Arsene Wenger Can't Live Without Football

Filed in archive Premier League '09/'10 on September 25, 2009

Arsene Wenger has told us that he has "no plans to retire" as Arsenal manager as he approaches the landmark birthday of 60 on 22nd October. With Sir Alex Ferguson having been talked out of retiring in 2001 when he reached 60, only to go on to become the Premier League's most successful manager, is Wenger up to the sizeable challenge he has set himself?

Arsenal has just entered its second generation under its current manger, and the untouchable Wenger tells us he can't live without football. This might be just the thing that fans want to hear, then, when their team's success seems to ride on the whims of one man and his immovable tactics and policy of youth over experience. I imagine that to hear that the man in charge's life depends on staying in the job would inspire confidence.

Wenger built a team which included some of English football's most revered names, those of Patrick Viera, Freddie Ljungberg, Thierry Henry, and the inherited Dennis Bergkamp. In this guise the club did the Double twice under Wenger, the first in the club's history in '97/'98 making him the first foreign manager to do so, and won three Premier League titles, their last coming in '03/'04 after an historic unbeaten campaign. This is a feat which Wenger has admitted was his greatest dream, and one which he wishes to repeat.

This is certainly a bold statement, and one which at this stage in his second regeneration of the team looks unlikely ever to happen. After Arsenal's last trophy in the 2005 FA Cup final (a win in penalties against Manchester United) there followed two relatively poor seasons and a slight resurgence in '07/'08. Since then, though, the team have looked inconsistent, but have also provided us with some of the most impressive moments we have seen recently, not least the 4-4 draw last season at Anfield, where they fulfilled their role perfectly in once again foiling Liverpool's title plans.

This begs the question then, do you think that Arsenal have or soon will have what it takes to mount a successful title campaign? Or instead, if they were able to reach an FA Cup or Champions League final, could they match anyone on the day, despite maybe not being consistent enough to win the League? Wenger's team of young stars may not look as deadly as their recent predecessors, but with some clever signings and further development, could Wenger, once again, create a team from scratch worthy of being Premier League champions?