An Arsenal fan has described what it was like to finally meet his ‘hero’ Arsene Wenger at London Colney recently and it seems the encounter couldn’t have gone better.
Neil Brooks on Twitter has revealed exactly what it was like to meet his hero, Wenger, at Arsenal’s training ground recently. He also offered insight into behind-the-scenes at the club and the new training facilities.
The Gooner explained how he got to look around the new training ground expansion, which he says is impressive, and not only meet some of the players but the manager himself during his time there.
“I spent a few hours at the training centre on Tuesday, looked around the new training expansion, watched a whole training session then met the squad & management. Got a real insight into a day at The Arsenal, so thought I’d tweet a bit of the experience,” wrote Neil.
“The first thing, which always strikes you with Arsenal, is the inclusivity. Yes there is a media car park/entrance, but the rest of the Staff use the same entrance etc. The staff, players and management move around together.
“The family environment you read about, where ‘The tea lady is respected as much as the first team’ is very true.
“The new expansion is incredible, absolutely state of the art, the detail is really something else. Machines for recovery & fitness, but also for injury detection.
“Ran into a few players pre-training (Reiss Nelson, Welbeck, Holding), each one saying ‘Hello, good morning etc’, even a brief chat, but you are wary they are off to training.”
A few points of interest: Per was attached to the youngest players, keeping them focussed and pushing them, not best pleased if a pass went astray etc. Per certainly keeps them honest and it is a great coup to keep him around. Then….. over comes Arsene…….(OMFG!)
— Neil Brooks (@NeilBrooksAFC) November 23, 2017
He continued, “Anyone who knows or follows me on here, will be in no doubt how I feel about The Boss. He is my hero, so this will be gushing, but hopefully some interesting bits coming up. Firstly, anyone who has met him will tell you he does have an Aura, but certainly not intimidating.
“In fact, it is the opposite, For me, it is like jumping into the pool in Cocoon (you might need to be 30+ to get that reference). We spoke for 10min about football…Trust me you could do 10hrs and you feel he could too.
“Again don’t expect a word for word, as he was just so open and honest, but he discussed players, formations, preparation and all the while, you feel comfortable enough to…well… ask.The things which strike you most are of course the honesty (in your mind you are like ‘wow!’).
“But on subjects such as preparation, he was very serious. One example I can give is regarding player’s performance once they are on the pitch.”
The tactical talk was really interesting, there’s me thinking I was all clever, regarding the Coquelin sub, then Arsene throws in a couple of in game scenario’s he was anticipating, which you would just not imagine thinking about, however they were critical & made so much sense.
— Neil Brooks (@NeilBrooksAFC) November 23, 2017
So as far as those who claim he just throws the players out there and is tactically out of touch….trust me, give your head a wobble, you cannot imagine how wrong you are.
— Neil Brooks (@NeilBrooksAFC) November 23, 2017
Another myth around discipline is dispelled, as a player is caught taking a picture on his phone, by Big Boro & Steve Bould who give him the 10 second stare (I even shit myself). But the point is the respect was there from the player where he was thinking ‘Oh shit!’.
— Neil Brooks (@NeilBrooksAFC) November 23, 2017
Neil is clearly over the moon with the encounter. In fact, it sounds exactly like the way most of us probably imagine ourselves meeting Le Professeur. If we should be so lucky.
https://twitter.com/NorbyAFC/status/934100233331576833
This is why platforms like Twitter can be lovely. Neil has shared a positive experience meeting a great man he’s probably been dreaming of meeting for years and we get to hear about it without editing or censorship. Plus, we also get a peak into a training session, gaining insight we wouldn’t otherwise receive.
It’s also reassuring for Gooners, in times of such uncertainty, to learn that some of the things we’re told about the club are true, like the family atmosphere, Per Mertesacker’s involvement with the younger players even though he’s not head of the academy just yet, and Wenger’s warmth, intelligence and knowledge of the game.
If you haven’t already, I’d recommend reading Neil’s entire thread about his experience. It’s worth it.