It is not often also that a mystery man like Arsene Wenger - whom Myles Palmer rightly labelled the Titanium Man – comes into contact with football. Not just football at any level rudimentary level, but football at the stratospheric sphere in which Arsenal FC operates.
That Wenger has completely created a club after his own image is not in doubt. That the man will probably still be there at the helm tweeking and fiddling away behind the iron curtains of Ashburton Grove for the rest our lives, is almost a real possibility.
Jose Mourinho was the one who once described him as unsackable, if there is such a word.
Wenger has proved time and time again how very different he is from your average manager. Avuncular, aloof, sophisticated and stylish. he has moved mountains to stamp his unique authority on a club once regarded as “boring, boring Arsenal”.
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| The Master and his pupil |
Looking at the ongoing Cesc Fabregas-Barcelona saga helps to understand the character of the man Wenger a bit more. Just a bit.
Long, long before now he saw what most people could not in the prodigy that Fabregas was to become. Interestingly, master and pupil share a lot - too much - in common. Both were dedicated, single-minded people. Both are men of few words. Both are deep thinkers. Both are perfectionists. Both were midfielders. Both believe in the same blend of football. Both men are hungry, passionate people whose outward expressions belie the fierce fire burning within.
On a cold winter evening in 2005 in Sheffield, Arsenal were involved in a do-or-die FA Cup replay against Sheffield United. It was an away game against a typical, battling British side managed by the bullish Neil Warnock. The scores stood at 1-1 deep into the game when Wenger signaled for 17year-old Fabregas to come off the pitch.
Even at so tender an age, you could se the disappointment and quiet fury on his baby-face as the pupil made his way, sullenly to the bench in near-protest at his master’s decision. Though Arsenal went on win the game in a penalty shootout after Almunia emerged hero with two saves, the image of a frustrated Fabregas remained my abiding memory of that game.
Wenger must have seen it too certainly.
When three years later William Gallas imploded and ripped his teammates apart in full view of the world, Wenger had little hesitation in taking the captaincy from him and coronating his protégé. For him, Fabregas’ time had come to assume his long-anointed position as a leader of men. Wenger’s men.
Before then, the master had secured the services of his servant with an almost-unheard-of eight year contract. For someone so young then (aged 20), it was unimaginable to be tied down to such an everlasting contract in this day and age. Raul, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Tony Adams, Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi apart, hardly any other players in Europe have been known to commit themselves to being a one-club player. All the aforementioned nonetheless, are either retired or on the last legs of their careers.
Could the young Fabregas be toeing such a line with so much promise and potential ahead of him?
Long before Barcelona began their present provocative ‘bring Cesc back home’ campaign, Wenger knew that the day would come when the desire to go back to his Catalan roots would stir up in Fabregas. Nothing wrong with that. Except that between master and pupil, there still remained some unfinished business.
When Cesc arrived unheralded at Arsenal in 2003, he came bearing the scars of a fresh divorce between his parents, Francesc Fabregas Snr and Nuna Soler. Young, impressionable and vulnerable, Wenger took him under his wing as a father would a son; offering protection, a semblance of stability and bonding that the young man had been denied from a broken home.
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| Cesc chilling out with Fabregas Snr |
He was put in a house, which he shared with Spanish-speaking, Swiss-born Phillipe Senderos and the club got them a cleaning lady who came round to attend to their domestic needs. Alone in a strange country, the club provided Cesc with the support base that enabled him to concentrate and hone the skills that have now made him one of the most sought-after midfielders in the whole world.
Unlike most of his peers back then, Wenger never sent him away on loan. He needed to be close to him. He needed to mould him into the exact shape he wanted.
Many years and lots of hardwork later, the fruits of all those hard labour is what we are all now witnesses to. At 22, Fabregas is already both a European and World Cup winner. For a lad whom Wenger paid the ultimate compliment as having the vision of Platini, success has come quite early in his career.
But to complete his transformation, Wenger needs some payback for all the investment poured into his protégé. He needs Fabregas to lead his team to glory and trophies. His response to Barcelona sums it all up: “He (Fabregas) is our captain and we have worked very hard for him to be the future of our team and that’s why we are always adamant about not letting him go”
Which is why he keeps dismissing Barcelona’s efforts as “noise”. Which is why he remains supremely confident that Fabregas is going nowhere. Which is why he is breaking part of his golden rule and signing the players that will provide the platform for Fabregas to excel this season. Which is why at least four new signings will have joined Arsenal by close of the transfer window.
Which is why we are all getting a glimpse into the way the mind of this mastermind works.
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