title: Arsène Wenger

text: The challenge of sustaining Nancy as a Ligue 1 club was difficult as Wenger inherited a squad of sub-standard quality and he was given limited money to spend. He nevertheless relished the prospect of conducting business in the transfer market, and enjoyed freedom to trial theories he read about. In his first season at Nancy, Wenger hired a dietician to explain the benefits of healthy eating and made it imperative that players did not snack before games. He took the squad away from their usual summer training camp to Val Thorens, so that the players could acclimatise to the high-altitude. Platini attested the move to their strong league starts. From a managerial perspective, Wenger struggled to keep his emotions in check; losing made him "physically sick", to the point where he once stopped the team bus to vomit after a game. Wenger guided the club to a respectable 12th-place finish, all the more surprising given he constantly tinkered his team. Players were moved out of their favoured positions, which for some maximised their potential. Éric Bertrand, a striker signed from the lower divisions, was converted into a fullback, and by the end of Wenger's time at Nancy, Éric Di Meco switched from a left winger to wing back.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Nancy's bottom-half finish proved a false dawn as the club finished 18th in the 1985–86 season, which meant they had to win a play-off match to avoid relegation. They retained their league status with a 3–2 aggregate win against Mulhouse. The club however sold several of their best players to avoid financial predicament and provided Wenger with little funds to work with. In Wenger's final season in charge, Nancy finished 19th and were relegated to Ligue 2. Despite the setbacks, he was contacted by AS Monaco over their vacant managerial job. Talks had begun during the summer of 1986, but Nancy chairman Gérard Rousselot refused to release Wenger from his contract, and Monaco were not prepared to offer compensation. Once Nancy's relegation was confirmed, Wenger was permitted to leave the club by mutual consent and was confirmed as Monaco manager in 1987.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Before joining Monaco, Wenger had identified several players to build his desired team. Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Glenn Hoddle, granted a free transfer, and Patrick Battiston, out of contract at Bordeaux, were signed. Striker Mark Hateley left Milan to join Monaco and was "encouraged to learn" that his fellow Englishman Hoddle would play in the same side as him. Monaco won the league in Wenger's debut season, six points ahead of runners-up Bordeaux. Although the team scored more goals in 1988–89 due to the purchase of Liberian striker George Weah, Monaco failed to retain the league and finished third behind Olympique de Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain. The club reached the final of the Coupe de France, the national knockout cup competition in the same season, but lost 4–3 to Marseille.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Monaco again finished third in 1989–90; striker Ramón Díaz scored 15 goals in his first season at the club. The club beat league winners Marseille in the Coupe de France final through a last minute goal from substitute Gérald Passi. In 1991–92, Monaco finished in second place and lost the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup Final 2–0 to Werder Bremen. Although Monaco acquired the services of German striker Jürgen Klinsmann, the club could not regain the championship and concluded the subsequent seasons in third and ninth positions. Monaco did reach the semi-finals of the Champions League in April 1994, but lost to eventual winners Milan.<ref name="Espns /"></ref> As a result of his work at Monaco, Wenger was sought after by German club Bayern Munich, who wanted him to be their next manager. Monaco refused to let him leave and Wenger chose to stay, but a poor start to the 1994–95 season meant he was dismissed on 17 September 1994, with the team in 17th spot in the table. In 2001, Wenger said that the impact of bribery and corruption had influenced his decision to leave France, as Marseille were found guilty of match fixing in 1994.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Shortly after his dismissal, Wenger travelled to the United Arab Emirates to attend a series of conferences held by FIFA. Wenger was a member of the football governing body's technical committee, responsible for analysing the 1994 World Cup, and made a presentation to coaches of emerging football nations. His speech was closely followed by Japanese delegates, whose country had invested millions into the restructuring of its football league system. Representatives of Toyota, the majority owner of Nagoya Grampus Eight soon met with Wenger and offered him the chance to become the club's manager. Wenger deliberated, even though the idea of working abroad appealed to him; negotiations between the two parties lasted for two months. In that time, he sought the advice of his closest friends and family, and flew to Japan to watch Nagoya Grampus' striker Gary Lineker make his final appearance before his professional retirement. In December 1994, Wenger agreed to become manager of Nagoya Grampus, on a two-year contract worth ¥75m annually.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: With the new season of the J.League commencing in March 1995, Wenger set about assembling his squad and backroom staff. He hired former Valenciennes manager Boro Primorac, whom he had befriended during the match-fixing scandal, as his assistant. Alexandre Torres joined Nagoya after Wenger identified the defender by watching Brazilian football on the television, and the manager brought in Franck Durix and his former player Passi. Nagoya finished bottom of the J.League the season before Wenger's arrival, and continued their poor form into the following campaign, losing several matches in a row. In response to the situation, Wenger altered his managerial style, becoming less amicable with his players and openly questioning their desire. To boost morale, he took his squad to Versailles for their mid-season break, where they went through a rigorous, but creative, training regime. Players were expected to make decisions for themselves on the pitch, instead of relying on the manager; Wenger was reported to have shouted to his players "Don't look at me to ask me what to do with the ball!" and "Decide for yourself! Why don't you think it out?" One player who greatly benefited from Wenger's guidance was Dragan Stojković, a midfielder whose disciplinary record improved considerably.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger's methods had the desired effect – Nagoya won 17 of their following 27 games to finish runners-up in 1995. He shortly received the J. League Manager of the Year award for 1995, while Stojković claimed the player's honour. In January 1996, Wenger guided the club to their first piece of silverware as Nagoya defeated Sanfrecce Hiroshima to win the Emperor's Cup. Two months later they triumphed in the Super Cup, beating Yokohama Marinos 2–0. The success bolstered Nagoya's status in Japanese football, as well as Wenger's reputation; he was somewhat startled by the praise and idolisation that came his way. Midway through the 1996 league season, Wenger's former club Strasbourg enquired about the possibility of him returning to manage them. He turned down the offer as he was earlier approached by Arsenal. David Dein had remained in contact with Wenger after their first meeting, and frequently sent him video tapes of matches to garner his opinions; "He was my personal pundit," the vice-chairman recalled. The Arsenal board rebuffed Dein's suggestion to appoint Wenger as early as 1995, but concerns over George Graham's successor Bruce Rioch meant they were more open-minded about hiring him since his stint in Japan.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger managed Nagoya for the final time on 28 August 1996 and delivered a farewell speech, thanking the fans in Japanese. Assessing his time in Japan, biographer Jasper Rees felt Wenger had left a mixed legacy at the club, as the immediate success was followed by fluctuating league finishes; it was not until 2010 that Nagoya (under Stojković) won their first title. Wenger continues to speak fondly of his career in Japan and once likened the country to his ancestral home: "It has beautiful things that we have lost in Europe, beautiful things that make life good." He also credited the culture for improving his temperament and rediscovering his passion for the game. Wenger returned to Japan as a television pundit for the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, and a decade later, took Arsenal to face Nagoya in a pre-season friendly.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In August 1996, Arsenal dismissed Bruce Rioch as club manager. Rioch's position had become untenable after a dispute with the board over transfers, and his working relationship with Dein worsened during the course of his tenure. Arsenal appointed Stewart Houston and later Pat Rice in temporary charge of the first team, while they searched for a full-time successor. Although Barcelona player and manager Johan Cruyff was favourite to take over, the board looked elsewhere, eventually backing Dein's proposal to hire Wenger. The appointment was delayed for several weeks as Wenger was under contract at Nagoya Grampus and the club wanted time to make a final decision. In the meantime the Arsenal board refused to confirm the identity of their next manager, but speculation grew that it would be Wenger once the club signed French midfielders Patrick Vieira and Rémi Garde. On 22 September 1996, Wenger was unveiled as Arsenal manager, after Nagoya Grampus granted him his release. He officially assumed the role on 1 October 1996, becoming the first Frenchman to manage in the Premier League. At his first press conference, he told reporters: "The main reason for coming is that I love English football, the roots of the game are here. I like the spirit round the game and at Arsenal I like the spirit of the club and its potential."


