Wenger becomes Arsenal's longest serving manager Posted by wasif shah , Friday, October 2, 2009 at 12:30 AM, in Labels: SPORTS

Having arrived in English soccer a virtual unknown, he is now the longest serving manager of one of the world's most famous clubs. Wenger overtook George Allison to reach the milestone of 4,749 days in charge and is as revered at the club as Herbert Chapman, the manager who led the Gunners to three straight league titles in the 1930s.
Three weeks short of his 60th birthday, Wenger could be forgiven for thinking about retirement after winning three Premier League and four FA Cup titles, leading Arsenal through an entire league campaign without a defeat and also to a Champions League final.
But Wenger refuses to dwell on the past and his previous successes.
He wants to prove to the world that he can win titles with the team of young Arsenal players he has carefully nurtured since they arrived at the club, some of them barely out of school.
While his main rivals think nothing about spending about $48 million on a new player, Wenger is keeping the Arsenal checkbook shut, stoically relying on his methods and the potential of these youngsters.
"When you look at the players who did not play tonight," the Frenchman said Wednesday after his side beat Olympiakos 2-0 to make it two wins in two Champions League group games, "you see why we are not desperate (to buy).
"Now that the club has announced good financial results, people want me to splash it out straight away."
Wenger was rejected by the Gunners a year before he arrived in October 1996, when foreign coaches were rare in English soccer.
"I believe they had already made up their mind when they interviewed me the first time," he said. "They gave the job to Bruce Rioch and maybe he was a better candidate at the time. I went to Japan (to coach Grampus Eight) and I was not disappointed at all because I had a fantastic time there. I decided only to come back to Europe for a big club."
When he returned, Wenger transformed a side that had a reputation for winning games methodically rather than with style.
He inherited a defense of 30-year-olds but got them playing more attractive soccer and, within two years of taking over, had led the Gunners to the league and FA Cup double.
It was the start of an amazing era, as Wenger's Arsenal became one of the most creative and imaginative teams in the game, slicing through even the meanest defenses with mesmerizing passes and scoring memorable goals.
From Ian Wright, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, to Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Andrei Arshavin, Wenger has had a variety of talented players, although the club's tradition of luring 16-year-olds away from their countries has led to criticism and the threat of punishment.
Alarmed at these trends, both FIFA and UEFA are trying to close loopholes in employment laws to try and stop the transfer of players aged under 18. They also want to bring in quotas, so that clubs are forced to field a minimum of homegrown players.
Wenger's policy has always been to teach his methods to these youngsters as early as possible. He has been rewarded over the years by the likes of Fabregas -- taken from under the noses of Barcelona at age 16, now the Arsenal captain and one of the most sought after midfielders in the game.
Like every successful team, Arsenal plays two games a week because of the demands of domestic and European competitions, and Wenger usually lets his young players of the future compete in the lower-tier competitions. His lineup for last week's League Cup victory over West Bromwich Albion contained eight teenagers.
While Arsenal fans who pack the 60,000-capacity Emirates Stadium virtually every home game love his style of soccer and relish the potential of his young side, they have also become frustrated that the Gunners have not won a major title for four years.
After Thursday's anniversary, Wenger enters his 14th year at the club and, like his domestic rivals, still has four titles to go for this season. But even if the club doesn't win any for the fifth season in a row, he will remain adamant his methods are correct.