Around the English Premier League, as teams and managers have come and gone, one man has stayed constant: Arsene Wenger.
Ever since he took over at Arsenal in 1996, Wenger has been the rock, the righter of the ship, and so much more for the Gunners, as has been reflected in the club’s constant success.
Sure, the club has had some low lights, but the pure quality of some of the sides Wenger has fielded has been more noticeable.
Take, the Invincible’s for example, Wenger’s Arsenal side of the 2003-04 season, who accomplished the absurdly impressive feat of not losing a single game during the Premier League season.
Looking at that squad reveals how well Wenger did in managing the depth and personalities of that team. The reserves on their own may have been enough to suffice, but the starting lineup is where Wenger’s managing skills really shined.
Even though he designed a relatively simple formation in the 442, when names like Ashley Cole, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp, and Thierry Henry populate that lineup, things become slightly less straightforward.
After that magical season, though, Wenger did not always have access to such immense talent, and as some may know his club suffered an 8 year trophy drought as a result of this. Despite this, he was able to lead Arsenal to the Champions’ League, even reaching the finals before losing to Barcelona in 2006.
In more recent times, Wenger has slowly shed his reputation of transfer window frugality, making two monumental moves in successive summers. With the signing of Mesut Ozil in the summer of 2013, which has been hit or miss so far, and this year’s signing of Alexis Sanchez from the aforementioned Barcelona, which has been a smashing success, Wenger’s purchasing of external talent has supplemented Arsenal’s famed youth academy.
Looking forward, Wenger has a tough managing task to contend with, as seemingly his entire squad is on the injury sheet. To boot, key players such as Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, and Laurent Koscielny will be spending significant time on the bench.
However, with his track record, Arsene Wenger should have no problem contending with this.