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger's arrival at Arsenal was greeted with perplexity by some of the club's players, supporters and the local media. Although he was touted as a future technical director of The Football Association (FA), he was relatively unknown in English football. Glenn Moore's report in "The Independent", dated 24 September 1996, highlighted the mood: "It is a measure of the insularity of the English game that when Arsène Wenger's name emerged as Arsenal's favoured candidate for their vacant manager's job many supporters were asking: 'Arsène who?'" Unlike his predecessors, Wenger was given control over transfers, contracts and training sessions, and the Arsenal board chose not to meddle in team affairs. One of his first acts as manager was to assure the experienced players they had a future at the club, but he noted the squad was "a bit tight," and needed competition for places. Wenger adopted a hands-on approach to training sessions which energised the squad and made steps to change the drinking culture that afflicted Arsenal. Although he initially allowed players to have a pint of beer, they were forbidden to drink on days off and in the players' lounge. He later banned his players from casually drinking together. Wenger also promoted pasta as the pre-match dish, encouraged boiled chicken instead of red meat and discouraged junk food. Players received optional vitamin injections and Creatine, which reduced fatigue and improved their stamina.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger's first match was a 2–0 away victory over Blackburn Rovers on 12 October 1996, however, he did suggest "one or two changes" to Rice in Arsenal's UEFA Cup defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach on 24 September, nine days prior to taking charge of the club. The interference upset club captain Tony Adams, who on his first meeting with the manager expressed his disappointment: "I said to him that he had put our entire season in jeopardy by doing what he had done." Wenger chose to take the criticism on board upon arrival, and made an effort listening to Adams' assessment of the club. This particular approach of management resonated with the other players, who were sceptical of his ideas at first. The English players often set up pranks on Wenger to relieve hostility and nicknamed him "Inspector Clouseau", due to his clumsy nature. Adams said his sense of humour helped build team spirit: "Not only does Wenger love a good laugh, but he can laugh at himself. He is this gangly wise man".


