My Life in Red and White

It's a weird one with him, we all know the autobiography/biography story we want to read about Wenger. But let's face it we all watched the man for 20 years and deep down we all know, Arsene Wenger will never be involved it that kind of book being written about his time at Arsenal.

We want thoughts, details, stories and memories that Wenger just ain't giving up to anyone. He's a private man and he loves Arsenal. His honest full blown accounts of what went on behind the scenes in his time would only make AFC look bad. He's a man happy to take the flack, rather go through the embarrassment of airing the dirty laundry in public to clear his own name. That knowledge will go to the grave with him and that story will have to be told through someone else's eyes in someone else's bio.

Said years ago he'd never dish the dirt on what happened behind the scenes at arsenal.

comment by WB2 {Tackle Like Tierney} (U8276)
posted 6 hours, 23 minutes ago

He's a man happy to take the flack, rather go through the embarrassment of airing the dirty laundry in public to clear his own name.

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Whats he been accused of that he has to clear?

The truth is that Wenger was massively overrated as a Manager - as an attack coach he is a genius but that is not enough for the job of Manager and once the legacy of the Arsenal defence expired that was brutally exposed in the second half of his reign.

comment by ItsAboutTheBackFour (U9916)
posted 1 hour, 47 minutes ago
The truth is that Wenger was massively overrated as a Manager - as an attack coach he is a genius but that is not enough for the job of Manager and once the legacy of the Arsenal defence expired that was brutally exposed in the second half of his reign.
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It was more the poor off field elements of the second half of Wenger's reign that caused problems (with Wenger being a major contributor to them).

He advocated a wage structure that upped the pay of lesser players which in turn meant our best couldn't be paid at their market rate. So they were always ready to leave for better pay.

We had huge cash reserves which weren't touched until way too late. By the time we started spending the market had become obscene and the funds were worth only a fraction of their previous value in terms of buying ability. When we did spend we also made several very poor and often expensive signings.

It was really boring. I started reading it and didn't even make it past his Monaco days.

And really poorly written actually, which I don't blame Wenger for, writing in his 2nd or 3rd language when that's not his job. He should have got a ghost writer for it though.

Started reading it. Did not finish it as picked up Alan Davies autobiography instead. AW's book now in the charity shop. Possibly one of the least interesting biographies I have read.

comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 6 days, 22 hours ago
comment by WB2 {Tackle Like Tierney} (U8276)
posted 6 hours, 23 minutes ago

He's a man happy to take the flack, rather go through the embarrassment of airing the dirty laundry in public to clear his own name.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Whats he been accused of that he has to clear?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Everything wrong at AFC for starters. Half the fanbase has him carrying the can for the owner's decisions and basically damned cheapness. The narrative has always been that Wenger was some dictator at the Emirates as though he demanded to be lumbered with Dein's job on top of his own and everything else he became responsible for.

As opposed to him being overburdened by the owner for far too long because he was too cheap to run the club properly and basically just lumbered Wenger with stuff as a result. The same way he won't dish dirt now, he wouldn't have publicly moaned at the time had that been the case. Press only would have slammed him for doing so and somehow made it about him being French anyhow. So there'd have been no point.

The owner's lack of spending where it matters has been exposed and highlighted the past 18 months in particular. Yet people still don't seem to make the link between the cheap owner and many things that went wrong under Wenger. He won't tell because he's too decent but to be honest Arsenal fans have more than enough information there already to see where the true problem lays and always has done.

comment by WB2 {Tackle Like Tierney} (U8276)
posted 13 seconds ago
comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 6 days, 22 hours ago
comment by WB2 {Tackle Like Tierney} (U8276)
posted 6 hours, 23 minutes ago

He's a man happy to take the flack, rather go through the embarrassment of airing the dirty laundry in public to clear his own name.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Whats he been accused of that he has to clear?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Everything wrong at AFC for starters. Half the fanbase has him carrying the can for the owner's decisions and basically damned cheapness. The narrative has always been that Wenger was some dictator at the Emirates as though he demanded to be lumbered with Dein's job on top of his own and everything else he became responsible for.

As opposed to him being overburdened by the owner for far too long because he was too cheap to run the club properly and basically just lumbered Wenger with stuff as a result. The same way he won't dish dirt now, he wouldn't have publicly moaned at the time had that been the case. Press only would have slammed him for doing so and somehow made it about him being French anyhow. So there'd have been no point.

The owner's lack of spending where it matters has been exposed and highlighted the past 18 months in particular. Yet people still don't seem to make the link between the cheap owner and many things that went wrong under Wenger. He won't tell because he's too decent but to be honest Arsenal fans have more than enough information there already to see where the true problem lays and always has done.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

No one has ever accused Wenger of being a dictator. If anything everyone sympathised that he had too much on his plate, doing both Dein's job and his own at the same time. Most of the directors he served under always suggested he needed a technical director but didn't appoint one because Wenger made it clear he didn't want one. As a result the quality of his work started to decline. And for the last few years Wenger bought very poorly. That started a decline in results to leave us where we were when Emery was in charge and its taken till last season to finally clear his legacy players who were all earning far too much.

If anything KSE can be blamed for acquiescing to Wenger and not appointing a technical director or in fact encouraging Wenger to take the technical director job when obviously age was catching up for day to day coaching.

comment by ItsAboutTheBackFour (U9916)
posted 6 days, 7 hours ago
The truth is that Wenger was massively overrated as a Manager - as an attack coach he is a genius but that is not enough for the job of Manager and once the legacy of the Arsenal defence expired that was brutally exposed in the second half of his reign.
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So the manager who literally transformed the smoking beer lout playing/training culture into the finely tuned professional athletes culture and pretty much redefined English football...he's overrated?

Get past the English press mentality on this and stop trying to make sh !t that was down to lack of money spent by the owner (be it transfer fee staff recruitment or other) somehow Wenger's fault. Story is and always was Wenger came got money done great, we moved so no money and he ran everything to help save it. Kroenke gets control and though there is money to spend HE CHOOSES not to. Leaving Wenger overburdened, losing players over money and generally fecked.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO THE YANK WHO KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL HAVING TOO MUCH SAY IN HOW MONEY IS SPENT! Had he just handed over the amount he wanted to spend, recruited a director of football and fecked off out of it we'd not be in such a mess. But by hook or crook he wants to interfere and do this his US sports way.

Wenger had his flaws but it never was him responsible for the downfall of this club, it was always ke with Wenger taking the flack publicly and pretty much just being guilty of not outing club business in full to tell fans that. If anything Wenger stemmed the tide and prevented what we see happening now from happening far sooner than it did. We're not suffering from Wenger's legacy we are suffering from ke's ownership and control. Hence 3 years of crap since Wenger left and looking set for worse this season.