As the fastidious Frenchman brings down the curtain on his game-changing Gunners tenure, FFT presents his most intriguing episodes in north London
10. A very good Friday: Arsenal 4-2 Liverpool, Apr 2004
To say that the mood before Arsenal's 2004 Good Friday clash with Liverpool was tense would be an understatement. In a week which had seen the Gunners knocked out of both the Champions League (by Chelsea) and FA Cup (by Manchester United), Arsenal simply had to beat Liverpool to keep their season on course.
Despite trailing 2-1 at half-time to Sami Hyypia and Owen goals, an inspired Thierry Henry fired Arsenal to a rousing second-half comeback. The Frenchman's sensational slaloming second goal steered his team to a 4-2 win and kept Arsenal 'Invincible' – in the league at least. Henry later described it as his most important Arsenal goal. Wenger didn’t disagree.
9. Demolition derby: Arsenal 3-1 Spurs, Nov 1996
Two months after being appointed Arsenal manager in September 1996, the scholarly Arsene Wenger prepared for his first north London derby. Having already set about changing the players' diets, stretching habits and warm-ups, his team faced Tottenham in an almost biblical downpour at Highbury.
With the teams tied at 1-1 after 85 minutes (George Graham would surely have instructed his team to secure the point), the Gunners continued to swarm forwards and skipper Tony Adams volleyed Arsenal into the lead, before Dennis Bergkamp delivered the perfect injury-time coup de grace, curling in a sublime effort to make it 3-1. With passion and panache, Arsenal had finished off the old enemy. “We beat the Scum 3-1,” shouted Gunners fans. Now, Wenger really had arrived.
8. The cup that cheers: Arsenal 3-2 Hull, May 2014
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Their title ambitions may have crumbled but in May 2014, after nine long years, Arsenal finally ended their trophy drought at Wembley by defeating Hull in the FA Cup final.
Since lifting the trophy in 2005, Mercury had orbited the sun 32 times, the iPhone was barely a speck on the horizon, and the number of 'How long since Arsenal last won a trophy?' websites had reached bandwidth-breaking point.
Typically, Arsenal made heavy weather of the final and went 2-0 down in the opening eight minutes. Santi Cazorla halved the deficit nine minutes later and Koscielny drew the Gunners level on 71 minutes, paving the way for Aaron Ramsey to prod home a late winner and send relieved Arsenal fans into ecstasy.
Wenger later admitted that he believed he might have been dismissed had his team failed to win.
7. Down and out: Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool, May 2001
"When will this team win another trophy?" ITV's Gary Newbon asked Gunners skipper Patrick Vieira after Arsenal somehow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the 2001 FA Cup Final against Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium.
For the third successive season, the Gunners – who took the lead through Freddie Ljungberg and missed a hatful of other chances – had failed to land silverware, and their defensive fragility was painfully evident. Their torturer-in-chief was Michael Owen, whose two late goals prompted calls for Arsenal’s ageing defence to be dismantled, and Vieira – not for the last time – flirted outrageously with Real Madrid in the close season. But he, Adams, David Seaman and Lee Dixon were far from done at Highbury.
6. Money, money, money: Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea, Apr 2004
Much to Arsene Wenger's disgust, this match symbolised a monumental power shift in English football
For all of Arsenal fans' chants about sticking Russian money up certain orifices, there was no hiding the significance of newly moneyed Chelsea's victory at Highbury in the 2004 Champions League quarter-finals.
Claudio Ranieri's side hadn't won in N5 since November 1998, but their 2-1 victory – courtesy of an unlikely Wayne Bridge winner – demonstrated that although Arsenal were storming through the Premiership season in sensational style, a blue tidal wave of Roman Abramovich's petrodollars would engulf them over the next few years.
Much to Wenger's disgust, this match symbolised a monumental power shift in English football and demonstrated that for all his side’s domestic excellence, Arsenal circa 2004 were a busted flush in Europe.