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Malicious rumours concerning Wenger's private life surfaced during November 1996, to the extent the City of London reported that his exit from Arsenal was imminent. Having returned from a trip to Strasbourg to visit his parents, Wenger attended a press meeting and strongly refuted the claims: "If something comes out that is wrong, I will attack. It is a serious matter if you can just create things that are not right." Arsenal's press officer Clare Tomlinson, who was present at the news conference, recalled Wenger phoning the next day and demanding why he could not take action against the press for printing the story. The culprit responsible for spreading gossip in the City later apologised to Wenger. During this, Arsenal had led the Premier League, but poor form in February 1997 caused Wenger to rule out his team's chances of winning the title. They finished third in his first season, missing out on UEFA Champions League qualification to Newcastle United on goal difference – the tiebreaker used to determine the ranking between teams equal on points.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In preparation for the forthcoming season, Wenger took the Arsenal squad to Austria, which would become the club's usual pre-season base. The players were given a night out as a reward for vigorous training, which midfielder Ray Parlour revealed was spent at a local pub with the other English players, while the "French lads" headed to the coffee shop and smoked. "How are we going to win the league this year? We're all drunk and they're all smoking," he recollected. Wenger continued to fine-tune the squad during this period. Having vetoed John Hartson's move to West Ham United in February 1997, he convinced French teenager Nicolas Anelka to join Arsenal. He raided his old club Monaco to acquire the services of Christopher Wreh, Gilles Grimandi and Emmanuel Petit. The latter two were defenders, but Wenger thought both were capable of playing in midfield. To address the shortcomings of playing expansive football, winger Marc Overmars was purchased from Ajax, while Paul Merson moved to Middlesbrough. Wenger assessed Arsenal lost the Premier League because of their poor home performances, and felt they needed more pace and power.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Arsenal began the 1997–98 season well, but struggled in November; though they beat Manchester United at Highbury without the suspended Dennis Bergkamp. This was their only league win throughout the month. Defeat at home to Blackburn Rovers left the club in sixth position before Christmas and seemingly out of contention for the title. Striker Ian Wright was booed off by supporters over his performance, which he responded to by criticising the crowd from the dressing room window. Wenger called for an urgent team meeting, where "home truths were spoken, fingers pointed, players were geed up." The squad dictated how the conversation went, which the senior defenders made it clear they wanted Vieira and Petit to provide cover.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Such was the likelihood of Manchester United going on to retain the title, bookmaker Fred Done paid out on punters with two months of the season left. Arsenal steadily closed the gap, however, and victory against Wimbledon in March 1998 set up a title clash between themselves and the reigning champions. Wenger in the lead up to the game maintained it was possible for Arsenal to win the league, stating "two or three weeks ago, the title was just a dream for us and people laughed when I said we could still do it". He suggested Manchester United were responsible for making the title race "interesting". At Old Trafford, Overmars scored the decisive goal to give Arsenal a 1–0 win. The victory was followed by nine consecutive league wins, the last of which was a home fixture against Everton that secured Arsenal's status as champions. Wenger became the first foreign manager to win the double, when his team beat Newcastle United in the 1998 FA Cup Final.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger sanctioned Wright's transfer to West Ham in the summer and made Anelka his first-choice striker ahead of the 1998–99 season. His decision not to bolster Arsenal's attack, coupled with Bergkamp's fear of flying, meant the club entered the Champions League with just one recognised striker. Their time in the competition was brief, making an exit at the group stage, with their domestic form being indifferent. Needing to strengthen their attacking options, Arsenal signed Nwankwo Kanu in January 1999, and his presence reinvigorated the team as they embarked on a run similar to last season. They finished second behind Manchester United however, losing their slender advantage once they lost their penultimate match. United also eliminated Arsenal in a FA Cup semi-final replay after extra time; Wenger afterwards said: "it was a smashing game, and in the end, the luckiest won." In August 1999, Anelka joined Real Madrid having threatened to strike if Arsenal did not grant him a move abroad. Wenger used a portion of the proceeds generated through the Anelka sale to fund the build of the Arsenal Training Centre, expressing his desire to establish a "home away from Arsenal". He renewed his forward line by signing Davor Šuker from Real Madrid, and Thierry Henry, who joined after seven "injury-interrupted" months at Juventus for £11.5 million. It was Wenger's intention to partner Anelka with Henry, but the former's departure meant the plan was scrapped.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: The following seasons were comparatively barren. Arsenal again exited the Champions League at the group stage, but dropped down to the UEFA Cup. Wenger guided his team to the final, where they lost to Galatasaray on penalties. In the league, Arsenal finished 18 points behind Manchester United as runners-up, and though they closed the gap to eight points in 2000–01, they never posed a serious title challenge. The trophy drought continued past 2001, when Michael Owen scored two late goals for Liverpool to beat Arsenal in the FA Cup Final. Wenger rued his team's inability to make possession count, but refused to blame individuals, namely Henry, for missing chances.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: The cup defeat prompted Wenger to make changes to his squad. He signed young England internationals Richard Wright and Francis Jeffers, midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst from Rangers as a partner for Vieira, and convinced defender Sol Campbell to join from local rivals Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer. Campbell's arrival strengthened a defence which was going through a transition phase from 1999 and 2001; Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn moved on in this period, club graduate Ashley Cole displaced Sylvinho as Wenger's first choice left back, while Lauren acted as Lee Dixon's understudy. Midfielders Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires – brought in during preceding transfer windows, had now established themselves into the first team. The 2001–02 season brought much success as Wenger led Arsenal to the double once more. The crowning moment was the win against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the penultimate game of the season. Sylvain Wiltord scored the winning goal to secure the club's 12th league championship and third double; four days earlier, Arsenal beat Chelsea 2–0 in the 2002 FA Cup Final. The team scored in every single league fixture and were unbeaten away from home that season.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger appointed Vieira as club captain following Adams' retirement, and made few additions to his double-winning squad, signing defender Pascal Cygan, midfielder Gilberto Silva and utility player Kolo Touré. He was confident his side would retain the league and told the media: "Nobody will finish above us in the league. It wouldn't surprise me if we were to go unbeaten for the whole of the season". Arsenal set a new top-flight record in their opening game of the 2002–03 season; a 2–0 victory against Birmingham City was their 14th league win in succession. They continued their fine start by overhauling Nottingham Forest's top-flight record of 22 away league matches without defeat and later surpassed Manchester United's Premier League total of 29 matches unbeaten. Arsenal lost to Everton in October 2002, which began a run of four matches without a win. Though Wenger's team built an eight-point lead over challengers Manchester United by March 2003, they were overhauled in the final weeks of the season. The title race shifted in United's favour when Bolton Wanderers came from behind to draw 2–2 against Arsenal. Wenger showed moments of exasperation during the match by loosening his tie and bellowing orders from the touchline. Journalist Phil McNulty wrote that Wenger's demeanor "spoke of someone who had the title in his grasp but now saw it slipping from his fingers". Arsenal beat Southampton 1–0 to retain the FA Cup at the end of the campaign.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: During pre-season, Wenger arranged a meeting with the players to examine why they lost the league. Martin Keown felt the manager harmed their chances by boasting they could go the season unbeaten. "Look, I said that because I think you can do it. But you must really want it," was Wenger's reply, as he believed the squad had the right mixture of technique, intelligence and physique. Arsenal did little transfer business given the financial demands that came with their new stadium project; their only major signing was Jens Lehmann, who replaced David Seaman as goalkeeper. Wenger retained his best players, despite interest shown by Chelsea's new owner Roman Abramovich. Six games into the league season, Arsenal were involved in a brawl against Manchester United; the ill-feeling stemmed from Vieira's dismissal late on. Several players were charged and fined accordingly by the FA and Wenger apologised for his team's over-reaction. The team restored their image with an entertaining performance against Newcastle; Henry Winter in his match report wrote: "Henry's opening goal encapsulated all that is good about Arsenal, the slick passing and intelligent movement." Wenger led his side to league triumph without a single defeat – an accomplishment last achieved by Preston North End 115 years before, in the Football League. "Somebody threw me a T-shirt after the trophy was presented which read 'Comical Wenger says we can go the whole season unbeaten.' I was just a season too early!," he remarked during the club's victory parade.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Arsenal's run of 49 league games unbeaten came to an end with a 2–0 defeat at Manchester United on 24 October 2004. The team under Wenger's management enjoyed another relatively strong league campaign in 2004–05, but finished second to Chelsea, who ended the season 12 points in front. Consolation again came in the FA Cup; Arsenal defeated Manchester United on penalties, after a goalless final. The emergence of Cesc Fàbregas in the starting line-up prompted Wenger to sell Vieira to Juventus in July 2005. He noticed the two as a midfield pairing was ineffective, and felt keeping Fàbregas would benefit the club's future. The 2005–06 season marked the beginning of a transitional period for Arsenal as it was the club's final season at Highbury. The team finished fourth in the Premier League and outside the top two for the first time under Wenger's tenure. In the Champions League, Wenger assembled an inexperienced defence that reached the final, beating Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal and conceding no goals in the knockout stages. In the final against Barcelona in May 2006, Arsenal took an early lead but ultimately lost the match 2–1. The defeat also made Wenger the only manager to have been a losing finalist in each of UEFA's three main club competitions, having previously lost the UEFA Cup final with Arsenal in 2000 and the Cup Winners' Cup final with Monaco in 1992.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In the summer of 2006, Wenger oversaw Arsenal's relocation to the Emirates Stadium. During the construction phase, he described the move as "vital" to the club's financial future and believed Arsenal were better able to attract the best players. Moving to the new stadium, however, presented several problems in the short term, as the club prioritised financing it over the team. Wenger sold some of his experienced players such as Campbell, Lauren and Pires, sanctioned Cole's move to Chelsea in part exchange for defender William Gallas, and integrated young players like Theo Walcott and Alex Song into the first team. His youthful team contested the League Cup final in February 2007 and were the youngest to play in a major English cup final, averaging 21 years. They ultimately came up short against Chelsea, who won the match 2–1. Arsenal finished fourth in the 2006–07 league season; Wenger had ruled out their title chances following defeat to Bolton in November 2006. The team's lack of directness and efficiency of possession was a familiar theme during the campaign; "Guardian" journalist Daniel Taylor observed two matches into the league season: "The most watchable side are frequently the most frustrating. Arsenal are wonderfully incisive yet infuriatingly blunt."


