Few managers could become true legends for their clubs. Alex Fergusson devoted about three decades to the "red devils", Lobanovsky coached Dynamo Kiev for twenty years. No matter how his opponents and fans relate to Arsene Wenger, the famous Professor, the French coach has long gone down in the history of the Gunners. The most famous achievements in the modern history of the club are associated with it.
For more than ten years, Arsenal have not won the national championship, have not won the Eurocups. Arsene Wenger coached players from 1996 to 2018, having worked for the club for over three decades.
Career start
The biography of the great coach began in Strastburg in 1949. The boy was born on October 22 in the family of Louise and Alphonse Wenger. Neither Arsen himself, nor his brother and sister did the housework, helping the adults with business, but played freely. The parents' family business, a cafe-bistro, brought in a good income.
The future famous coach studied well. After school, he became a student at the University of Strasbourg, deciding to choose the profession of an engineer. A young man with a doctorate in economics played on youth soccer teams. By the age of twenty-five, he had learned several foreign languages. As a player, he realized himself as a center-back.
The prudent footballer perfectly calculated all the moves of the opponents. He preferred tactical and technical counteraction of the stroke to the banal knocking-out of balls. This strategy helped Wenger immensely in the future when he became a football manager. While the rest of the coaches of eminent clubs for a lot of money acquired famous players, as soon as possible and more, Wenger brought up his youth.
The reproach for this conduct of business was the lack of current victories. However, the time has proven the correctness of the tactics chosen by the mentor. As a result, the Gunners, after ten-year dry losses, became the owners of two Cups and the Super Cup of England. The Wenger player was not a member of the eminent clubs. He did not receive a big name, did not show trophies. The sportsman's playing practice took place in his native France.
For nine years, he played about two hundred matches for local teams. Only towards the end of his career Arsen moved to Strastburg, where he won the national championship.
Coaching work
After completing his playing activity, Monsieur Wenger began to work as a coach. In 1981 he became the head of the Strasbourg youth team. A couple of years later, he was assistant head coach at Cannes. In 1984 Wenger received an offer to become Nancy's head coach.
A real triumph was the time from 1987 to 1994. Then Arsene worked with Monaco. He helped the team to win the first trophies. Among them are the gold medals of the French championship, the national Cup. Thanks to the skilful leadership, the team made it to the final of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1992.
In 1995, Arsen impressed the fans with a move to the exotic J-League. The mentor coached Nagoya Grampus Eight during the season. According to the results of the 1995-1996 championship, Wenger was recognized as the best in Japan.
His photos are displayed in all clubs in the country, and the fans are proud that the Professor himself worked with their team. One of the most difficult languages in the world submitted to Wenger in less than one year of work in the Land of the Rising Sun.
In the summer of 1996, Arsen became the mentor of London Arsenal. In 1996, for the sake of training "gunners" Wenger gave up the prospect of leading the English team.
New approach
From the first moment, the new coach changed the usual approach to the organization of training. He hired a staff of specialists for the development. This applied to everything from workouts to finishing the menu.
It was compiled taking into account the needs of all players and each of them in particular. Wenger was in no hurry to spend fabulous funds on staffing the team with established stars. He chose to educate young players to the elite level.
Arsenal Academy has released Ashley Cole, Cesc Fabregas and other star players. Monsieur Wenger discovered young talents. These are Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Robin van Percy and many others. It is to the "gunners" that the mentor owes the appearance of the nickname "Professor".
Painstaking work has yielded results. Very soon the Gunners won English Premier League gold. This event is notable for the fact that for the first time a foreign specialist, a Frenchman, brought the national team to first place in one season. Since the beginning of the millennium, the Gunners have become firmly entrenched in the leadership group of Eurofootball.
The club has taken its place in the most prestigious Champions League. Arsenal confidently walked on a par with the main contenders for gold medals. In 1998, 2002, 2004 the team won national championships.
Private life
In the 2003-2004 season, the Gunners achieved an impressive result. They have not lost a single time in almost forty matches of the national championship. The result was the championship, which left the team from that moment.
Wenger is a public person. However, the media person is not eager to demonstrate his personal life. The paparazzi did not manage to find out for a long time that the marriage of the famous coach and his companion was civil.
Annie Brosterhouse and the famous Professor have a daughter, Leia. She was born in 1992. The couple officially became husband and wife in 2016. Five years later, the couple separated.
The professor was awarded a special Fair Play prize for his initiative to replay the cup match with Sheffield United. The reason for the offer was the ball hammered by the “gunners” while helping the seriously injured player of the opponents. Arsen's noble deed earned him the nickname Gentleman.
During his coaching career, Wenger won three championships with Arsenal, the Cup, the Japanese Super Cup, and won six French Cups gold medals in the national championship.
The asteroid 33179 Arsengenger, discovered in 1998, is named after the famous Professor.
