The Wenger Revolution: Twenty Years of Arsenal
By Amy Lawrence and Stuart MacFarlane
2.5/5
()
About this ebook
In September 1996 a Frenchman, so little known in English football that fans asked “Arsène Who?”, walked into Arsenal. In the subsequent twenty years as manager he transformed the club. A total renovation of the training, stadium, style, economics of the team and the attraction of a global audience has taken place under Wenger's instruction.
This fascinating era is chronicled from the very beginning with distinctive photographs taken from inside the inner sanctum of the club by official Arsenal photographer Stuart MacFarlane, who has had privileged access for many years. Award winning journalist Amy Lawrence introduces each section to set the scene.
This captivating collection of images is captioned with personal anecdotes from Arsène Wenger himself as he reminisces about the significant moments and people that have defined his time at the club over the last 20 years.
Amy Lawrence
Amy Lawrence is professor emerita of film and media studies at Dartmouth College. She is author of The Passion of Montgomery Clift, The Films of Peter Greenaway, and Echo and Narcissus: Women’s Voices in Classical Hollywood Cinema. She has written on women’s voices in film, radio, and recordings (Helen Morgan, Marlene Dietrich); masculinity, acting, and stardom (Valentino, James Stewart, James Mason); and on experimental animation. She also makes short animated films.
Read more from Amy Lawrence
The Southern Vegetarian: 100 Down-Home Recipes for the Modern Table Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Chubby Vegetarian: 100 Inspired Vegetable Recipes for the Modern Table Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Vegetarian Sushi Secrets: 101 Healthy and Delicious Recipes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wenger Revolution: The Club of My Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Power of Food Prep: Take the Stress Out of Meal Planning with the Gourmet Done Skinny Method Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hunt for Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Wenger Revolution
Related ebooks
Juventus: A History in Black and White Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spain: The Inside Story of La Roja's Historic Treble Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Red Apprentice: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: The Making of Manchester United's Great Hope Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWayne Rooney: My Decade in the Premier League Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Torres: El Niño: My Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mancini: Diary of a Champion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAndrea Pirlo: I Think Therefore I Play Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Game Changers: Inside English Football: From the Boardroom to the Bootroom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/520|13: A Tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBarca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Is He All That?: Great Footballing Myths Shattered Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ron Atkinson: The Manager Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manchester United: 19 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRussian Winters: The Story of Andrei Kanchelskis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Way Forward: Solutions to England's Football Failings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Red Glory: Manchester United and Me Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Eric Cantona Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Proud Man Walking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Life in Football: The Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From Guernica to Guardiola: How the Spanish Conquered English Football Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRafa's Way: The Resurrection of Newcastle United Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Ode to Four Four Two: Football’s Simplest and Finest Formation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bundesliga Blueprint: How Germany became the Home of Football Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Duellists: Pep, Jose and the Birth of Football's Greatest Rivalry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5England Football: The Biography: 1872 - 2022 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat You Think You Know About Football is Wrong: The Global Game’s Greatest Myths and Untruths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mixer: The Story of Premier League Tactics, from Route One to False Nines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Photography For You
The Photographer's Guide to Posing: Techniques to Flatter Everyone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Extreme Art Nudes: Artistic Erotic Photo Essays Far Outside of the Boudoir Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Book Of Legs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Photography Exercise Book: Training Your Eye to Shoot Like a Pro (250+ color photographs make it come to life) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBombshells: Glamour Girls of a Lifetime Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Betty Page Confidential: Featuring Never-Before Seen Photographs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The iPhone Photography Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Photography 101: The Digital Photography Guide for Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5LIFE The World's Most Haunted Places: Creepy, Ghostly, and Notorious Spots Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rocks and Minerals of The World: Geology for Kids - Minerology and Sedimentology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Photography Bible: A Complete Guide for the 21st Century Photographer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edward's Menagerie: Dogs: 50 canine crochet patterns Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Complete Portrait Manual: 200+ Tips & Techniques for Shooting the Perfect Photos of People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/59/11 THROUGH THE LENS (250 Pictures of the Tragedy): Photo-book of September 11th terrorist attack on WTC Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDigital Photography For Dummies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Workin' It!: RuPaul's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Humans of New York Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Native Mexican Kitchen: A Journey into Cuisine, Culture, and Mezcal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How the Other Half Lives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Tree a Day: 365 of the World’s Most Majestic Trees Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHumans of New York: Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Patterns in Nature: Why the Natural World Looks the Way It Does Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Photography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wisconsin Death Trip Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conscious Creativity: Look, Connect, Create Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Through the Lens of Whiteness: Challenging Racialized Imagery in Pop Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFifty Places to Hike Before You Die: Outdoor Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5iPhone Photo Tutorials: English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jada Pinkett Smith A Short Unauthorized Biography Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Wenger Revolution
2 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Wenger Revolution - Amy Lawrence
CONTENTS
FOREWORD BY ARSÈNE WENGER
ARSÈNE WHO?