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In April 2007, Dein left Arsenal due to "irreconcilable differences" about the future of the club. Wenger described it as a "sad day for Arsenal," and sought assurances from the board over his future as well as reasons for Dein's departure. The instability at board level influenced club captain Henry's decision to leave Arsenal in June 2007, which led to uncertainty over Wenger's position. In September 2007, Wenger signed a new three-year extension, insisting that he remained committed to "the club of my life." (In 2021, Wenger revealed that his signing of the contract extension was his side of a deal with the Arsenal board in the building of the new stadium, because he requested its construction.) Arsenal flourished in Henry's absence, with Emmanuel Adebayor, Mathieu Flamini and Fàbregas playing a more prominent role in the 2007–08 season. Defeat to Middlesbrough in December 2007 ended a run of 22 league matches unbeaten, but Arsenal soon built a five-point lead over Manchester United. A career-threatening injury to striker Eduardo against Birmingham City on 23 February 2008 acted as a turning point in Arsenal's season. Wenger, incensed at the aggressive tactics of opponents, called for a ban on tackler Martin Taylor in his post-match interview; he later retracted the comment. Arsenal's form subsequently suffered, and a run of three consecutive draws in March allowed Manchester United and Chelsea to overhaul them as they finished the season in third.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Arsenal made a troubled start to Wenger's twelfth season. The club relieved Gallas of his captaincy, after he openly questioned his teammates, and Wenger appointed Fàbregas as his successor. Arsenal secured fourth position in the league and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and FA Cup, but it was a fourth season without silverware. Wenger was subject to criticism from Arsenal fans; he praised the travelling supporters, though referred to a section of the home crowd as treating him "like a murderer". Arsenal finished third in the league in 2009–10 and the team were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by Barcelona. Wenger had reached a landmark in October 2009, surpassing George Allison to become Arsenal's longest-serving manager.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In August 2010, Wenger signed a further three-year contract to continue his managerial career at Arsenal. His team were on course for a quadruple trophy haul in 2010–11, before defeat to Birmingham City in the 2011 Football League Cup Final, when a mix-up between goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny and defender Laurent Koscielny allowed Obafemi Martins to score the winning goal. This was followed by a run of just two wins in 11 Premier League games, to take them from title contenders to a fourth-place finish. Arsenal then made exits in the FA Cup and the Champions League to Manchester United and Barcelona, respectively.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger's preparations for the 2011–12 season were disrupted by player unrest. Though he insisted none of his top players would leave the club, Fàbregas eventually moved to Barcelona, while Gaël Clichy and Samir Nasri joined Manchester City. Suspensions and injuries left Wenger fielding an understrength side against Manchester United on 29 August 2011; Arsenal were trounced 8–2, which represented their worst defeat in 115 years. Needing to address the squad's lack of depth, Wenger completed a series of deals in the final days of the summer transfer window. He mostly brought in experienced players, such as Yossi Benayoun on loan from Chelsea, Everton's Mikel Arteta and Germany international Per Mertesacker. By October, Arsenal had made their worst start to a season in 58 years, losing four of their opening seven matches. However, the team soon harmonised, and in the same month club captain Robin van Persie scored a hat-trick as Arsenal beat Chelsea 5–3. Despite another season of no silverware, Wenger guided Arsenal to third position in the Premier League, thus qualifying for the Champions League for a 15th successive campaign. Van Persie had scored 37 goals, in his first injury-free season for the club. He, however, grew disillusioned with Arsenal's transfer policy, and decided not to renew his contract, with one year remaining. When Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson learnt of the situation, he called Wenger to push through a deal and Van Persie agreed to join Manchester United in August 2012. The club purchased strikers Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski in anticipation of the sale.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: The 2012–13 season was Wenger's first without Rice, who retired in late spring. Bould was named as his replacement, who specialised in defensive work. Arsenal struggled to find consistency in the league and were 12 points behind leaders Manchester United by November 2012. A month later, Wenger came under strong criticism following his side's exit in the League Cup to Bradford City, when a full-strength team lost on penalties to opposition three divisions below. Further cup defeats to Blackburn Rovers and Bayern Munich in the FA Cup and Champions League, respectively, ended Arsenal's trophy chances for an eighth consecutive season. Before the first leg, Wenger had criticised the media for reporting he was about to sign a contract extension, and said of the Blackburn game: "We lost it in the last 20 minutes, so there are a lot of superficial analyses that you cannot accept. Because one guy says something, everybody goes the same way".


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Arsenal's chances of finishing in the top four appeared over by March, after defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. With ten league matches remaining, they were seven points behind their rivals, and Wenger admitted his side could not afford any more dropped points. He made changes to the side for their second leg against Bayern, dropping captain Thomas Vermaelen and Szczęsny, in place of Koscielny and Łukasz Fabiański. Though Arsenal were eliminated on the away goals rule, Wenger's adjustments worked in the league as his team went on a run to overhaul Tottenham for a second successive season. A win on the final day against Newcastle United secured fourth position, which Wenger described as a "relief".


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Arsenal opened the 2013–14 season with a home defeat to Aston Villa, which prompted boos from the supporters. The club's transfer inactivity over the summer was criticised, but Wenger assessed: "We could have won the game today with the players on the pitch, I'm convinced of that." In the final week of the transfer window, he re-signed Flamini and sanctioned the club record signing of Mesut Özil from Real Madrid, totalling £42.5 million. Wenger was instrumental in the latter deal; he phoned and spoke to the German in his native language, convincing him that a move to England would enhance his career. Arsenal's form thereafter improved and Aaron Ramsey's goalscoring spree elevated the team to first position by the New Year. Poor performances in the big games, however, blighted Arsenal's title credentials, with a 6–0 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge being described as "a good hiding [as] you don't prepare all week to experience that." The defeat marked Wenger's 1,000th match in charge of Arsenal. Arsenal consolidated fourth position in the league, and Wenger guided his team to FA Cup success, as they came from two goals down to beat Hull City in the final, and clinch Arsenal their first trophy in nine years. At the end of the season, Wenger signed another three-year extension to his Arsenal contract. He strengthened the squad by signing Alexis Sánchez from Barcelona in July 2014, who started in the 2014 FA Community Shield that Arsenal won by beating Manchester City 3–0, and during the course of 2014–15, Wenger promoted Francis Coquelin and Héctor Bellerín into the first team. Wenger won his sixth FA Cup in May 2015, which placed him alongside George Ramsay as the most successful manager in the competition's history. Wenger guided the club to an improved third place in the league that season, and the club saw further improvement in the 2015–16 season as they finished as league runners-up, while retaining the FA Community Shield by defeating Chelsea 1–0.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Arsenal financed moves for Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi in mid-2016 for a combined £65 million, rendering the pair one of Arsenal's most expensive ever signings, as Wenger hoped to guide the club to their first league title win in over thirteen years the following season. Although Arsenal began strongly in the league, losing only once until December, back-to-back defeats to Everton and Manchester City resulted in Arsenal losing their stronghold on the league. Wenger also served a four-match touchline ban and had to pay a £25,000 fine after pushing referee Anthony Taylor during a win at home against Burnley. Further defeats to Chelsea and Liverpool all but rendered Arsenal out of the title race, and left qualification to the Champions League threatened by March. On 30 April, Arsenal lost to main rivals Tottenham which had confirmed the latter had finished above them in the Premier League for the first time since the 1994–95 FA Premier League season. The following month also saw them fail to finish in the top four since the 1996–97 FA Premier League season. On 27 May, Wenger became the most successful manager in the history of the FA Cup as Arsenal beat Premier League winners Chelsea 2–1 at Wembley through goals from Alexis Sánchez and Aaron Ramsey. The victory represented a further record for Wenger, as Arsenal too, became the most successful club in the competition's history as they won the competition for the 13th time. Four days following the win, Wenger signed a contract extension until 2019.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In mid-2017, Wenger brought in two signings; Alexandre Lacazette for a fee of £45m, the club's most expensive signing, and Sead Kolašinac on a free transfer from Schalke 04. On 6 August, Wenger won his 7th FA Community Shield as manager as Arsenal beat Chelsea 4–1 on penalties following a 1–1 score at full time. However, in the 2017–18 FA Cup, Arsenal lost to Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup, and again stood well outside the top four in the Premier League. The club also dealt with player unrest in the form of Sánchez, who voiced his desire to depart, and Wenger sanctioned a transfer to Manchester United in January 2018, whereby Arsenal received Henrikh Mkhitaryan in a swap-deal. Later that month, he signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a club-record fee of £56 million. However, these additions did not aid Arsenal's performances as a team, and on 20 April, Wenger announced he would step down as Arsenal manager at the end of the 2017–18 season. His final home game was a 5–0 win against Burnley on 6 May, where he received a standing ovation before the game and was gifted the gold mini-replica Premier League trophy he won during the 2003–04 "Invincibles" season as a departing gift from Arsenal. He officially concluded his tenure with a 1–0 away win against Huddersfield Town. Wenger later revealed that he wanted to stay at the club until the expiration of his contract, but the club thought it better he leave, with the board informing him in January of their decision to end his contract at the end of the season. He described the hostility he faced from the board and fans as "unjustified" and his exit as "very hard" and "very brutal".


