At a time when Arsene Wenger is under greater scrutiny than on any previous occasion during his near sixteen-and-a-half years in charge at Arsenal, it was enlightening to hear Nigel Winterburn reveal some of the Frenchman’s training ground secrets.
The left-back, who was an integral part of Wenger’s first double-winning side at Highbury in 1998, divulged that his erstwhile manager’s preference was for small sided matches, prioritising comfort in possession and clever movement, ahead of the team’s individual units – defence, midfield, and attack – working separately to form an understanding.
Upon his arrival at Highbury, the little known but innovative coach was viewed with some suspicion by the hardened professionals waiting in his dressing room. Any doubts were quickly dispelled when figures such as Tony Adams, Lee Dixon, and Steve Bould began to reap the benefits of the new man’s hitherto unconventional methods. These Arsenal stalwarts are not alone in crediting Wenger’s influence with extending their own careers.
Helping Wenger’s smooth transition into the English game was a degree of flexibility in his approach. While players were happy to accept unfamiliar routines – particularly in light of tangible on-field improvement – that compliance didn’t extend to being comfortable with training on the morning of match-days. That ritual was something that Wenger agreed to scrap when told of his players discomfort with it.
Practices which became way of life for Wenger’s squad included the fastidious following of a newly implemented strict diet – Wenger emphasised the importance of this as part of a holistic approach to individual conditioning;
‘Jam rolypoly and custard? It’s silly to work hard the whole week and then spoil it by not preparing properly before the game. As a coach, you can influence the diet of your players. I can teach the players what they do wrong without knowing it is wrong’.
Former Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg was quickly alerted to Wenger’s attention to detail. On his first away trip with his new club in 1998 the Swede, still hungry after the team’s evening meal, ordered a 10pm spaghetti bolognese to eat in his room. The following morning Ljungberg was to discover his new manager’s habit of checking all player bills and received what he describes as a ‘terrible bo****ing’.
Plyometrics – muscle strengthening exercises – were incorporated into daily routine, as an essential element of maximising player readiness for the demands of relentless high-tempo football. Most notably, training sessions were timed to the second, generally not extending beyond 45 minutes. Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown, working under Wenger at the time, said ‘We don’t over-train by a minute. It’s all timed scientifically’.
Notwithstanding his known desire for control over all football decisions at the Gunners – this even extended to Wenger having a decisive input into the design of the club’s new training centre at London Colney as well as aspects of the development of the Emirates Stadium – the 63 year-old’s preference was to allow coaches to oversee sessions, while the manager forensically assessed his charges’ performance.
Adams, Wenger’s first captain at Highbury, recalls a ‘fantastic physiologist and psychologist’, but, in a condemnation that would make the ex-Monaco manager bristle, he says ‘coaching isn’t his strong point’.
Thierry Henry, Arsenal’s record goal-scorer, and possibly the man to have benefited more than any other from Wenger’s tutelage, hints at a near laissez-faire approach to football, in which the manager places complete trust in his players.
‘He just lets you express yourself and be who you want to be. That’s very special and you don’t have that with everyone. Sometimes, you have a boss who wants to run the show. Arsene isn’t like that, and besides being a great boss he is also a great human being’.
During his halcyon early years, Wenger undoubtedly profited from the ready-made famed Arsenal back-five – David Seaman, Dixon, Bould, Adams, and Winterburn – providing his raft of extremely gifted attackers the base from which to flourish. With a remarkable eye for young talent, and an unerring ability to identify players blessed with the attributes to fit into his vision for a free-flowing, exciting, and powerful brand of football, Wenger’s first eight-years at Highbury were characterised by untold success – the highlight being the championship winning season of 2003/2004 in which Arsenal accomplished the remarkable feat of completing a Premier League term undefeated.