There is an opinion that good coaches were rarely the same good players. As an example, you can take Jose Mourinho or Andre Villas-Boas (who, by the way, was not a professional football player at all). Arsen Wenger also belongs to such trainers (photo in the article below). A Frenchman by birth, an Englishman in his heart - this can be described as this coach. Arsene Wenger, his biography and everything connected with him are very interesting.
Frenchman childhood and youth
Despite the fact that Arsene Wenger was born just 4 years after the bloody Second World War, his childhood can be called completely cloudless. He grew up in a very wealthy family that had its own business selling and replacing auto parts. He spent all his childhood in a small village, where in his free time from school he played football in the yard team. His old friends, proudly giving interviews that they knew such a great man, note that even then he was distinguished by colossal organizational skills and preferred not so much to play as to train. Since in parallel with the auto parts business, his parents owned a pub where they constantly broadcast matches and discussed football events, little Arsen felt that football was exactly what he was ready to devote his life to.
Gaming career
Arsene Wenger did not reach any great heights as a footballer. Until the age of 24, he played in the amateur team of France, after which there was a transfer to the 2nd league team “Mulhouse”, where in 2 years he spent a little more than 50 matches. Then - the 3rd league and the team “Pierro Vauban”, in which he was the captain and spent 80 matches, scoring 20 goals. A very good indicator for the central defender (occasionally speaking in the position of a defensive midfielder).
It can be seen that these statistics attracted the club larger, and he was invited to join the Strasbourg team. For the 3 years spent in the team, he played in only 10 domestic championship matches and appeared in one UEFA Cup match, but this also allowed him to receive the Champion of France medal, which was the biggest achievement in his playing career.
Coaching career
Immediately after the end of his playing career, the president of “Strasbourg” saw a prospect in Arsen and offered him the position of coach of the youth team. Wenger, without thinking twice, agreed and got his first experience, coaching young children. He spent 2 years as the head coach of the Strasbourg youth team and, thanks to his success, received an offer to become an assistant coach at the club of the Cannes elite division.
And now, finally, Arsene Wenger receives an offer to head his first professional club. This team was “Nancy”, but, as they say, “the first pancake is lumpy.” Much did not work out for the young and ambitious coach. Perhaps his ambitions were ahead of him.
After 3 years at Nancy, he became the head coach at Monaco and it was there that he managed to unleash his coaching potential by winning League 1 in his first year. However, after this, having failed to repeat his achievement, Wenger resigned and went to train in the Land of the Rising Sun - Japan. After working with the local Nagoya Grampus club, he returned to Europe. Here in 1996, Arsene Wenger headed Arsenal (London), and hardly anyone could imagine that their cooperation would drag on for such a long time.
In September next year, Wenger will be able to safely celebrate 20 years since the start of cooperation with Arsenal. A whole generation of talented football players passed through his coaching hands. What are the names of such players as Cesc Fabregas, Thierry Henry, Tomas Rosicky, Nicolas Anelka and Robin Van Persie ... This list can be continued for a very long time. Over the years of working with Londoners, Wenger managed to bring them to the desired championship 3 times and made the European football club a grand club, which even teams like Real Madrid and Catalan Barcelona feared. He also led the team to the final of the Champions League, the Europa League. Let the team have ups and downs, but they still believe in the coach.
Fighting Sir Alex Ferguson
All in England throughout the career of Arsene Wenger watched the confrontation between two geniuses of the coaching corps - Wenger himself and Sir Alex Ferguson. Recall at least the 2004 match between Manchester and Arsenal, when a rather controversial penalty was awarded to Londoners. The match ended 2-0 in favor of the team from Manchester, and after the star of gunners Cesc Fabregas threw food at Alex Ferguson. Arsene Wenger, in turn, due to post-match discussions of the referee's decision (Wenger was sure that Van Nistelrooy pretended to be) received a fine of 15,000 pounds. Continuing to insist on his own and after the match, the Arsenal coach has repeatedly received such a fine.
Awards
As a coach, Arsene Wenger has repeatedly received the most prestigious awards. And this is not surprising: 19 years of work in one of the strongest clubs in the strongest championship of the planet make themselves felt. Three times the Frenchman became the best coach of the English Premier League, and this is a very honorary title, because in the same line with Wenger are the same Ferguson, Mourinho and many other strong specialists. He is also the champion in the number of awards received each month to the best submarine coach over the past period of time. According to the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics), he became the best coach of the first decade of the 21st century, beating Alex Ferguson, who was in second place.
Total
Without a doubt, Arsene Wenger is exactly the coach who can be attributed to the great experts in the history of football. And who knows how many years he will still work with his brainchild called Arsenal (London). We can say with confidence that the “trainer-club” union will last until the trainer considers it necessary to break these strong ties.