ALL CHANGE ON THE TRAINING FRONT
STRIVING FOR MORE SUCCESS
HIGHBURY
UNBEATABLE
END OF AN ERA
BRAVE NEW WORLD
BACK TO WINNING WAYS
GLOBAL GUNNERS
THE GAME WE LOVE
TWENTY YEARS
FOREWORD BY ARSÈNE WENGER
In England I believe your football club is a part of your passport. You live with it, you die with it. It is a bit like a nationality – nobody in England would ever consider changing their passport during their lifetime. It is the same for their club.
That gives a club a responsibility. It is not like we have clients who are moving in and out, being with you or with someone else. You have people who you know will go home and cry when you lose a game, who will suffer when you don’t play well. So you feel you have a kind of responsibility to make them proud of their club. To make them proud manifests itself two ways. Of course in a short punctual way that happens through results and the way you play football. But over a longer period I believe the values of the club that carry through the generations make people proud as well.
Today I notice more the popularity of Arsenal when I travel the world compared to when I am in England. That for me is down to the fact that we are recognized as a club who has a multicultural acceptance and a club who gives a chance to people who have a dream. It’s a series of values we are proud to carry through the years. The club can influence people’s lives in a positive way.
The work of the Arsenal Foundation means a lot to me because it reminds me of the way I was educated, and what a club can provide for people. Football clubs in the villages where I grew up in France helped people out. I witnessed it from when I played as a kid. Sometimes people who had no parents found the football club could replace a little bit of the influence of the sense of family. Those guys were on the fringe of going one way or the other in life. In that kind of situation either the people they connect with inside the club, or the motivation the game itself provides, can be very powerful.
The work of the Arsenal Foundation is committed to the power football can have to change lives. Football can reach people who seem to be beyond help and bring some normality to their life again, giving them a purpose through that chance to be part of a team. That structure and motivation gets them back on the right path. Football has an educational and a social responsibility and that is at the core of what we are about at Arsenal.
After 20 years at the club I feel responsible for every bad thing that happens to Arsenal and proud of every good thing that happens. I always say when you wake up in the morning and you can go to a football game, you hope it can be a moment of happiness in your life. We have to try to give that to people.
Arsenal has become my passport now. Only six months in a club nowadays is massive. You cannot be 20 years inside a club and not feel accountable for what’s happening. That’s impossible. So of course it has become my identity. My passport is red and white in fact.
Arsène Wenger, Arsenal Training Ground, 2016
The Arsène Wenger of 2016 looks momentarily lost in thought, almost taken aback, when he takes a moment to look at his former self. He studies a photograph taken on his very first day as manager of Arsenal, two decades previously. It seems to move him like a form of time travel. The Arsène Wenger of 1996 is wearing a dark suit and the slightly garish club tie of the times, sitting in the Clock End, arms casually outstretched over the backs of the row of seats. His expression reveals a man absolutely in his element. He is relaxed, ready, and motivated to show what he knows he can do.
It’s striking to recall how few people in England shared the confidence he had in himself. The vast majority of the football public, the Arsenal supporters – even some of the players – felt some reticence. Who is this guy? What will he be like? Is it even possible for a foreign manager to cut it in England? History didn’t offer any evidence of that. The Wenger of today looks back at the Wenger of day one and remembers it well. ‘I felt quite a lot of scepticism’, he admits.
But in himself, he felt very assured. Although he was new to almost everyone in the English game, he did not see himself as a novice. He was 46 years old and had already been