title: Arsène Wenger

text: As of November 2019, Wenger became FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development, a role in which he is responsible for overseeing and driving the growth and development of the sport. He also takes senior authority as a member of the Football and Technical Advisory Panels involved in IFAB review giving judgement on rule changes mandated by FIFA. In this role, Wenger was also inducted chairman of FIFA's executive team which conducts technical analysis of official FIFA tournaments and delivers feedback. Following his departure from Arsenal, in a preview of his second book, he revealed that "FIFA made me an offer, that I accepted because it is a new challenge."


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger was inspired by Borussia Mönchengladbach as a child and was later influenced by Total Football, a playing style developed by Rinus Michels at Ajax in the 1970s. He recollected the team as having "perfect players everywhere and that was the sort of football I wanted to be playing myself". At Monaco, he employed a 4–4–2 formation, though he did trial 4–3–3, akin to Michels'. Wenger is an advocate of 4–4–2 as "no other formation is as efficient in covering space", but has used it sparingly in recent seasons.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Throughout his managerial career, Wenger has trusted his players to perform and learn from their own mistakes, a quality Vieira regards as his biggest strength and weakness. Wenger encourages sportsmen to show intuition, and makes observations rather than explicitly giving orders. Campbell reflected that his former manager "puts a lot of onus on players to change the game" and "he wants certain players – especially in the last third – to be able to produce it and give something different". When Wenger joined Arsenal, he spoke of his desire to see "real, modern football. That means compact lines, of zones, of quick, coordinated movements with a good technique." He characteristically focuses on the strengths of his teams, rather than looking for areas to exploit the opposition.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: During a match against Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1996, Wenger presided over Rice's caretaker duties at Arsenal, and ordered the team to switch from their preferred 3–5–2 formation to 4–4–2. The tactical change did not have its desired effect, as Arsenal lost the game having led before Wenger's half-time instruction. For much of the 1996–97 season, Arsenal continued to play 3–5–2 as it was the only formation the defenders were comfortable with, as well as injuries unsettling the side. In Wenger's second season at the club, he reinstated 4–4–2 and focused on strengthening the front six, by signing wingers Overmars and Luís Boa Morte and partnering Vieira with Petit. According to Jonathan Wilson, the system was similar to 4–3–3, as Overmars often pushed higher up the field and Parlour played alongside Vieira and Petit to solidify the midfield. Needing to compensate deficiencies in attack the following season, Wenger relied on his experienced defence to direct games, which conceded 17 goals in 38 league matches. From then on, Wenger deployed an unconventional 4–4–2 with a greater emphasis on attack and movement; his teams between 2001 and 2004 were dominant on the left flank.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: By the 2005–06 season, clubs in England were increasingly in favour of using the 4–5–1 system. Wenger, having earlier suggested he would never resort to a negative system, later adopted the formation for Champions League matches. The decision to pack the midfield and play a lone striker resulted in Arsenal reaching the final. With Fábregas breaking into the first team, Wenger chose to deviate from their counter-attacking style, to a more possession based one. In 2009–10, he instituted a fluid 4–3–3 formation to benefit from Fàbregas' creativity, and since the player's departure, had remodelled the system to 4–1–4–1 and 4–2–3–1. During the latter half of the 2016–17 Premier League season, Wenger switched to a 3–4–3 formation, similar to Antonio Conte's Chelsea first used against Middlesbrough in a 2–1 win.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger proved able to implement his entertaining vision of football, particularly at Arsenal. His team's 5–1 win against Portsmouth in March 2004 was likened to "the magnificently fluid Ajax of the early 70s", and greeted with a standing ovation by the opposition supporters, as the Arsenal players left the field. Wenger's style of play, however, has been criticised for inefficiency and a lack of variation to go with technique. He is not renowned for making game-changing substitutions, nor had his tactics helped his teams overcome flexible opponents. His ideals are noticeably different from the pragmatic approach of his rivals, though he has assembled teams to produce disciplined performances, markedly the 2005 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. Defeats in the big games during 2013–14 led to Wenger compromising his attack-minded principles in favour of keeping it tight. The team's approach had been less predictable than when it was built around Fàbregas, with the initial predictability allowing Sir Alex Ferguson to devise a template to beat Arsenal, which involved "good players who can intercept".


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger led training sessions, but delegated responsibility to his coaching staff, who predominantly work with the players. He split the squad into groups, observing and supervising the drills. A typical training session under Wenger lasted 90 minutes, which was timed and staged precisely, and included co-ordination techniques, positional play and small-sided games. Wenger spent the day before a match focusing on the mental and tactical approach of his squad and varied his training style.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger regarded a well-balanced diet as an essential part of a player's preparation. He was influenced by his time in Japan, where "the whole way of life there is linked to health. Their diet is basically boiled vegetables, fish and rice. No fat, no sugar. You notice when you live there that there are no fat people". At Arsenal, Wenger brought in dieticians to explain the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, and acquired the help of Philippe Boixel, an osteopath for the France national team, to realign the players' bodies each month. Plyometrics, exercises designed to strengthen the muscles, were introduced and Wenger routinely made players stretch before and after matches. Until 2004, he encouraged his players to take Creatine for increased stamina, later stopping when he noticed side-effects. The innovations had a desirable effect on the team as it prolonged the careers of his defence, and made Arsenal stronger in the second half of seasons. Though Wenger's methods were common in Italian football, they had been unsuccessfully trialled in England until his arrival.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In later years, Wenger's training regime has come under criticism, given his squad's poor injury record. From 2004–05 to 2014–15, Arsenal's players lost 13,161 days through injury, the most in the Premier League, and significantly more than Chelsea in second (7,217). In 2014, Wenger acquired the help of fitness coach Shad Forsythe to solve the problem; statistics revealed a year later that Arsenal's average injury length dropped more than 25% in Forsythe's first season.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Youth development and scouring for talent abroad is central to Wenger's recruitment policy. He relies on a network of scouts and personal contacts to find and attract talented footballers to play under him. Wenger's strategy is aided by data; for instance, the decision to sign Flamini in 2004 came about as he was looking at statistics to find an understudy to Vieira. To examine the mental state of a young footballer, he uses psychometric tests conducted by psychologist Jacques Crevoisier once every two years. Wenger prides himself on nurturing talent, saying in an interview: "I believe one of the best things about managing people is that we can influence lives in a positive way. That's basically what a manager is about. When I can do that, I am very happy".


