Arsène Wenger :Arsenal FC Coach Biography and Profile

Arsène Wenger profile
Name : Arsène Wenger
Position :Manager
Born : October 22nd, 1949, Strasbourg, France
Previous clubs as player : Mutzig, Mulhouse, Strasbourg
Clubs as manager/coach : Strasbourg (youth), Cannes (assistant), Nancy, AS Monaco, Grampus Eight Nagoya
Joined Arsenal : 28 September 1996
First match as manager :Blackburn Rovers (a), Premier League, October 12, 1996, Won 2-0
Honours (Monaco):
French League championship 1988, French Cup winners 1991, French 'Manager of the Year' 1988
Honours (Grampus Eight):
Japan's 'Manager of the Year' 1995, Emperor's Cup winner 1996, Japanese Super Cup winner 1996
Honours (Arsenal):
League championship 1998, 2002, 2004, FA Cup winners 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, Voted 'Manager of the Year' 1998, 2002, 2004

Arsene Wenger Biography:
Little was known in England about the man who had managed Nancy Lorraine before taking AS Monaco to the French League Championship with a certain Glenn Hoddle in his ranks.

Arsene Wenger had since left his homeland for Japan, to manage the team Gary Lineker had 'enjoyed' a brief spell with, Grampus Eight, but he was pleased to accept the invitation to manage in the English Premier League with one of England's biggest and, historically, most successful clubs.

Arsene replaced Bruce Rioch at Highbury in 1996 but prior to officially joining the Gunners from the J-League, Arsenal had, under the Frenchman's advice, signed two French players. They were Remi Garde from Strasbourg and Patrick Vieira from AC Milan. More Frenchmen soon joined the Gunners including Emmanuel Petit (Monaco) and Nicolas Anelka (Paris St Germain). Dutch winger Marc Overmars also joined the club from Ajax Amsterdam.

Arsenal fans were initially skeptical about the influx of French players to Highbury, but their fears were soon dispelled as Petit and Vieira forged a powerful midfield partnership to help the Gunners to seriously challenge for the title in Wenger's first season - for the first time since 1991. Arsenal eventually ended the season in third place, level on points with Newcastle United but losing out on the runners-up spot and a place in the UEFA Champion's League on goal difference.

In the following season, 1997/98, the Gunners picked themselves up from a slow start to power to the Double, winning the Premier League and the FA Cup and repeating the achievement of Bertie Mee's 1970-71 side. In the process, Arsene became the first non-British manager to accomplish this.

In the process of their late surge for the title, Arsenal also set a Premier League record of 10 successive wins to snatch the trophy from Manchester United, who had looked odds-on to win all season, with some bookmakers even paying out at one stage. It was a testament to Wenger's determination and motivational skills that Arsenal were able to triumph in the final chapter of an enthralling campaign.

The combination of foreign flair and English grit in Wenger's side, typified by the contrasting qualities of Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams, highlighted the changing nature of the modern English game, something that was certainly apparent to the astute Frenchman.

The following three seasons again saw Wenger's men challenging for the Premiership, but they were thwarted by Manchester United on every occasion. Their European campaigns were generally disappointing although, having been eliminated from the Champions League, The Gunners got through to the final of the UEFA Cup in 1999/2000 only to be narrowly defeated in a penalty shoot-out by Galatasaray.

They were runners-up again, this time in the FA Cup, in 2001, after a Michael Owen double allowed Liverpool to snatch the lead, and the trophy, in a game that Arsenal had dominated for 80 minutes.

Wenger had continued to invest in new talent, bringing in the likes of Kanu, Silvinho and Lauren to replace those who left Highbury. Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn left the club, breaking up Arsenal's famous home-grown back four, and foreign stars Anelka, Petit and Overmars were all sold for enormous transfer fees. The Frenchman's best buys came again from his homeland, with Thierry Henry, Sylvain Wiltord and Robert Pires all coming to Highbury.

The French tactician has built up a reputation as one of the shrewdest operators in the transfer market and is probably the most successful manager to have come to English football from abroad. He continues to bring the best out of Highbury's collection of continental stars, as well as developing the skills of young English players like Ashley Cole and Jermaine Pennant.

Coveted by several clubs around the world, and by the French and Japanese FA, Wenger committed himself to Arsenal by signing a new contract in 2001.

His loyalty, and the club's foresight, were rewarded with another Double the following season, as The Gunners put their FA Cup heartache behind them with a 2-0 win over Chelsea in the final.

And in the most open title race for years, Arsenal were crowned Barclaycard Premiership champions, securing victory with a 1-0 win at Old Trafford against their perennial rivals.

In a season that saw Henry and Pires in particular excel, the North London side were unbeaten away from home and lost just three Premiership games.

Despite beating Juventus in the Champions League second stage, they were unable to reach the quarter-finals as they had the previous year, but domestically they were untouchable and fully deserved to complete their second double in four years as they smashed countless records.

It further underlined Wenger's qualities as a manager and further engrained his name into the Arsenal history books as a Highbury legend.

