Arsene Wenger- Le Proffeseur(The Professor)

             Arsene Wenger recalls me of a wily professor. Super-intelligent at his work. Ability to recognize raw talent from a pool. Performs his task with extreme nonchalance. Protects his pupils from the outside world. Sometimes like a personal tutor, who for a fear of his job chooses to blame the examiner rather than find faults in his methodology of teaching or simply the ability(or rather the lack of it!)of the pupil. That is AW for me in a nutshell.

             Arsene Wenger an attack minded coach(or indeed lays more emphasis on attack), was surprisingly a defender, a Right-Back to be precise. He was picked by David Dein(the inspirational CEO of Arsenal)from a Japanese club supposedly named ‘NAGOYA GRAMPUS EIGHT’. Since then he has come a very long way and is considered to be(and actually is!)one of the best managers in the world.

             Hats Off to him for stablizing Arsenal’s on-field performaces in a financially tight and turbulent phase(I personally am not satisfied by ‘just stability’ in the last year). He has prevented a Chelsea or Liverpoolesque collapse. He has managed to take Arsenal to 15 consecutive Champs Lges. And that too with minimal resources. But the ‘minimalization’ is surely his decision(I don't think the board is tying his hands).

             Arsene Wenger is a kind of an Indian engineer who has ventured into Financial Consultancy. He is a perfect amalgamation of a technically sound engineer and an immensely experienced Financial consultant. He knows Tiki-Taka, but knows how to do ‘Number- crunching’ as well.

             Like how a Company/Firm goes to a Financial Consultancy firm saying that it wants to optmize its resources. Simple Motto- Maximizing profits by limited usage of resources ensuring a sustainable model!

             I percieve the situation like this. Arsenal FC is a company/firm. It has appointed Arsene Wenger becuase he is a lethal combo of consultant in technical as well as financial field(‘Single salary 2 employees’ kind of expert). And hasn’t Arsene Wenger played that role to ultra- perfection! He’s made Arsenal FC truck- loads of money and hasn’t compromised on ‘Style’ as well as ‘Achievement’(to a certain extent). That is exactly his USP. Classy! Isn’t he..

             Arsene Wenger is also like a Mining Expert. He has unearthed ‘GEMS’ from raw Ore. He has polished the ‘GEMS’ too finally bringing the gems to their expensive value becuase without the poishing of the gems, they are worthless. Also if he hadn’t unearthed the ‘GEMS’ at the first place, the world woudn’t have known that such a ‘GEM’ even existed. But he does exactly what a Mining Expert does. He doesn’t keep the ‘GEMS’ to himself, but goes and sells it in the market. Controversial statement the above. But all I would like to say is that there was a reason behind every sale. And I would respect the reason behind a majority of the sales and simply say, “ARSENE KNOWS!”

             Now to the hefty calculation or ‘HISAAB’ as you would call it in Gujarati of the truck loads of money Arsene has made for Arsenal, not only through tranfer fees, but also due to the growth in reputation which AW has been an integral part of!A closer look at the Galaxy of Stars Wenger has unearthed and usually sold at the right time(I mean they haven’t lived up to their billings post the sale away from Arsenal).(All figures in UK Pound Sterling)

1)KOLO TOURE- Solid CB

In- 150k                Out- 16m

2)EMMANUEL PETIT- The Defensive Wall

In- 2.5m               Out- 5m

3)SOL CAMPBELL- Defensive Stalwart

In- Free                                Out- Free(But the value he brought to the squad was immense)

4)NICHOLAS ANELKA- Fox in the Box(Nobody knew him before he came to Arsenal)

In- 500k                Out- 22.5m

5)MARC OVERMARS- Flying Winger, Fan-Favourite

In- 7m                   Out- 25m

6)CESC FABREGAS- Midfield Dynamo, Next Xavi(Nobody knew him before he came to Arsenal)

In- 500k                Out- 35m(ish)

7)ROBERT PIRES- Probably the best Winger EPL has ever seen

In- 6m                   Out- Free(But the quality he brought onto the table was scinthillating)

8)ROBIN van PERSIE- His quality is there for everyone to witness

In- 2.5m               Out- Hopefully not!(But you can safely evaluate him at above 30m)

9)THIERRY HENRY- King Henry, Magician with the ball at his feet

In- 11m                 Out- 16m

10)DENNIS BERGKAMP- A Menace for opposition defences.

In- 7.5m               Out- Retired as an Arsenal Legend

11)SAMIR NASRI- The C*NT

In- 12m                 Out- 24m

So as we would do the ‘HISAAB’

Total Money Spent = 49.65m

Total Money Received = 143.5m

Net Monetary Profit = 93.85m(180% Profit)

             I emphasized on ‘Monetary’ becuase the above players have not only brought money to the club, but have contributed immensely to the growing stature of the club!                         

             Away from the finances. Now towards the sporting achievements, which Wenger has ‘Engineered’-

FA Premier League Titles- 3.. 1997-98, 2001-02, 2003-04(Invincibles!)

FA Cup- 4.. 1997-98, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2004-05

Champions League Finalists- 1.. 2005-06

The above list of accolades is one which a person would crave for. The only negative side of the above list is that Arsenal have been trophyless for the past 7 years!

             Aaron Ramsey(I still have a lot of faith in his abilities)was wanted by Arsenal and Manchester United at the same time. But he chose Arsenal, despite knowing that he had a higher chance of winning silverware if he would have chosen Man Utd! The above story bears testimony to AW’s reputation of carefully nurturing hand-picked  youngsters. And this is 1^st Hand info boss, which just cannot be neglected.

             Arsene Wenger once said, "At a young age winning is not the most important thing.. The impotant thing is to develop creative and skilled players with good confidence.” I kind of disagree with the above statement. According to me a winning mentality has to be instilled in the players from the very beginning.

             Okay so what did we see. Arsene Wenger is a thorough All-Rounder. He is one of the best Coaches in the world. He is a ‘Manager’ in the true sense.(An IIM Prof.) So anyone wanting to optimize resources and ensure sustainable deveoplment-

CALL- Mr. Arsene Wenger.

AVAILABILITY- Only after he leaves the Managerial post of Arsenal Football Club.

KEEP FAITH. ARSENE KNOWS!

(P.S.- Are Manchester City and Chelsea listening?)