5. The windfall final: Arsenal 0-0 Man United, May 2005
Intent on seeking revenge for the 2-0 October 2004 defeat at Old Trafford which ended Arsenal's 49-match unbeaten run in the league (a defeat which United manager Alex Ferguson claimed had "scrambled Arsene's brain"), the north Londoners took on their deadly rivals in the 2005 FA Cup Final minus injured talisman Thierry Henry.
United dominated through the excellent Cristiano Ronaldo, but in a very un-Arsenal-like performance under Wenger, the Frenchman's side rode their luck and made it to penalties. Vieira scored the decisive spot-kick to bring the FA Cup back to Highbury – his last kick in an Arsenal shirt – and the Gunners have never quite been the same since.
"I wouldn't want to play like that every week," admitted Wenger after the 'windfall' final. It would be nine long years before they landed their next trophy.
4. Eight to be a Gooner: Man United 8-2 Arsenal, Aug 2011
Arsenal were three down by 40 minutes and trailed 6-1 with 20 minutes still to go
Arsenal had already started the 2011/12 season badly, having drawn on the opening day at Newcastle and then lost to Liverpool on home turf. That game against the Reds was Samir Nasri’s last for the Gunners before his £25m switch to Manchester City.
So what better way to worsen the mood than a horrifying thumping at one of your biggest rivals? Arsenal were three down by 40 minutes and trailed 6-1 with 20 left on the clock, before Robin van Persie’s consolation was quickly drowned by further goals from Wayne Rooney (for his hat-trick) and Ashley Young.
Arsenal eventually recovered to finish the season in third – the minimum placing required for Champions League football that season with Chelsea’s European conquering – but this was still a sour season indeed. Van Persie left for United that summer and duly won the league in his first season at Old Trafford.
3. Mind the age gap: Arsenal 1-3 Man United, May 2009
Arsenal players accused Manchester United defender Patrice Evra of showing a lack of respect after the French defender described the second leg of the 2009 Champions League semi-final at the Emirates Stadium as being like "11 men against 11 babies".
But it was hard to disagree with Evra's view. With the Gunners already trailing 1-0 from the first leg, a masterful Cristiano Ronaldo display swept United into the final and condemned Arsenal to a 4-1 aggregate defeat.
The Gunners’ move to a new ground in 2006 was supposed to confirm their status as a European powerhouse under Wenger, but this horrendous loss confirmed that Arsenal – now forced to sell their best players to rival teams at home and abroad – were playing second fiddle.
2. “We won the league in…” Man United 0-1 Arsenal, May 2002
"It was men against boys," admitted Manchester United skipper Roy Keane after seeing his team lose the match – and title – to Arsenal at Old Trafford in May 2002.
Wenger's men, suitably clad in gold, dictated the pace of the game before driving forward in the second half. Ljungberg's shot was parried by United goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, and French striker Sylvain Wiltord slid the ball home to bring the title back to Highbury for the second time under Wenger.
In reality a point would have sufficed, but the Frenchman urged his side to "win the title with a bang". His team duly delivered.
1. A perfect day: Arsenal 4-0 Everton, May 1998
The high point of Wengerism thus far. On a sun-drenched Highbury afternoon, all the old Arsenal urban myths were laid to rest as the Gunners secured their first title under the Frenchman, hammering Everton thanks to a turbo-charged Marc Overmars display.
In the dying minutes, Tony Adams controlled the ball with his chest and smashed home in front of the North Bank to make it 4-0 and win the league in front of his team’s own fans.
Arsenal completed the domestic Double a week later. The defensive shackles had been removed, and taking into account the pyrotechnic nature of modern football, Wenger's fusion of Dutch/French guile and English grit meant that the '98 vintage were arguably the greatest of all.
Jon Spurling is a history and politics teacher in his day job, but has written articles and interviewed footballers for numerous publications at home and abroad over the last 25 years. He is a long-time contributor to FourFourTwo and has authored seven books, including the best-selling Highbury: The Story of Arsenal in N5, and Get It On: How The '70s Rocked Football was published in March 2022.
