Who is he?

In August 1996, the name Arsene Wenger meant absolutely nothing in north London. "Arsene Who?" ran the Evening Standard headline that greeted his appointment. It was the story of his life, from the moment he took charge of his own team at Nancy 12 years earlier. In every new job, he didn't just have to prove himself; he had to introduce himself. "I remember when Rioch was sacked, one of the papers had three or four names," says Nick Hornby. "It was Venables, Cruyff and then at the end Arsene Wenger. I remember thinking as a fan, I bet it's fucking Arsene Wenger, because I haven't heard of him and I've heard of the other two. Trust Arsenal to appoint the boring one that you haven't heard of."

Few people had heard of Arsene Wenger when he came to Arsenal in 1996. He remains an enigma - a cultured, media-shy Frenchman who neither looks nor behaves like a football manager. But now he is probably the most influential figure in the English game! For months Arsenal had played what may even have been the best football ever produced by a British club. Power, in Wenger's prediction, was sprinting south.

The idea is that this was uncharacteristic behaviour. In fact that's not quite true. The truth is that Wenger chooses, where possible, not to reveal his character on the touchline. According to him, he doesn't even reveal it in the dressing room. He wrote a book called Shosha No Esprit for the Japanese market. "As a manager," he says in it, "it is often necessary to suppress your own personal feelings. The feelings of the team must take priority. I have become accustomed to not showing my personal feelings. I have made it a habit to think always about the team."