Dan Smith attends the Premiere of Arsene Wenger: Invincible
There’s a certain irony that the week it was ensured for another year that no team will match Arsenal’s unbeaten season, that I would be invited to attend a film premiere of ‘Arsene Wenger: Invincible’
I was very proud to represent Justarsenal at the event, but was apprehensive that I was travelling from the Capital of Wales to England, essentially to go to the cinema and come back.
Pat owes me the National express costs and a refund for my brand-new shirt I had to buy after I spilt my gingerbread latte on the other one so had to jump into a store in Kensington and purchase a new one.
Like that scene off Notting Hill, a girl walked straight into me.
Hundreds were outside for autographs and selfies. The security gave me that look of ‘he is so not on the list’ until he scanned that yes in fact my name was there.
Once inside the building it was like The Wizard of Oz, going from dark to light.
Stood right in front of me is Mo Farah, and I am being offered free wine and champagne while Lee Dixon and David Seaman walk past.
4 rows in front of me Ian Wright needs help finding his seat.
You’re surrounded by familiar faces from ITV, Sky Sports and BBC.
I go get a drink and find Arteta texting on his phone, and then at the end of the evening I chat with Mr Wenger as he walks out.
It quickly became apparent that the room seemed to think I was a journalist who was used to being around celebrities and not one who aspires to be a writer.
This became clear when I was leaving and a member of staff asked did I need a car called for me to which I replied, ‘Mate I took the tube!’.
Although the penny might have dropped that I don’t get out much when I needed help with my seat number 015. “I can see the number but not the letter” I go back and tell the usher. “That’s the letter O sir not the number 0′
…….
The documentary was followed by a Q and A with Mr Wenger and those who put the piece together – including Gabriel Clarke from ITV.
Arsene Wenger, I grew up with, I was 9 when he was announced as Arsenal manager. So, when I read autobiographies or watch documentaries, I struggle to find out anything new.
Take the sentiment of meeting him away and that’s what I would normally base my opinion on.
Did I learn anything fresh?
The answer is yes ……….
For the first time publicly, it is admitted that the Frenchman wanted to leave in 2007 and that to this day he regrets not moving elsewhere and only associating himself with the one club.
The irony being he wanted to go in support of David Dein who disagreed with the board’s objection not to have a sole beneficiary like an Usmanov. Yet it was Dein who encouraged his friend to stay, knowing that part of the loan repayment plans were that the Gunners every season needed the revenue of the Champions League.
Here rises a constant conflict we see in this story, Arsenal are in Wenger’s heart, he can’t let go even when it would have meant more trophies and money elsewhere.
That’s where the regret comes from. He’s too classy to really pour out his heart, but how can it be fair that out of loyalty he doesn’t leave a sinking ship, only to then be pushed out years later by those he protected?
This from a man who lived and breathed the badge.
He constantly apologises to his own family that he feels he let down, how he’s trying to make up lost time with his daughter and how his passion made him selfish in certain relationships.
This is the closest the Frenchman has ever let a camera get to his personal life and even then, you sense there’s a sadness lurking.
He doesn’t talk about watching countless hours of football as a good thing, it’s his sickness.
The only family to speak was his sister-in-law, who describes the family set up as not being one where members said how they feel.
His brother never moved from the village of their birth, the opposite to a sibling who’s seen the world.
Mr Wenger relates that his dad never said ‘well done’ but always ‘do better‘, the closest the mask comes to slipping and the subject composes himself.
He always said that one day he would list the jobs that he was offered. He claims they include England, France, Juventus, Real Madrid and even Man United. He said ‘no’ because his heart said his true love needed him.
While he has too much respect to point blank stress his grievance, others do that for him.
Sir Alex has no dog in the fight but points to the fact that his old rival kept Arsenal in Europe every year (at that moment I’m sure I saw Arteta squirm in his seat) and that some fans should be ‘ashamed’ at how they treated the Frenchman.
Genuinely, rows in front of me were nodding at this.
It’s one thing for Vieira to tell you off, but something altogether on a different level when the most successful boss in British history is questioning the common sense of a fanbase.
Can’t accuse Sir Alex of having an agenda.
Wenger’s legacy will always come down to how much you believe he was hampered by the debt caused by the building of the Emirates.
A brilliant line was ‘Highbury was my soul, the Emirates my suffering’.
He actually feels the Emirates saw his best piece of work, maintaining the top 4 despite every season selling off his best talent.
