form important parts of successful Birmingham, Derby and Falkirk successes.

So this enigmatic man, whose passion rises to the surface when his team win and whose anger and frustration shows when they lose or even draw seems to be driven by a determination to succeed, and in a manner that is almost perfectionist. It is not enough for Wenger’s teams to win, they have to win in style. Wenger has developed his management style, his coaching skills and his television manner over 20 years. He has learnt from the Premiership, from Japan, from Monaco and Nancy, from watching Monchengladbach and from growing up on the borders of two great European nations. He is his own man and that is why he doesn’t fit into the cosy world of British managers that Sir Alex and others inhabit. That is why he watches endless reruns of football matches in his quiet north London home, causing the ignorant tabloid press to speculate disgracefully about his behaviour when he first arrived.

When the banner ‘Arsene Knows’ is draped over the Highbury or Emirates, it speaks volumes for how  Arsenal fans regard their manager. He exudes trust because there is a sense, a belief, that the ‘professor’ has some master plan that perhaps we are not always aware of that will come good in the end. We might not understand the man, nor hope to know who Arsene Wenger really is. But in the end it doesn’t really matter because in ten years he has transformed Arsenal Football Club from a reasonably successful side that ground out victories into arguably the most attractive club side of the last 20 years. That’s why we are right to declare: "In Arsene we trust.".

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