Ian Wright hinted that Arsene Wenger was held back by Arsenal within a fitting tribute to the legendary Gunners boss towards the end of his 22-year tenure.
Eyebrows were certainly raised when the unknown figure of Wenger - then manager of J League outfit Nagoya Grampus Eight - was appointed as Arsenal manager in 1996, but the aspiring Frenchman soon silenced the sceptics. The newly-appointed Gunners gaffer swiftly made his mark on English football, reshaping the game with a pioneering philosophy which saw seismic changes to the quality and style of football being played in north London as well as innovative ideas on the health and nutrition front.
A string of successes followed, including two league and cup doubles and that 'Invincibles' season, as Arsenal established themselves as one English football's elite during the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, the feeling from most of an Arsenal persuasion was that Wenger overstayed his welcome as things began to take a turn towards the end.
The final years of the Frenchman's iconic 22-year tenure at Arsenal was somewhat tainted by an underlying sense of animosity and in-fighting among fans, as 'Wenger Out' protests and the occasional message via aeroplane engulfed the Emirates. With many feeling the game had moved on and left the once revolutionary Wenger behind, the calls keep on coming to see the Arsenal legend ousted.
The euphoria that Wenger's instigated by the exciting brand of attacking football he once introduced to those on the Highbury terraces had been replaced by vitriol and furious fans squabbling over the team's fortunes online. The Frenchman himself remained an unaffected, unwavering figure throughout it all as the general consensus in the years and months prior to his 2018 departure was that Wenger has holding Arsenal back.
However, ex-Arsenal legend Wright previously hinted that if anything, it was the other way around. In a tribute to his former boss shortly before he called time on his illustrious managerial career, the former Gunners goal-getter referred to Wenger as "an artist" before implying those in charge in north London were guilty of restricting Le Professeur's visions for the club.
Have Your Say! Do you agree that Arsenal held Arsene Wenger back? Tell us what you think here.
"When I think about my time there, I think about Rocky, about scoring goals, and some of the happiest years of my life," Wright penned within an emotional post to The Players Tribune back in 2018. "I think about Arsene Wenger coming to Highbury and giving me a new outlook on life in my 30s.
"Wenger is an artist, a manager who would look at you and see something more. He steered Arsenal into the 21st century and deserves a lot of credit for turning our club into a great club.
"Toward the end there, through business and whatnot, I feel as if he wasn’t able to do the things he truly wanted to. But it speaks to the quality of his character that he did all he could to keep things around Arsenal as positive as possible. Football needs more men like Arsene Wenger. The world does too."
By the end of Wenger's Arsenal career, the club had fallen spectacularly short of the standards expected of them both with or without the now 72-year-old at the helm. The Gunners relocation to the Emirates Stadium in 2006 coincided with a nine-year trophy drought in north London as Wenger was forced to prioritise the club's finances over success on the pitch in his second decade in order to meet the costs of the move.
Further success within the FA Cup then followed in the 2010s as Wenger himself claimed the prestigious honour for most wins in the competitions history with seven. In the years since, both Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta have emphasised the job Wenger did with Arsenal as the pair mustered one FA Cup win between them.
Though Wenger's legacy was somewhat tarnished by the turmoil in the latter stages of his Arsenal tenure, the French manager's contributions to the north London club will never be forgotten. Wright's poignant words only reinforce this notion.
