20 years ago, to the day, A french manager named Arsene Wenger was unveiled by Arsenal amid cries of ‘Arsene Who?’. A foreign manager in the Premier League was extremely rare at the time and the fact that Wenger arrived in England’s top tier having last managed a club in Japan made the move even more mysterious.
Two decades later, a long list of achievements made Wenger’s resume one managers around Europe wanted to aspire to. Apart from a few Premier League and FA Cup titles, his longevity and his commitment to rebuilding the club as they moved across from the smaller Highbury to the much larger Ashburton Grove were what defined his career.
Many managers in his position would have departed with numerous offers from the top clubs in Europe but he practically destroyed legacy to rebuild it again over many painstaking years. Not to mention, his Invincibles squad will go down in history as one of the greatest in club football.
In the 20 years he has been in charge, he has developed and signed some incredible players who have graced the Premier League and also made their mark in Europe. So long has he been in charge that he has now given debuts to players born after he became the manager. We form a XI of Wenger’s best ever players.
Goalkeeper
This was a tough choice between David Seaman and Jens Lehmann but it is the Englishman who gets the nod. Having joined the north London club even before the Premier League was formed, Seaman established himself as the best goalkeeper in the league; even going on to represent England, earning 75 caps along the way.
Clean sheets became the norm when Seaman joined Arsenal and he also proved to be a terrific penalty-saver as well. On more than one occasion, Seaman has saved at least three penalties in shootouts as Millwall and Sampdoria have found out.
Seaman has played more than 1,000 games in his career for club and country. With Arsenal, he won the league title three times and the FA Cup four times – including two doubles – and 138 clean sheets in the Premier League (over his career).
Defence
When Wenger arrived at Highbury, the French manager changed everything at the club from player diets to introducing sports science to improve player fitness. What he did not change was the back-line who he said were “university graduates in the art of defending”.
Tony Adams was a recovering alcoholic at the time and under Wenger, Adams would extend his career when it looked like he was headed for early retirement. The captain turned his career around and led the Gunners to two inspiring doubles. Adams would also have the unique achievement of winning a league title in three separate decades.
More: The 10 Most Influential Captains of the modern era – Tony Adams
I consider him (Tony Adams) to be a doctor of defence. He is simply outstanding. – Wenger
While there have been a number of quality defenders to have played under Wenger, Laurent Koscielny is one of the most underrated. Sol Campbell was an all-important rock at the back but Koscielny was a relative diamond in the rough that Wenger unearthed when he was making a name for himself for newly-promoted side Lorient in Ligue 1.
The French defender is now one of the best centre-backs in the league and has made a name for himself, even making the France squad and taking them all the way to the final of Euro 2016. Now 31, Koscielny is a still force to reckon with at the back, strong in the tackle, quick on his feet, powerful in the air and has a knack for scoring crucial goals that bring the Gunners back into the game.
At right-back is another French star who arrived from Auxerre. Bacary Sagna is yet another player who is overlooked but was a true and faithful servant who was the pinnacle of professionalism. Displacing Emmanuel Eboue on the right, his pace and physicality were his biggest strengths – on both attack and defence.
Left wingers found it difficult to get past him and he only attacked when needed, allowing Arsenal to stretch the defence before he whipped in his superb crosses. He eventually left the club with Wenger’s blessing after helping the Gunners end a trophy drought with the FA Cup final win in 2014.
Ashley Cole may not be fondly remembered by Arsenal fans but he still remains one of the best left-backs to have played for Arsenal. An Invincible who has since cut ties with the club after an acrimonious move to Chelsea, he was still one of the finest players to come out of the Arsenal academy.
A childhood fan of the club, Cole has won two EPL titles and three FA Cups with Wenger. But the fiasco of Chelsea ‘tapping up’ the player soon burned bridges and Arsenal lost an England international who found success with their London neighbours.
Midfield
Arguably the most important player in Wenger’s Invincibles side was the midfield machine, Patrick Vieira. The French midfielder was the vital cog in the XI that held the side together and led the side as an inspirational captain should. Standing at 6’4”, Arsenal fans knew they had signed a special talent right from the moment he made his debut.
Despite his lean frame, he was aggressive on the ball and could glide across the pitch with consummate ease. Though he was tempted into the occasional flare-up with opposition players, Manchester United’s Roy Keane in particular, he was still the rock that protected the defence while also the man who initiated attacks from midfield.
Signed from Barcelona as a teenager, Cesc Fabregas was Wenger’s biggest project when they moved to the Emirates Stadium. Having already played a few times with the Invincibles, Fabregas soon became the fulcrum of the side when the old guard moved on or retired.
As Wenger built the team around him, the young midfielder even took on the captain’s armband. Formations changed and the personnel also changed but Fabregas was the constant. Unfortunately for Wenger, he never got the chance to fulfill his potential as Barcelona soon came calling and took their ‘son’ back. But during his time at Arsenal, nobody threaded a through-ball better than the Spaniard as he climbed the assists table in the Premier League.
One of the ‘Three Musketeers’ at Arsenal, Robert Pires was arguably one of Wenger’s greatest signings at the turn of the century. The French winger was shocked at the physicality of the EPL but soon overcame his reservations and became an integral part of the squad that won the double in 2001/02 and the unbeaten run in 2003/04.
What made him even more special to the Arsenal fans was his knack for scoring goals in north Londo derbies. Tottenham Hotspur became his favourite club to score against. Pires also had the ability and instinct to arrive in the box at just the right time to score goals.
While one is tempted to go with Freddie Ljungberg to complement Pires, Alexis Sanchez is a player one cannot ignore. Taking advantage of Luis Suarez’s move to Barcelona, Wenger moved swiftly to secure the Chile international’s signature and the former Barca forward would have one of the finest debut seasons ever.
As Arsenal defended the FA Cup title, Alexis would score a total of 25 goals across all competitions in 2014/15 (16 in the league). And he could score from any possible angle under any sort of pressure.
Despite his short stature, he could challenge for the ball in the air near the six-yard box or bang them in from more than 30 yards out. A hard worker both on and off the pitch, his fitness level was one to aspire to and even his teammates admitted to as much.
Attack
There really is no question about which two players would play up front. Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp have no competition when it comes to selecting even the greatest Arsenal XI of all-time, let alone Wenger’s XI.
The two were even voted in the top two of the 50 greatest players in the club’s history (Adams was third). While that poll is biased towards the current generation, a combined tally of 348 goals is hard to top.
Both players arrived from the defensive-minded Serie A and immediately found their calling under Wenger. Though Bergkamp arrived at Highbury before Wenger, it was the French manager's arrival that truly unlocked his potential as they saw eye-to-eye on a philosophy of how attacking football should be played.
Wenger had worked with Henry at Monaco and converted the winger into the most fearsome striker the Premier League had ever seen. 175 league goals in 258 games, four Premier League Golden Boot awards and six PFA Team of the Year nominations, Henry was the complete package and one in a million.
The two were remarkable in the Invincibles season and the pair were responsible for decimating defences thanks to Bergkamp’s vision and artistry with the ball combined with Henry’s deadly speed and accuracy. As individuals, they were world class. Together, they were simply unstoppable.
Substitutes: Jens Lehmann, Lee Dixon, Sol Campbell, Gilberto Silva, Freddie Ljungberg, Santi Cazorla, Ian Wright
