No trophy could top Arsene’s Invincible run
…and he’ll give medal away
THERE is only one achievement Arsene Wenger truly treasures – and they never even gave him a medal for it in the first place.
While it is indeed surprising the Arsenal manager has kept no mementos of any of his successes in football, that does not mean the 67-yearold does not like to reminisce about the good old days.
It may not be widely reported – often because every time the subject comes up in national newspaper briefings it is cast aside as a “deviation” or a “repetition” – but Wenger has no hesitation in recalling the achievement he feels trumps all others.
At the same time, the Invincible season of 2003-04 has become both the greatest glory of Arsenal’s history and the largest albatross around the neck of the club’s future.
After Wenger had led his side through a top-flight campaign unbeaten – a feat last achieved by Preston in the very first year of the old Football League 115 years earlier, how could anybody expect him to improve on footballing nirvana?
As a result, “getting better” no longer became the mandate. Maintaining standards instead became the goal set at the start of each season. And Wenger has been remarkably good at that. So long finishing in third or fourth spot; so long exiting the Champions League in the first knockout round.
In Arsene they could trust... to keep Arsenal in with the big boys at least, even if to some fans those standards were not set high enough. Yet now, even those uninspiring targets have not been met and finally Wenger’s side has been consigned to the wilderness of the Europa League.
That changes the dynamic somewhat.
The last time Wenger allowed his contract to run down completely to the final game of the season was in 2014.
Then the criticism – still soft-spoken at that stage – was that Arsenal had not won anything for nine seasons. Nine! Again, that final game was an FA Cup final.
If Kieran Gibbs had not headed off the line from Alex Bruce to prevent Hull taking a 3-0 lead, who knows what might have happened. As it was, Aaron Ramsey’s goal in extra-time ended the trophy drought and, although Wenger may since have misplaced the medal, he knew exactly where his pen was. The ink was dry on a new three-year contract just 13 days later.
That is the same deal currently being run down by both parties – the two parties, ironically, who have always been most convinced that Wenger should remain.
While fans expressed concerns, in the autumn the board were certainly pleased enough, and when Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-0 to leapfrog them in the table, a quick photo opportunity with chief executive Ivan Gazidis and Wenger would have ended the speculation for another couple of seasons. As it is, we arrive at today. Wenger waited until the last day of the Premier League season to hint at dark forces that had made the Emirates a “horrendous psychological environment” during February and March but refused to elaborate on what they were.
It hints at deeper-rooted problems than a simple FA Cup triumph can solve. Formally, Arsenal maintain the deliberately vague line that a meeting sometime next week will allow the club and Wenger to come to a mutual decision.
Indications are, though, that a two-year deal is all but on the table.
Wenger has suggested that he wants to carry on in management and the only unknown is whether the Frenchman may suddenly decide that, as far as Arsenal are concerned, enough is enough.
Defeat today is more likely to drive him towards leaving the club proudly in a place where the next incumbent would want to find it.
And should he win, there will be none of Jose Mourinho’s midweek histrionics at claiming another bauble for his CV.
However, for once he might have a very clear idea of what Arsenal can do with the 16th winner’s medal he has provided in the past 21 years.
It will be a far cry from Mourinho’s histrionics
ARSENE WENGER has revealed he will give away his FA Cup final medal whether Arsenal win or lose against Chelsea. The Gunners manager, whose side face the Premier League champions at Wembley, could become the most successful cup boss in history if he wins the trophy for a seventh time. But Wenger has not kept any of his medals from previous finals and will not break the habit of a lifetime, even if today’s game ends up being his last in charge of the club. He said: “I have no medals at home – from anything. You come to my home, you will be surprised. There is no trophy, no medal, nothing. “I always give them out. There is always a guy at the club who did not get a medal. A member of staff. I have given it to him. “You will always find someone who takes it. Who will I give it to? I have first to earn it. But either way you get a medal, loser or winner.” Wenger has yet to confirm whether he is staying at the club or leaving, although the smart money says he will sign a new two-year deal.
He said he might one day regret not holding on to any memorabilia when he finally quits the club.
Wenger said: “Maybe one day I will have to look back. It depends on my health. I will not always manage but I will always be involved in the game.
“I watch the game that is on, on the night but I don’t look back on what we have won, what we have done and all that.”