@5MinuteFinal aka ‘Improper Fan’ puts the pen to work to describe his regard Arsene Wenger
Where do I start! There’s Ludovico Einaudi’s Oltremare playing in the background as I pen this, and the music is so deep that it’s evoked a slow-motion collage of Arsene’s finest moments running through my head. A tear drop hits my scroll pad.
As curtains call on a phenomenal 22-year career, so does my childhood, because Arsene is all I’ve known since I was 9.
Arsene Wenger is Arsenal, and so am I. I’ll die an Arsenal supporter, and a proud one. I owe that to Arsene Wenger.
The greatest change to have happened in English football. The man who made Sir Alex Ferguson rethink his footballing ideology. He led, we followed, for his ideas and vision were way ahead of his time. It’s quite incredible that I don’t know an Arsenal without him, and the thought of it happening now, is not pleasant.
His rivals cherished his failures and despised his incredible success. Speaks volumes about how he overshadowed everything in that land.
At his peak, Arsene Wenger was literally untouchable, as he led a team of warriors to become truly Invincible. At his worst, Arsene Wenger led his team to a domestic cup final and a European Cup, semi-final. Let that just sink in.
Arsene Wenger the manager; The Arsenal’s greatest. Arsene Wenger the human being, one of a kind, made of gold.
It’s the human being in Arsene that I will forever miss. His fierce belief in values. WOW.
An organization and its leader, first and foremost must be about the values they hold. Measurable success can be amassed with benefactors, and in the process, one can be derailed by the facade of glory, and lose track of the values and principles that the foundation of the organization was built up on.
The ones that stand-out are always the idealists, the philosophers, the purists and the principled, who will stand by these values, no matter what. Arsene Wenger a combination of them all.
Make yourself bigger than a man, and you will be a man of ideals. Arsene Wenger, will forever be remembered for being a fierce believer of his values, and a man who never gave up on people. A mark of a true leader.
I will always be a champion of the values and philosophy that Arsene imbibed into me, through my formative years. The shining light in my life, through a very dark phase. He gave me a reason to look forward to life. I can never forget that, never.
As we bid farewell to this gentle, kind, compassionate, and wonderful human being, I would like to thank him for every single moment, that I have witnessed as an Arsenal supporter over the last 20 years. An adventure of a lifetime, which I would relive, all over again, without a second thought.
With his departure, will end Arsenal’s most successful period in its 132-year existence. From the Marble Halls of Highbury to the lush green state of the art Emirates stadium. The man leaves us with a foundation that’s deep and a fortress that’s strong.
100 lifetimes from now, we wouldn’t find another Arsene Wenger. He has left an indelible mark on this football club and the lives of thousands, if not millions. As an Arsenal supporter, it’s been a privilege to have been a part of this club during his time, and I will always ensure that his legacy is upheld, and he is remembered and cherished for years to come.
It’s a new light for Arsenal, starting next season, and I hope that the Arsenal unite and stand for its motto Victoria Concordia Crescit.
I’d like to end this with one of Wenger’s classics.
“There is a kind of magic when men unite their energies to express a common idea. That is when sport becomes beautiful. The unhappiness of man, comes when he finds himself alone to fight against the problems he must face.”
Merci Beaucoup, Arsene. I will always love you.
Positively Arsenal 
Straight from your heart to the screen – bravo
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For those near a screen at 8.45
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There will only be one BOSS; Arsene!!! I will truly miss him
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Great read,he will be missed by many.
Values, maligned by some, but something I find rare in that industry and intriguing. the club has its own values which I sincerely hope it never loses touch of, Wenger cautioned against this.
But Wenger seems to have built up a set of core beliefs from his grounding, experiences, and his travel. I read there is a lot of his experience in Japan in his beliefs.
Not many managers in this league can say they are influenced by far east beliefs and philosophies, at least not the more peaceful ones. Perhaps Pulis and Allardyce should travel a bit more
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Well, all I can say is that I wish we had had more improper fans over the last few years, as they certainly seem to have more going for them than some of the so-called proper ones that have done so much to spoil the party.
Thanks for this lovely tribute, and what a pleasure it now is to see Arsene looking so much less hunted and haunted. His final act has been to leave us with a title-winning attack – Mkhitaryan, Welbeck, Aubameyang and Lacazette, and one or two more than decent midfielders (Ozil, Ramsey, Elneny, Wilshere, Maitland-Niles). As he rightly pointed out, we are closer than many think.