Financially it was vital to the club but having not got the pat on the back he felt he earnt; the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.
I personally always maintained it wouldn’t be until he left that we realised just how hard it was under this regime to finish top 4.
Factually we have regressed since the day he left, with some gooners now claiming 6th would be progress.
It’s strange to see Ian Wright (hilarious throughout) bemoan the ‘4th is a trophy’ theory.
Gooners in 2021 seem to think top 6 is a trophy.
I asked Mr Wenger myself does he ever feel that the worst League position in 25 years vindicates the job he did?
He replied he knew how hard it was to, for example, lose Fabregas at 25 and still finish in the top 4. What he doesn’t know is if it was worth the stress and sacrifice he put on himself and his family?
Thierry Henry ponders the mental strain his boss must have gone through during the Invincible campaign, every few days a match with huge stakes.
In the Q and A, Clarke reveals Sir Alex Ferguson had long wanted to take part in a production like this, because he knew how rare it is for his former foe to open up.
I would have liked more on the French scandal that saw Marseille relegated, known to have deeply unsettled the then Monaco coach.
Credit to him for acknowledging horrible rumours in his personal life when he first moved to England, including fake leaks that he quit or was sacked. Our PR department have always done well to keep archive footage locked away so it’s fascinating to watch.
It wasn’t untill Ian Wright said it that it dawned on me that this treatment could be a reflection of racism in the UK in 1996/ 97.
Back when a foreigner managing in Britain was not the norm, what do people do when someone different to them is doing well?
They try to break them.
Wenger himself sees his first Double-winning team as a reflection of a culture change that was happening in London, the city becoming more diverse.
I often wondered how a Vieira, Pires and Henry fell in love with a club they were not affiliated with.
It’s perfectly explained here, Wenger brought players from various parts of the world but insisted they adopt the British culture.
In the Q and A, Mr Wenger says this was the first time he saw the completion of all the filming.
Like a lot of these films, recording isn’t done in order, it might be convenient for an hour of interviews in France before he has to attend a meeting.
Scenes range from London to France and he was sat in an armchair having to relive the highs and lows of certain matches.
It’s genius how Clarke shoots the 72-year-old walking in solitude in his home village, waking through a London Cul de sac on his own and in isolation near his London home, doing the same exercise routine he’s done for over two decades.
The same route, the same trees, the same lake.
It’s the stories beginning, middle and end.
Yet whether it was as a child with nothing, having success, or now without a club, he still is a loner, stuck in his own head seeking perfection.
Whether that’s a gift or a curse is a question mark.
Where you admire his outlook and envy his work ethic, there’s a vulnerability that he’s never let us see before.
Sir Alex relates from his working-class roots in Scotland. He believes that work ethic is instilled in him and Mr Wenger no matter how much wealth or fame you get.
Mr Wenger explains ‘the best forget the wins, but remember the losses.’
It wouldn’t shock me if his one and only Champions League Final is not included because it hurts too much.
It’s a paradox – the obsession to do something special in this sport gave him his life in Football – but little else.
Yet to be the father he regrets not being, he possibly wouldn’t have had his success. If he didn’t love Arsenal he simply ends up with more medals.
But he couldn’t have become a legend at Arsenal without that love, every ounce of sweat and energy.
Quite simply, so many readers would benefit from watching this in select cinemas from Friday or on Amazon/DVD from November 20th.
Youngsters, to see what true success looks like.
Older fans to understand how far we have fallen.
In a month where we ‘rejoice’ over beating Watford, Leicester and Villa, listen to Henry, almost in tears, tell you about his hat trick on Easter Friday against Liverpool and how Highbury felt.
When draws with Brighton are now considered ‘decent’ and the mentality is to jump in the crowd if you draw with Palace at home, listen to the togetherness regarding the Battle of Old Trafford and how subsequent bans united the squad.
Forget pumping out your chest and boasting about the top 5, these were men who had the character to get results at the Bridge, the Lane, Anfield, Old Trafford, all the while playing the best football in the land.
The saddest part is you will never see another Arsenal like that one.
Like most things you don’t appreciate what you have ’til it’s gone, you think it lasts forever.
In his own words, in sport … in life, be as ambitious as you want. Work hard, give it everything and don’t listen to those who doubt you.
Arsene Wenger – Invincible is out this Friday in Cinemas and from the 20th of November on Blue Ray, DVD and Amazon