He was personally honoured at the LMA's Tenth Annual dinner where, via a satellite link to Highbury, he was presented with the LMA Manager of the Year award, as voted for by his fellow professionals, and the Barclaycard Premiership Manager of the Year award (chosen by a Barclaycard panel).

With plans for a new stadium having been approved, Wenger saw a bright future for the club and was determined to dominate the English game in the way Manchester United had done during the previous ten years, 1997-98 aside.

That seemed a likely prospect in the following season as Arsenal raced clear in the Barclaycard Premiership and booked their place in the FA Cup final for a third successive year.

Thierry Henry, voted PFA and Football Writers' Player of the Year, fired the Gunners to the top of the table, as well as impressing on the European stage as Arsenal threatened to finally make their mark in the Champions League.

However, their European challenge faded as they failed to get past Ajax and Valencia in the second group stage and their grip on the championship also suffered.

The Arsenal boss remained confident that his team would retain the title and even repeat the domestic double, but Manchester United stormed to the championship in the final two months of the season - a 3-2 home defeat to Leeds sealing The Gunners' fate on the penultimate weekend of the league campaign.

Wenger took some consolation from what was literally a season of two halves as his side retained the FA Cup with victory over Southampton in Cardiff as he planned for another challenge the following year.

Along with compatriot and fellow boss Gerard Houllier, Arsene received an OBE for his services to English football in the Queen's birthday Honours list in June 2003.

There were more honours to come for Wenger at the end of the following season as he again won the LMA Manager of the Year and the Barclaycard Manager of the Year awards for steering his side through their Premiership campaign without losing a single game.

A point from a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane on April 25th ensured that The Gunners regained their league crown, and they went on to finish their campaign having won 26 and drawn 12 of their 38 matches.

Despite an amazing turnaround in their European fortunes - they won their last three group games to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League - Arsenal were beaten by Chelsea in the quarter finals. They also lost out in both domestic semi-finals, to Middlesbrough in the Carling Cup and to Manchester United in the FA Cup.

Nevertheless, their achievements in 2003/04 were incredible, and striker Thierry Henry collected the PFA and Football Writers' player of the year awards, as well as winning the Golden Boot for being the Premiership's top scorer.

In the first part of the 2004/05 Wenger and his team continued their wonderful form from the previous campaign. However, in what would have been their 50th game without a defeat, Manchester United broke their record after a dubious penalty instigated a 2-0 victory.

This set Arsenal back for a few games after as they fell behind Chelsea in the race for the Barclays Premiership. However, they recovered in time to secure the runners-up spot, meaning that in Wenger's reign, they have only finished out of the top two once.

Wenger also claimed his fifth FA Cup victory this season in a hard-fought final against Manchester United at the Millenium Stadium. Although The Gunners were out-played for long stretches of the match, it went to a penalty shoot-out which they won 5-4, after Paul Scholes missed a crucial spot-kick for United.
Click here!

In Europe, however, Wenger suffered the same dissapointment as in previous campaigns. Struggling through the group stage, The Gunners started well with a 5-1 home drubbing of Rosenberg. But the Highbury side's form soon dipped as they drew four, narrowly qualifying past the group stage before being knocked out by Bayern Munich in the Last 16.

The 2005/06 season saw Wenger get as close as he has ever got to that elusive European victory. Cruising through a tricky Champions' League group unbeaten, Arsenal put in a series of superb performances in the knockout stages, first against Real Madrid in the second round, then against Juventus in the quarters and finally against Spanish side Villarreal in the semis.

Victory meant that Arsenal became the second successive English side to qualify for the final of Europe's top competition, facing Barcelona in Paris. But the day was not to be as memorable as it was for Liverpool the year before.

The Gunners took the lead as half-time approached thanks to a Sol Campbell header, but earlier had gone down to ten-men after Jens Lehamnn was, somewhat controversially, sent-off.

Wenger's men put up a brave performance, but eventually Barcelona wore them down and claimed a 2-1 victory thanks to late goals from Eto'o and Belletti.

It was a harsh blow for an Arsenal side who had performed admirably in the game itself and produced some superb football throughout the competition as a whole.

Their performances on the domestic front, however, left something to be desired as they were as good as league also-rans by Christmas and knocked out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage by Bolton.

The festive period also saw a not-so-jolly war of words between Wenger and Jose Mourinho as the Chelsea boss accused his counterpart of being a 'voyeur', who was more interested in events at Stamford Bridge then at his own club.

Eventually, Arsenal FC managed to seal fourth place from competitors Spurs on the final day of the season, but it was a position they couldn't improve on in the 2006/07 season.

Wenger chose to side with youth during this campaign, but with Thierry Henry suffering with injuries and poor form, the squad lacked experience and despite some impressive performances (not least two victories over champions Manchester United), they finished the season trophyless.

Another fruitless campaign followed in 2008/9, but Wenger could take heart from an improving campaign. His side led the league for much of the season, and were it not for a dreadful injury to Eduardo in the latter part of the term, they could have hung on to their advantage.
Article Source : http://www.4thegame.com/