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Thanks Improper Fan. You are a counterweight to the legions of “proper” fans who for the last 10 years have been suckered by the liars and misleaders in the media (mainstream and otherwise) into believing that Wenger was holding back this club in competing for the title. They refused to acknowledge that Arsenal was handicapped by 3 far bigger spenders who are protected by the Premier League. Today we learnt via the Telegraph how the fixture list if fixed. I and others have argued that the refereeing is fixed as well to the naive incredulity of many. But, going forward, the liars and misleaders won’t have Arsene Wenger as that giant, inviting scapegoat. Liars always lie; one hopes the incredulous will not remain naive to reality. Whoever is the new manager will not be able to outspend United, City and Chelsea or avoid the bias of the PL’s on-field agent, the PGMO. That much I am certain.
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He arrived an unknown and will leave Arsenal’s greatest ever.
Merci Boss!
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Given Arsene’s reluctance to play footballers in August after they have been competing in international tournaments I wonder whether the Boss was little bit behind arranging fixture list to avoid clash of top six on PL opening day Shotta ?
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I don’t think it favours anyone, but it begs the question that if they are happy to manipulate the fixture list, what else are they happy to manipulate?
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As a follow-up to my earlier post, we continue to have occasional visitors to this blog, repeating the nonsense by the liars and misleaders, that somehow Arsene lost his ability to coach and motivate.
The reality is when you are the 4th biggest club financially in the league, you are generally shopping for the 2nd tier talent in the transfer market. Furthermore you are competing with the likes of Liverpool willing to take great financial risks despite virtually going bust in the Hicks-Gillette era. Last summer they made a hard run for Oxlade-Chamberlain and were successful to the dismay of many gooners. Similarly, they were able to beat off the competition by many big spenders for Virgil Van Dyke’s signature. 60-70 million for a defender is stratospheric; that is City-United money. They are reportedly on the verge of signing Keita and Feikir, who are very hot property in the transfer market.
In contrast, Arsene and Arsenal rely a few big signings combined with seeking out young talent and developing them to the elite level, usually giving them 1st team minutes with all the risks this entails. This is very evident with the defenders such as Chambers, Holding and Mavropanos. Unlike Liverpool we have three central defenders for less than the price of one.
Which takes me to the case of Xhaka. Anybody who refuses to acknowledge that he was signed to be an understudy to to Santi Cazorla in the deep-lying midfielder role is a blatant liar and misleader. Two years ago it was evident to anyone with a synapse and two working neurons that Santi was into his 30s and would eventually need replacing. No one anticipated he would be injured and virtually lost for 1.5 seasons. Hence Xhaka’s involvement in the 1st team was fast-tracked with all the attendant risks; the defensive mistakes being the most blatant. However over time Wenger has developed him into a prime time midfielder, with seven (7) assists to date in the PL. I understand it is the highest for AFC.
How could anyone come onto this site and spew the usual crap, of most other blogs and the mainstream media, that Xhaka represents a failure for Wenger, rather than a fantastic success, simply defies reality.
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I don’t understand the uproar about the fixture list? They’ve never said it was a purely random draw, we’ve always known that. It’s hardly fixed if they have a set of criteria to go by that they actually follow. What am I missing here? Just that some people don’t like the criteria because they think it prioritizes TV?
Oh, and excellent, heartfelt piece, Improper Fan. That was a wonderful read.
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I think Liverpool have done exceptionally well in the transfer market recently Shotts – the Torres money brought in Suarez for peanuts although a lot was wasted on the galoot Carroll. But when Suarez was sold for a fortune that went into Coutinho and Firmino etc and now a good part of the Coutinho money has gone into VdV and reportedly into Fekir. To lose Coutinho but still make the CL final is no mean feat imo. They have made a few cock-ups along the way but transfer wise they have been v shrewd.
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The fixture list has always been ‘arranged’ as far as I know – it means Arsenal and Tottingham don’t play at home on the same weekend etcetera – lucky the Daily Telegraph have ‘revealed’ it though – what I had assumed was merely common sense and convenience is, in fact, sinister
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Andy: Similarly we have been shrewd in landing Lacazette, Aubameyang and Mikhitaryan, all within a year. Where Liverpool lucked out is with Salah. Who could have imagined he would be so prolific, especially after losing Coutinho. Bad luck for us is not having Auba for the Europa League run-in. The fickle hand of fate makes Klopp look like a damn genius. But we have seen this play before; Klopp succeeds in the short-run and then flame-out. Just saying.
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Must have been different way of doing fixtures pre-prem as we played Liverpool last game not long before.
There’ve been a couple of articles before detailing the methods and criteria, including an interview with man in charge of it.
