Welcome to the newest Arsenal Blog, ‘Arsene Who?’. It shall try to differ from the plethora of other Arsenal Blogs (many good, many rubbish!), in offering a global personal perspective of Arsenal.
This blogger grew up in the Southern Hemisphere, but is now resident in London, a Red Member who gets to see the club he supports at least 10 times a season live. Having grown up watching the French Ligue Un, German Bundesliga and the Italian Seria A, i rarely watched English football until Dennis Bergkamp arrived in England.
Back then, English football was largely boring, offering little tactical and technical variety on offer in Germany and Italy. Having being wooed by the Olympique Marseille team that won the European Cup in 1993 which included the legendary trio of Dider Deschamps, Marcel Desailly and Rudi Voller, i followed the former two’s journey into the Seria A. This Marseille team was the thorn in Arsene Wenger’s Monaco side that contained technical players like Hoddle, Klinsmann and Weah.
Having seen Desailly impress at AC Milan, I remember the swift arrival and departure of Dennis Bergkamp. That a player of such sublime skill would leave Italy for a team i knew was a long ball team of Arsenal made me very curious, especially after the early ridicule he received from the English press. I followed Arsenal’s progress due to Bergkamp’s presence. This was heightened when AC Milan sold their young midfield enforcer Patrick Vieira to Arsenal, a player who Desailly spoke very highly of.
A few months later, another man was heavily ridiculed and questioned with the infamous “Arsene Who” tag. I’d known Arsene Wenger to be a manager of great ability from his Monaco exploits, and my following of Arsenal increased as i knew something special was occurring for this London club. The rest as they say is history, Wenger proved his worth by changing the entire English football landscape in technical and physical preparation terms. I have been a fan ever since.
It is from this premise that this blog begins. It shall offer analysis on matches, operations of the club, all from a global perspective. I hope this blog will be refreshing to you, the readers, especially as we approach the 2008-2009 season, where we hope to clinch the Premier League Title for the fourth time in Arsene Wenger’s reign.
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