by Lewis Ambrose
Ahead of the FA Cup Final Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger candidly spoke to Gabby Logan for an interview shown on Football Focus.
During the interview Wenger spoke about the tough period from 2007-2014 and claims that easing the club into Emirates Stadium is his greatest achievement.
Unappreciated
Despite failing to win a trophy between FA Cup successes in 2005 and 2014, Wenger is most proud of the “trophy-less” years at Arsenal.
“It is trophy-less years and it can never be completely appreciated and I understand that.
“Difficulty wise on the sporting front it was the most difficult.
“Losing always your best players that you had educated as well, it was the most difficult period.”
Wenger signed the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Samir Nasri, Cesc Fàbregas and Robin van Persie as extremely young and unproven players.
He nurtured them and gave them opportunities they never would have been afforded at any other big club and they how him everything. But, ultimately, they let him down.
Each year Wenger had to replace a key player and start again.
Successful?
No silverware came during those years but, unbelievably, Wenger kept us within touching distance of the top of the table.
“To be every year in the Champions League, everybody wants that, but it’s not a trophy.
“If you don’t do it it’s a disaster, if you do it it’s not a trophy.”
But that was never enough.
“No matter how well you do people want you to win trophies.”
Keeping Arsenal in the Champions League for so long on a shoestring budget was an achievement and has allowed us to loosen the pursestrings afforded by the stadium move earlier than would have been possible otherwise.
Landscape
Thanks to that, the landscape has now changed.
How? Moving stadium and staying in the Champions League has paid for Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez.
“It’s a different trend,” said Wenger.
“For years we were having to pay back the stadium at the level where you had to sell our best players because we had to make money.”
“Since two years now we are in a different position.”
Having to make money while “the teams we fought with did lose 150-200 million (pounds)” was never going to provide a great platform for immediate success.
Longevity
Now it’s paying off, and will continue to do so.
“(Pragamatism) is not a quality that is especially rated in the modern society.
“When I make 10 I don’t spend 20 so I can understand that people are not happy.
“Between people being happy and the club to go bankrupt I still prefer the club to be in a strong position financially and that the future of the club is strong.”
Wenger’s work over those years has left us in a position to become a leading club in Europe, not just England.
But doesn’t mean silverware isn’t important.
“It is about trophies of course but I still believe during all my stay here we have done the best job between 2007-14.”
Arsène Wenger’s work over these years may not be fully appreciated until we see where we are as a club in 20 years time.
If, by then, we have competed with the very best over a sustained period Arsène Wenger will be due a huge portion of the credit.