Bits that piqued my interest are that they often re-use segments of the previous year, on basis that they work I think it was. Which would explain a deja vu feeling playing certain clubs at certain times.
Other one was that clubs are able to make requests, at some stage in the process, though with no guarantees those requests can be accommodated.
I’d feel much happier if it were random but I guess certain legitimate factors rule that out.
So I’ll have to remain suspicious when I see any friendly looking starts and finishes for rivals- what you’d choose if you could, surely- or anything like Liverpool apparently getting six home games after CL fixtures once. Suspicious, paranoid, whatever.
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Excellent post. Excellent indeed.
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Did they get Phil Neville to write the fixture list?
It’s the only thing missing from the CV surely?
Most heckled England international: check
Most heckled BBC radio plundit we’ve ever heard of, Savage is popular by comparisons. Check.
Most honest MOTD plundit who openly advised other teams to do as he’d been alllowed to do: to foul the Arsenal with little sanction. Check.
Most unqualified coach to take over as a coach of a title winning squad – Sweet FA qualifications, that B licence and a video of the pgMOB assisting him to cheat against, say Reyes, does not compensate for the lack of coaching (or footballing, or commentating etc.) ability.
Most unqualified coach to take over a woman’s team nevermind one that has just suffered a horrific scandal after appointing an unqualified coach (who should’ve been disqualified in the application process?). By ob the plus side at least they didn’t try to deport Aluko. We should be grateful I suppose bad just shut our gobs.
Most unqualified coach to take over the U21 men’s team of late. Check.
Yep. The Sweet FA have a sweet spot for dear old Phil. Not forgetting the brother.
That’s quite an impressive CV!
Henry must be jealous.
Cos these two ain’t the modern day Charlton brothers. Not by half.
Far, far, from it.
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Shotta
In an alternate world Arsenal don’t sign Xhaka and sign Kane instead. Kante then gets slammed for allowing someone lazy like Ozil to run past him to score. Meanwhile Xhaka keeps laying on passes and assists and improving defensively at Gladbach before being signed by Bayern Munich on a free as a Xabi Alonso replacement and our ‘fans’ are lambasting the club for not signing Xhaka when we had the chance.
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Kante obviously. Not Kane.
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alabamagooner
Yeah I agree with you about the fixture list. I don’t see the reason for controversy here but the context is the usual lack of transparency and the atmosphere they’ve created where people have no trust in them being fair. They should just say what the criteria for deciding the fixtures are. But they won’t. Because that’s just not their culture. Regardless of whether they have anything to hide.
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Tim,
Those stats dont lie.
Including the one an average defence (or a one legged, less mobile, wincing Koscielny had been playing like a normal footballer this season.
Sad to see a great athlete and this great French squad’s Leader at the back their main CB miss the chance to compete as a part of a squad that will be one of the favourites in his last WC.
Certainly Deschamps who knows a thing or two about the old defensive side of the game knew the quality of and value of even a hobbled yet experienced warrior like Kozza in his squad. Don’t think he’d have played every game with that ankle, but the important ones yes.
People can be critical of the call to retain Koscielny as a starting CB this season.
You all recall I made the thread on this topic last season. Don’t mean to be repetitive but sincerely hope that people can bring themselves to understand that decision has sweet FA to with “defensive coaching”. It was AW at his best and weakest. And you take that or leave it. Simples. innit?
–
Likewise as Shotta mentions above I don’t think that a fatigued performance from Bellerin in Madrid was indicative of some lost ability to bring through amazing young talent –
Hello AMN! I see you! Peekaboo!
Hello the kid who got let go for being too small by a Petro Club who then scored a header against a rugged taller defence 10 seconds into his debt! I remember you too!!
As Andy said a while back, could’ve done with some more rest for Hector at times. Chambers out earlier on didn’t help there and all could see and observe that one of the few athletes that night who started in Madrid who had also played the previous weekend was a little bit off the intense pace. Tough breaks but it was an away fixture at OT.
Likewise we discussed Iwobi getting the minutes of an older player who’d moved on this season* and I cautioned against unrealistic expectations as he’s a good player who may have great seasons but he’s not a precocious talent like Viera, Anelka or Fabregas – those kind of freaks are very very rare! He won’t be a “performer” in this tough league for a year or two year. People ignore the Srsenal are protecting their teenagers now from too many thwacks, restricting appearances, resting them for spells when required (AMN), only with Bellerin can you feel he’s been promoted to senoir status, and could additionally do with more cover now Chambers is showing value at CB, possibly an additional role for AMN if JE stays at the club.