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In his early managerial years, Wenger recognised the potential of football in Africa, which influenced his transfer dealings at Monaco. On the recommendation of Claude Le Roy, he signed Liberian George Weah, who later became the first African to be named FIFA World Player of the Year. Weah, while receiving his award from FIFA president João Havelange and vice-president Lennart Johansson invited Wenger up to the stage, spontaneously giving his medal to the manager, as a token of his appreciation. During his final years at Monaco, Wenger worked with Roger Mendy, a Senegalese defender regarded in 1991 as one of the ten best African footballers by "France Football", and Nigerian Victor Ikpeba, a forward who earnt the accolade of African Player of the Year. Wenger also fast-tracked young players such as Petit and Lilian Thuram, and handed debuts to Henry and David Trezeguet.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In England, Wenger has used his extensive knowledge of the European transfer market and rulings – particularly in his native France – to recruit players. His first purchase as Arsenal manager was Anelka from Paris Saint-Germain for £500,000, a deal which upset the French club as they received little remuneration. The player's subsequent sale to Real Madrid just two years later for £23.5 million highlighted Wenger's shrewdness in the transfer market. He remained in contact with Guillou's Abidjan-based academy, where he discovered future Arsenal players Touré and Emmanuel Eboué, and successfully persuaded Fàbregas and Héctor Bellerín, amongst other La Masia graduates, to leave Barcelona and join him. Wenger's recruitment of young players came under criticism from Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who disputed it was tantamount to child trafficking. Wenger refuted the analogy and said, "Look at Santa Cruz at Blackburn. Ask him what age he came to Bayern Munich. Then you have an answer for Rummenigge."


title: Arsène Wenger

text: When Arsenal moved to the Emirates Stadium, Wenger prioritised investing in youth instead of purchasing experienced players. He described it as a way of creating an "identity" with Arsenal: "I felt it would be an interesting experiment to see players grow together with these qualities, and with a love for the club. It was an idealistic vision of the world of football." The departure of Dein, coupled with the saturation of the transfer market, meant Wenger struggled to recruit players as efficiently as before. The youth set-up did not replicate the success of the late 1990s and early 2000s, though Arsenal consistently finished fourth or higher in the league between 2006 and 2011. The club earnt a reputation of functioning as a "feeder club" to bigger teams, as Wenger struggled to keep hold of his best players. He described this period as "very sensitive" because of the financial restrictions that came with the stadium move. Since the 2011–12 season, Wenger has reverted to buying proven talent, and blended experience with youth in domestic cup competitions. Arsenal have benefited from increased revenue since the Emirates move, and negotiating new sponsorship deals has allowed Wenger to make marquee signings such as Özil, Sánchez, Granit Xhaka, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Observing Wenger's transfer policy in 2009, Sir Alex Ferguson commented that it lacked balance and needed defensive players to solidify the Arsenal team. The players Wenger recruits have often been criticised for their character and leadership capabilities; footballer Joey Barton suggested it was because the manager discouraged them from commanding: "Sometimes you need someone to galvanise and that might be a shouter and bawler. It may not be Arsene's way, but I think they lack that." Wenger is perceived as frugal given his inactivity in transfer windows, but he has denied the stereotype: "Of course people say always to buy but you cannot make careers [and you cannot] buy every time you have an injured player. You know I have the wrong reputation. I'm not scared to spend money. The job of a manager is not to spend as much money."


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger's relations with his fellow football managers and officials have not always been genial. In a joint-interview with "The Times" and "Daily Mail" in 2009, he explained that his reluctance to trust other managers had been mistaken for discourtesy: "There are managers I respect, and I respect what they do, but you cannot be completely friendly and open up." He is well known for his rivalry with former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson; beginning in 1997, the dispute reached its culmination in the "Pizzagate" incident at Old Trafford in October 2004. After Manchester United ended Arsenal's 49-game unbeaten Premier League run after being awarded a late penalty, Cesc Fabregas threw a pizza at the opposition in the tunnel. Wenger accused United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy of being "a cheat" in a post-match television interview, and was reprimanded with a £15,000 fine by the Football Association. Both managers later agreed to tone down their words, in an attempt to defuse the rivalry. In his autobiography, Ferguson wrote that the events of "Pizzagate" had "scrambled Arsène's brain" and caused their relationship to break down for almost five years. By 2009, Wenger noted his rivalry with Ferguson had become "respectful" as Arsenal had ceased competing with Manchester United for major honours.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: During October and November 2005, Wenger became embroiled in a war of words with Chelsea manager José Mourinho. Mourinho accused Wenger of having an "unprofessional obsession" with Chelsea and labelled him a "voyeur." Mourinho was quoted as saying, "He's worried about us, he's always talking about us – it's [always] Chelsea". Wenger responded by pointing out he was only answering journalists' questions about Chelsea, and described Mourinho's attitude as "disrespectful". Mourinho later apologised and clarified that he regretted his "voyeur" comment; Wenger accepted the apology. In 2014, Mourinho reopened his feud with Wenger by calling him a "specialist in failure". This was in response to Wenger's comments that Chelsea were favourites for the Premier League and managers did not want to take responsibility if they failed to win the title. Wenger said Mourinho's comments were "silly and disrespectful" and had embarrassed Chelsea. When asked if he regretted his remark, Mourinho replied: "You have to ask him if he regrets the comments he made". In October 2014, during a Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea, Wenger was involved in a touchline spat with Mourinho. Wenger later apologised for his behaviour.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger has directed his anger towards referees when decisions have not gone his team's way. In August 2000, he was charged with "alleged threatening behaviour and physical intimidation" towards fourth official Paul Taylor, after Arsenal's 1–0 defeat at Sunderland on the opening day of the 2000–01 season. An FA disciplinary commission found Wenger guilty; he received a 12-match touchline ban and a fine of four weeks' salary. He successfully appealed the ban, but was reprimanded and fined £10,000 for his actions. Following the 2007 Football League Cup Final, he called a linesman a liar, for stating Emmanuel Adebayor aimed a punch at Chelsea's Frank Lampard. This led to an investigation by the FA, a fine of £2,500 and a warning.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In March 2011, Wenger was charged with improper conduct by UEFA, over comments made to referee Massimo Busacca, after his team's defeat to Barcelona. He was fined €10,000 and suspended for one UEFA club competition match; however, the ban was later extended to a further two games, after Wenger was found guilty of communicating with Arsenal's bench while serving a touchline ban against Udinese. A year later, Wenger was charged for post-match comments made about referee Damir Skomina, in Arsenal's defeat to Milan in the Champions League. He was fined £33,000 and handed a three-match touchline ban in the competition.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: At Arsenal, Wenger has enjoyed a great deal of support and backing from the club board of directors, who demonstrated exceptional faith in the manager and his long-term vision. His arrival at the club prompted a change in their football style – once derided as "boring, boring Arsenal" for a lack of creativity, pundit Alan Hansen described the 2004 team as "quite simply the most fluid, devastating team the British Isles has seen". Brian Clough once quipped: "Arsenal caress a football the way I dreamed of caressing Marilyn Monroe". Wenger himself reflected that his greatest legacy at Arsenal would be the style he implemented. Supporters regularly display banners such as "Arsène knows" and "In Arsène we trust" during home matches, though there became a growing number of protests against his management.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Dein described Wenger as the most important manager in the club's history: "Arsène's a miracle worker. He's revolutionised the club. He's turned players into world-class players. Since he has been here, we have seen football from another planet". Former Watford manager Graham Taylor said of Wenger in 2002: "I believe his biggest contribution to football is getting across the idea that players have to prepare right and look after themselves". Wenger's loyalty towards financial fair play and handling of Arsenal's debt since their stadium move has earnt him praise, not least from American baseball general manager Billy Beane, who in particular lauded his transfer strategy. A survey in 2007 found Wenger was the only Premier League manager to have made a profit on transfers, and between 2004 and 2009, he made an average profit of £4.4 million per season on transfers, far more than any other club.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Though Wenger established Arsenal as UEFA Champions League regulars, he never won a continental competition – he was a Champions League and UEFA Cup runner-up with Arsenal and a Cup Winners' Cup runner-up with Monaco – often considered a blemish on his managerial career. Writer Michael Calvin argues despite the European failings, Wenger should still be considered one of the greats in football: "[He] has been the best, most influential manager of the modern era. His job has involved managing change, and all the hypocrisy which comes with that. In a world where incoherence is routinely hailed as innovation, he has been a true visionary". Wenger's stubbornness to follow his idealistic vision of football was heavily criticised during his second decade at Arsenal. In 2016, Henry Winter reasoned the Frenchman's methods no longer gave him an advantage over others, and he needed to adapt or resign. Winter also suggested the club was content with lucrative top-four finishes, and the manager needed tough individuals to challenge him. Ferguson however expressed admiration in Wenger's consistency and obstinate nature: "He stays with what he believes in. And I think people who do that are outstanding coaches".


