GIVING UP HIS GREAT LOVE WILL FEEL LIKE BEREAVEMENT
MY overwhelming emotion is one of sadness. Beyond his family, Arsenal and football are Arsene Wenger’s two greatest loves. To give up one of them will feel like a bereavement.
That is what it felt like to me when my time with the club ended. I spent 18 years of my career there and, even now, I have not got over leaving. To leave Arsenal Football Club hurts to the very core.
For many of Wenger’s former players — me included — it will feel like a part of them is gone from the club for ever following his departure.
Arsene will find it difficult to come to terms with it. While he has made the right decision to leave after 22 years at the helm, I am sad that he could not find the perfect time to bow out.
He is so emotionally attached to the club that it seemed impossible for him to make the decision. He stayed for longer than he should have but given his immense love for the club I understand why he could not bring himself to call it quits.
This is a man who made you feel like everything was possible. Every time he walked into a room there was an electricity.
I have never enjoyed the company of a more engaging person. He is someone I would happily speak to every day for the rest of my life.
One of my first memories of Wenger is when he flew to Germany to take charge of our UEFA Cup tie with Borussia Monchengladbach a short time before officially becoming manager. During the game, which we lost 3-2, he took off Tony Adams. Straight away I thought: ‘The new man has got some balls.’
You could not fail to be impressed by Wenger. There were two sides to his personality. He was very calm, respectful, intelligent and easy company to be around but once he stepped on to the training pitch he worked you incredibly hard.
In those first few months there was a joke among the back five that he was hoping the intense training would take its toll on one of us so he could play his preferred back four!
That work ethic was instilled in the foreign players he brought to the club. Before Wenger, the gym was a lonely place. All of a sudden it was packed with the French players doing extra training.
Immediately, we knew Wenger had a different way of doing things. When a new manager arrives they usually address the squad as a whole but Wenger met us all individually. He pinned up a list of the players ranked from oldest to youngest and gave everyone an appointment time.
When I saw the boss I admitted I was disappointed that Bruce Rioch had gone. I had been captain in Tony’s absence and felt that I had to prove myself all over again.
He said: ‘I have watched 20 games from last season. If you play the same way, you will be in my team. Now talk to David Dein — you need to improve your contract.’
The change in what we ate came in straight away. Tea and coffee were gone and we had to negotiate to have ketchup with our meals. He stopped my tea and toast the night before a game. I used to have it brought to my hotel room at 9.30pm but suddenly it stopped coming.
Arsene told me it was a mental thing and that if I tried hard enough, I could live without it. From then on I used to sneak a small bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk into my room instead. He never got as far as searching our bags!
Wenger also had zero tolerance with alcohol. Once, we were staying at Henlow Grange health club and it was Nigel Winterburn’s birthday.
As captain at the time, I went to talk to the gaffer about us going out for a drink to celebrate. I told him that there was no stopping the players from going out and I was trying to work with him. He said that everyone had to be back at 11pm — and that I would be held responsible if they were not.
HE avoided telling us off by creating an atmosphere where you would tell him what you had done wrong. That is what happened after the Ruud van Nistelrooy incident. I told him I was out of order and he just said: ‘I think you were but I will try to help you.’
Wenger’s magic quality was the way he made you feel special. I have written in these pages many times that he was my footballing father and the warmth he gave me took my game to another level.
It is no coincidence that I won six medals — three Premier League titles and three FA Cups — in the eight years I worked with him. A couple of days before my first FA Cup final in 1998, I was keen to do some extra training. He sat me down and said: ‘ You’ve done enough. You are in top condition. You have been outstanding all season. Relax and look forward to what will be a great day.’
Other managers would have let me train but as a result of Wenger’s reassurance, I arrived at Wembley supremely confident.
Arsenal have had two great visionaries as managers: Herbert Chapman and Arsene Wenger. Both men made it their life’s work to take this club to the next level.
Wenger planted the seed of the new stadium and shared with all of us his vision for the club. That he could never win the Premier League at the Emirates will be his greatest regret. It shows the depth of his passion that he kept clinging on despite trying and failing to win the title in each of the last 14 years.
Each disappointment will have wounded him personally but he always came back fighting. If there was any way he could have hung on I am sure he would have done but there has been a growing inevitability that the exit was looming.
Arsenal have not won away in the Premier League since December and at home the fans have been voting with their feet, leaving swathes of empty seats at the Emirates.
There is a lack of unity between the club and supporters. To win the Europa League, Arsenal need the whole club pulling in the same direction. Wenger knows this. He may feel that announcing his departure is the only way he can bring everyone back together.
There is still plenty left to do for this season. I want to see a renewed vigour from the players to strive with every sinew to win the Europa League. The fans owe it to Wenger to fill those empty seats and enjoy the end of a wonderful era.
It is the time to celebrate Arsene Wenger’s remarkable reign and ensure that the club’s greatest manager leaves on a high.