* Chambo a confidence player took ages to find some form this season, obvious after a move, and had his trademark spectacular contributions and was starting to find some form and consistency before a recurrence of a knee injury similar to the one that set him back by years before Which denies him a potential starting berth in the CL final: he has my sympathy, poor lad. That transfer is one simple and easily identifiable reason as to why and how we can quantifiable state that the squad at the start of this season was not as strong as the one that beat Gazprom in the cup final, not forgetting the additional wear and tear on that ankle which we’d been musing upon towards the end of last season.
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Seems like we’re around the same age Improper Fan. I get exactly what you mean by the end of childhood. And like you, it is his values and his courage and determination to live by them that I will remember most.
Wenger, great manager though he is, is primarily a great man. And he sees himself as an educator, a teacher, a facilitator. Well, he’s shown us all a great example of how to live life. Over the years he’s not just entertained us, he’s inspired us. I for one intend to try and live up to the lessons he taught.
In a weird way, I think his manner of leaving, without a trophy, is fitting. Wenger was never about just the trophies. I feel ready to let go of that child that grew up watching Arsenal. It’s time to carry on. To protect those values.
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no Nketiah, Willock or Nelson for the U23’s tonight, suggest they might be in senior squad for LCFC game tomorrow
oddly enough Kwame Ampadu is in charge of the team tonight and not Steve Gatting.
Per and Santi are at the game
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u23’s losing 1-0 at half time
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One Arsenal share traded today at £36,000
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What was it before today Eddie?
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https://www.arsenal.com/
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i think best before today was something like £25K
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interesting stuff in the ken friar interview re arsene and how he accepted what ever budget the club gave him.
must say Ken is not looking very well. Confirms to me the info I was told recently about him have health issues
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Wenger on if he’s received offers: “Yes. Quite more than I expected. At the moment I haven’t analysed or considered anything. I want to work until the last day of my contract.”
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George I looked it up, some shares traded five or six weeks ago for a top price of £31K, with the others £29K or less
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5 mins left in u23 cup.
1-0 down. Frustrating watch. Portuguese defend well with ten in half a lot and team is bit short tonight.
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good lord they are horrible to play against when down. Taking so long with everything. Keeper now having a sit down with pretend injury.
Gives you so little chance to get a rhythm and without key three tonight been no signs we can overcome it
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Ft. Arsenal 0 Porto 1. Porto win Premier League International Cup.
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A fantastic post by Improper Fan published in the right place…
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I went to the U23’s match this evening – I felt for the young gunners tonight, they just could not get into their stride. That early goal for Porto killed the game as it was just full on defence and gamesmanship from then on. Frustrating, but they will face those kind of tactics on a regular basis as they progress in the professional game, so they might as well start getting used to it.
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There was a time when the English press and fandom, could not see if a player was any good until Terry Venables had anointed him.
Now that Terry is in the hills running his hotel the direction of football is pretty much left to Sky and their (I use the term very losely) ‘Brains Trust’.
I fortunately of independent thought do not earn a living from the game, and am not beholding to anybodies agenda, I can see and am happy for him at the strides that Granit Xhaka is making.
He is putting a smile on my face, that is what football should be about not just the winning but the moments, the moments is what sustain me. There are a generally just 3 trophies in top level domestic football, so the game cannot be just about trophies as there are 10s of clubs chasing them.
It’s the moments, Bobby Pires picks up the ball from Edu turns in side then sends the ball at the far post, I imagined the move before he did it , when he made the move and sent the ball towards the post , the silence of Anfield was deafening as the voice of the tannoy anouncer faded away. You could hear the ball ripple the net .
Volleys overhead-kicks , 30 or 40 yarders are fairly common, even scorpions are not that rare. The ball fizzed into Dennis feet (Oh what feet!) Then he goes into a dream state, a dream he probably had when he was 8 years old part fantasy part dream. Touch it one-way I turn the other . It made Dabizas famous, I bet he wakes up in a cold sweat , he should be proud he was a part of a piece of history that will unlikely to be broken.
I can still remeber exactly where I was, I screamed like pre teen boy-band fan, who had got a glimpse of thier idol. Then ‘finish’ at the top of my voice.
It’s the moments , Arsene Wenger supplied my some of the best ones as an Arsenal fan
Thank you Mr Wenger.
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Passenal
Spot of bad luck that the game fell with 6 lads (5 of them attacking players) away with eng u17’s and, more importantly, the 1st team game tomorrow meaning no Willock, Nelson or Nketiah.
I only saw 2nd half but Porto looked a formidable nut to crack defensively. They look like they train from a very young age with one of the key mantra’s being to never be caught short in defence if leading, everyone back in own half for defensive phase in that situation, and anything to win.