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger was awarded France's highest decoration, the Légion d'honneur, in 2002. He was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2003 Birthday Honours for services to football. At Arsenal's valedictory campaign at Highbury throughout the 2005–06 season, supporters showed appreciation by holding a "Wenger Day" as one of various themed matchdays. It was held on his 56th birthday, on 22 October 2005, in a league match against Manchester City. Wenger was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2006, along with former England manager Ron Greenwood. Furthermore, a commissioned bronze bust of Wenger, similar to the earlier version of Herbert Chapman, was unveiled as a tribute to him by the board of directors of Arsenal, at the club's annual general meeting in October 2007. Wenger had an asteroid, 33179 Arsènewenger, named after him by astronomer Ian P. Griffin, who states Arsenal as his favourite football club.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In May 2016, the Stade Arsène Wenger was officially opened near Strasbourg, where Wenger was born. The stadium is the new home of USL Dippinheim and holds a capacity of 500 people.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger was one of the first managers in English football to scout abroad for talent. His double-winning team of 1998 was described by editor Jason Cowley as "a model of racial and multicultural integration. They were the first truly globalised team". Richard Jolly writing for "The National" added that Wenger aided the Premier League's globalisation and "showed the merit of hiring foreign managers on the basis of their record abroad". Wenger himself felt he had changed attitudes towards foreign managers in England:


title: Arsène Wenger

text: The continued influx of foreign players at Arsenal has, however, attracted criticism. In a league match against Crystal Palace on 14 February 2005, Arsenal fielded a 16-man squad that featured no British players for the first time in the club's history. This prompted Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) chief executive Gordon Taylor to express it would begin "a worrying pattern for English football". A year later, manager Alan Pardew commented that Arsenal's Champions League success was "not necessarily a triumph for British football". Wenger saw the issue of nationality as irrelevant and said, "When you represent a club, it's about values and qualities, not about passports". Other pundits including Trevor Brooking, the director of football development at the FA, have defended Wenger. Brooking has stated that a lack of English players in "one of England's most successful clubs" was more of a reflection on England's limited talent pool rather than on Wenger, an opinion shared by youth-team coach and former Liverpool player Craig Johnston.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Several English players have started their careers at Arsenal under Wenger, such as Ashley Cole, David Bentley and Matthew Upson, Wenger commented that an advantage of building his team around British players was the guarantee of stability.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In his early years at Arsenal, Wenger was scrutinised for the club's poor disciplinary record; Winter in 2003 described it as "little short of a crime-wave", while chairman Peter Hill-Wood admitted the players' conduct was unacceptable. Between September 1996 and February 2014, the team received 100 red cards. Wenger has often tried to defend his players, involved in controversial incidents on the field, by saying that he has not seen the incident; this is an option he resorts to when there is no "rational explanation" to defend him, and that he has the player's best interests in mind. However, in both 2004 and 2005, Arsenal topped the Premier League's Fair Play League tables for sporting behaviour and finished second in 2006. Their record as one of the most sporting clubs in the division continued up to 2009, where the team featured in the top four of the Fair Play table. Wenger's team again topped the fair play table for the 2009–10 season.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In February 1999, Wenger offered Sheffield United a replay of their FA Cup fifth round match immediately after the match had finished, due to the controversial circumstances in which it was won. The decisive goal was scored by Overmars after Kanu failed to return the ball to the opposition; it was kicked into touch to allow Sheffield United's Lee Morris to receive treatment for an injury. Arsenal went on to win the replayed match 2–1.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger was married to former basketball player Annie Brosterhous, with whom he has one daughter, Léa (born 1997). Wenger and Brosterhous legally separated in 2015. Wenger resides in Totteridge, London, and spends his leisure time predominantly studying football matches; he once stated that he "watches games on most days", and holds an interest in politics. Away from managerial duties, he acted as a football consultant for French television station TF1 from 2004 to 2014, and has worked for beIN Sports since 2016. Wenger was a world brand ambassador for FIFA World Cup sponsor Castrol. As part of the arrangement, he conducted several training camps for international youth teams worldwide to provide input to the Castrol Performance Index, FIFA's official ratings system.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: He has authored a book on football management exclusively for the Japanese market, in English, published by Japan Broadcast Publishing (a subsidiary of NHK) in August 1997. The book highlights his managerial philosophy, ideals, and values, as well as his thoughts on Japanese football and the game as a whole.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger is a Roman Catholic, and he attributes his outlook and values to his religious upbringing in Alsace. He grew up speaking French and German, and studied English on a three-week course in Cambridge, learning Italian, and Spanish to help his career. He also has a working knowledge of Japanese.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In 2010, Wenger appealed for privacy after a British newspaper alleged he had an affair with a French singer. Wenger said in a statement that he wished to deal with the matter privately.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: On 13 October 2020, Wenger's second book, "My Life in Red & White: My Autobiography", was published by W&N, translated from French.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, the Razzie Awards' satirical annual ceremony has preceded its opposite, the Academy Awards, for four decades. The term "raspberry" is used in its irreverent sense, as in "blowing a raspberry". The statuette itself is a golf ball-sized raspberry atop a Super 8mm film reel spray-painted gold, with an estimated street value of $4.97. The Golden Raspberry Foundation has claimed that the award "encourages well-known filmmakers and top notch performers to own their bad."


