My Life in Red and White: The Sunday Times Number One Bestselling Autobiography

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The Financial Times and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the FT Editorial Code of Practice. In fact, he does not even mention the popular story of how Kolo Toure tackled Henry, Bergkamp and he himself during his trial. Interestingly, there was no reference to his immediate successor at Arsenal, despite the fact that Arteta’s appointment as manager in 2019 was noted and appears to have AW’s blessing. While he can claim no credit for the recruitment policies of opposing clubs, he can rightly claim to have influenced how managers approach the game and of being amongst the early adopters of elements of team preparation which are now the norm.

Wenger commented on the growing number of staff employed by Arsenal who looked after the marketing and branding of the club. Much like Arsene himself, this book will divide opinion as, in many ways, it fundamentally encapsulates the perfect dichotomy of the man. I did enjoy it, and there were times (especially at the beginning and end of the book) where he went into more detail, which was a good read, but I wish he had done it more. When you [were due to] play Tottenham, at the start of the week everybody was a bit more nervous than usual. The pictures include a picture of a banner-trailing plane – but unfortunately not the one I helped crowdfund.

Well, I met Ken Loach on a train to Paris once and we had a little discussion about films and, yes, he talks a lot about the problem of rich and poor. And there's not a single mention of José Mourinho whatsoever despite them having a very heated relationship over the years. No Arsenal fan had heard of him before his arrival – he had been working in Japan, of all places – and none would have cared much if he’d been fired after the game. All these virtues, I am sure, he had in abundance whilst Arsenal manager and elsewhere in his colourful life.

His first years in particular at Arsenal and in English football changed the course of both, and the book explores some of his key thoughts and ideas that underpinned his management, including his expectations of players, the psychology of the game and player management.The book starts beautifully with giving a peek into Wenger's childhood in Alsace, his newfound love for football and his addiction of exceling in the game. And it made me realise that in sport, football especially, the values we carried through were respected all over the world.

That he didn't speak of the emotions of why that happened (Eduardo) and that he praised Gallas twice in the book after his strop?If it hadn't been so short (thank you Kindl for telling me how many hours I had left) I would have stopped reading this quickly. It will illuminate the mystique surrounding one of the most revered and successful manager's life story, strategy and vision in the world's most popular sport. A child of the Invincibles era, I remember the glory of 03/04 with surprising clarity, given that I was 9. I appreciated watching Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger just how important the manager was to a club, how they instilled the culture, the belief and all the science and training that helped develop players.