It feels like a kind of robbery to me to lose so much football time by slowing the game down at every opportunity, and all the sadder in youth games, but the truth is that it is useful practice for them as it is the Portuguese way at senior club and national level and so the experience helps them.
Same for us I guess in that we have to face it a lot. I rue the fact Portuguese way has made such inroads over here.
Swansea a nice reminder that it certainly doesn’t always win the day. Their manager actually seemed to go against type initially, but after getting into a great position to survive seemed to try bank on defence in expectation that would surely be enough for the couple of results they needed.
Nope, and to lose that way is surely the worst of the lot. It fell apart for them and they can’t even feel they gave it a proper go.
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I thought the bench was looking a bit sparse Rich, now I understand why there was no attempt to try to change things with any substitutions. Is that Porto team an example of the Mourinho ‘legacy’? I much prefer the Wengerball legacy Arsène has left us. All I ask for is the next man to build on it. As WWWB so eloquently put it, football is about more than the trophies, it’s also about those unforgettable ‘moments’ that make you smile and say “did he really just do that”?
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@fins 6.32
ok you’ve got me. Who’s JE?…or was that a typo for JW?
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Passenal. Yeah bench was very short of attacking options particularly. We didn’t have a single striker or any wingers/attacking mids on there.
Really was just one of those things. I’d have loved them to win it after the hard work to get there, for them and for fans like yourself who made it to stadium.
Also I’ll admit I get a nice boost seeing youngsters win something, particularly in great style they claimed u23 league against West Ham other day.
But anyway, academy has done well this year, and hopefully we’ll see lads not involved play for first team tonight. Always exciting.
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One of the many things that Football might usefully borrow from other sports is independent timing. Weather permitting cricketers have to bowl a set number of overs, Rugby ensures the clock stops when the ball is out of play or play is interrupted. I reckon that for most Premier League games there should be at least 12 minutes added on.
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foreverheady I would say you are right, way too little stoppage time played, also a major reluctance from Refs to book players for time wasting, how often do we see a booking in the first half, its normally past the 80th minute. The lack of stoppage time in the first half of games show that Refs are programmed to act the way they do. the lack of stoppage time at the end for me is down to TV, the broadcasters want the game finished by a set time, for their adds to come on. for programming to run smoothly etc.
Seen somewhere that in a 90 minute BPL game we get less than 60 minutes of play, sometimes as little as 30 minutes of it.
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I’ve been thinking about defenders. Because the way the club is we’ll stand by Kos but the reality is he will not play much again until 2019/20 season. But in Chambers, Mustafi, Holding – and seemingly now Mavropanos, we have plenty of good central players: I think there is also the strong possibility of Monreal playing more centrally as time goes by.
I would imagine the recruiting and development areas are more likely to be wingbacks.
And I think the time has come to find a new keeper – and one who will be the most important factor in organising the defence now that Per is no longer around!
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Wenger has suggest that we will be resting players tonight, with the final game of the season on Sunday in mind. I suppose he feels it is only right that we take the Huddersfield game the most serious, as it actually affects league status for several clubs, while the LCFC game only means something to us and them.
so we might see some of the young lads get game time tonight
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foreverheady I’ve been saying for some time that the position we need to get a really world class player in the most, is Goalkeeper, we need a keeper who can bail us out when a defender makes a mistake, like how DeGea does for Utd
on CB’s, we certainly have the numbers, the quality is the question, also the new guy might play 3 at the back, so could see us needing one or two more. Per is retiring, Kos is now crocked, so we are two down on what we had this season.
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foreverheady
Forget where but in a match I watched in last week or so commentators were incredulous when two minutes less injury time were played than there’s been for one long stoppage in game. 1st half, I think.
Not the first time I’ve seen something like that- happened in our home West ham game opening day couple years ago; less time added than was taken up by two long injury stoppages- and it makes you wonder what on earth is going on.
Huge time-wasting can be incredibly effective- last night’s game for instance wasn’t really 40, 30, 20,10 minutes to try rescue it. more like 30 seconds, break, 20 seconds break, a minute, break, and that against ten men in their half most of time.
Very very tough and it feels like football as a whole has no will whatsoever to try disincentivize it. Two levers they have currently are making it abundantly clear to players on pitch they don’t like it, and adding on time scrupulously .
Think prem happy to let it go in general as it increases chance of upsets and that’s part of brand.
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Yes it would be nice to have one of the best goalkeepers in the world. But they are at bigger clubs than us.
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GF60
Yes, that was Jack Wilshere!
Thank you for soldiering on past all the other typos.
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