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: The first Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony was held on March 31, 1981, in John J. B. Wilson's living-room alcove in Hollywood, to honor the perceived worst films of the 1980 film season. To date, Sylvester Stallone is the most awarded actor ever with 10 awards.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: American publicist John J. B. Wilson had been seeing a 99-cent double feature of "Can't Stop the Music" and "Xanadu" and thought in his drive home that those movies deserved awards for their low quality, and subsequently started thinking of all the other films that disappointed him in 1980, particularly as he had watched hundreds of productions in his job making trailers. So, the following year, in the potluck parties he usually held at his home in Hollywood on the night of the Academy Awards, after the 53rd Academy Awards had completed for the evening, Wilson passed ballots regarding the worst in film to the attendees, and invited his friends to give random award presentations in his living room. Wilson stood at a lectern made of cardboard in a tacky tuxedo, with a foam ball attached to a broomstick as a fake microphone, and announced "Can't Stop the Music" as the first Golden Raspberry Award Winner for Worst Picture. The impromptu ceremony was a success and the following week a press release about his event was picked up by a few local newspapers, including a mention in the "Los Angeles Daily News" with the headline: "Take These Envelopes, Please".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Approximately three dozen people came to the 1st Golden Raspberry Awards. The 2nd Golden Raspberry Awards had double the attendance, and the 3rd awards ceremony had doubled that number. By the 4th Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony, CNN and two major wire services covered the event. Wilson realized that by scheduling the Golden Raspberry Awards prior to the Academy Awards, the ceremony would get more press coverage: "We finally figured out you couldn't compete with the Oscars on Oscar night, but if you went the night before, when the press from all over the world are here and they are looking for something to do, it could well catch on," he said to "BBC News".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: In 2022, a dedicated award category, Worst Bruce Willis Performance in a 2021 Movie, was created after Bruce Willis starred in a number of poorly received low-budget films. On March 30 of that year, Willis's family announced that he had been diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder that damages the area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension. The Golden Raspberry Awards subsequently retracted the award category, saying it was inappropriate to award a Golden Raspberry to someone whose performance was affected by a medical condition. At the same time, the Awards retroactively retracted their 1980 Worst Actress nomination of Shelley Duvall in "The Shining", stating "We have since discovered that Duvall's performance was impacted by Stanley Kubrick's treatment of her throughout the production".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Members of the Golden Raspberry Award Organization pay for membership, and number 650 from 19 countries. After three editions held during Wilson's potluck Oscar parties, Wilson realized that by scheduling the Golden Raspberry Awards prior to the Academy Awards, the ceremony would get more press coverage, and the fourth edition happened at Los Angeles' Third Street Elementary School. The ceremonies have kept this scheduling with both nominations and awards revealed in the day before the Academy Awards, with only two exceptions ever since, that only used the day before the Oscars to reveal the nominees: 2012's 32nd Golden Raspberry Awards, where the ceremony happened on April 1 for being April Fool's Day; and 2020, where the plans for the milestone 40th Golden Raspberry Awards was a bigger, televised ceremony in March, which wound up cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and just had the winners revealed online.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Paul Verhoeven was the first person to go to the ceremony to receive his awards for the movie "Showgirls". Other recipients who have accepted their Golden Raspberry Award include Tom Green (Worst Actor/Worst Director), Halle Berry and Sandra Bullock (Worst Actress), Michael Ferris and J. D. Shapiro (Worst Screenplay), eight-time Oscar winner Alan Menken, Dinesh D'Souza, "Fifty Shades of Grey" producers Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Several people have received Razzie nominations while simultaneously receiving award nominations from other organizations, sometimes for the same work or role.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Three people won both a Razzie and an Oscar the same weekend: composer Alan Menken in 1993, screenwriter Brian Helgeland in 1997, and actress Sandra Bullock in 2010, though all three won for different films (for example, Helgeland won a Razzie for "The Postman" and an Oscar for "L.A. Confidential"). Three actors have received Oscar and Razzie nominations for the same role: James Coco ("Only When I Laugh"), Amy Irving ("Yentl") and Glenn Close ("Hillbilly Elegy"). The Aerosmith song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from "Armageddon" was nominated for both an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song, as were the Trisha Yearwood song "How Do I Live" from the 1997 film "Con Air" and the Tony Bennett song "Life in a Looking Glass" from the 1986 film "That's Life!".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Gena Rowlands was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1980 John Cassavetes film "Gloria" while her co-star John Adames won the Worst Supporting Actor alongside co-winner Laurence Olivier in "The Jazz Singer" (1980).


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: "Wall Street" (1987) is the only film to win both an Oscar and a Razzie. Michael Douglas won the Academy Award for Best Actor, while Daryl Hannah's performance won the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Disney's "The Lone Ranger" won one Razzie (Worst Remake) of its five nominations, and was also nominated for two Oscars (for Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Visual Effects).


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: The 1983 romance/dance film "Flashdance" was nominated for the Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay and won an Oscar for Best Original Song for Irene Cara's "Flashdance... What a Feeling".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: While 1992's "The Bodyguard" was a critical failure (earning seven Razzie nominations), it was a huge box office hit and, moreover, its multi-platinum soundtrack album earned two nominations for Best Original Song.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: "Joker" (2019) was the most nominated film at the 92nd Academy Awards, with 11 nominations including the Best Picture, and won two including the Best Actor. However, the film's polarized critical reception resulted in it earning a nomination in the special Razzie category of Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property, which it lost to "". This nomination also made "Joker" the second film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and a Razzie, after 1990's "The Godfather Part III".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Maria Bakalova at the 93rd Academy Awards in the same year it was nominated for Worst Supporting Actor for Rudy Giuliani and Worst Screen Combo for Giuliani and Bakalova (later changed to Giuliani and "his pants zipper").


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: In spite of the heavily negative critical consensus (winning only one of its six nominations), the 2012 action film "Battleship" was also nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Effects in a Live Action Production.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Despite receiving the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Jar Jar Binks in "", voice actor Ahmed Best won an Annie Award in 2009 for the portrayal of the same character in the animated TV episode "".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Neil Diamond, winner of the inaugural Worst Actor Razzie for 1980's "The Jazz Singer", was nominated for the Golden Globe in the same role.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Pia Zadora won both Worst Actress and Worst New Star in 1982 for her role in "Butterfly", but also won Best Female Newcomer in the same year and in the same role. This Golden Globe was in contentious circumstances as her husband, Israeli multimillionaire Meshulam Riklis, flew Hollywood Foreign Press Association members to Las Vegas in order to hear Zadora sing. Also in "Butterfly", Orson Welles was nominated for both Best Supporting Actor and Worst Supporting Actor in his role.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: 1988's "Cocktail" won two of its four nominations for Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay, but the Beach Boys' song "Kokomo" was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Despite being a major critical and commercial failure, and only receiving the most awards and nominations (including Worst Picture and Worst Director (Tom Hooper)), the 2019 film "Cats" was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song for Taylor Swift's song "Beautiful Ghosts".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: The Sia-directed autism musical "Music", nominated for four Razzies, was also nominated for two Golden Globes: Best Actress (Kate Hudson, who won a Razzie) and Best Picture, both for Musical or Comedy.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Various songs received wins/nominations for both the Razzie and the Grammy Awards, such as Madonna's "Die Another Day" (Best Dance Recording), Will Smith's "Wild Wild West" (Best Rap Solo Performance), Britney Spears' "Overprotected" (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance), U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" (Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal), The Smashing Pumpkins' "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" (Best Hard Rock Performance), and LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live" (Best Female Country Vocal Performance).


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Ben Platt won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical playing the titular character in "Dear Evan Hansen" in 2017 and received a Razzie nomination for Worst Actor for the same role for the 2021 film adaptation.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: In 1981, Stanley Kubrick was nominated both for a Razzie Award as Worst Director at the 1st Golden Raspberry Awards as well as for a Saturn Award for Best Director at the 8th Saturn Awards for the same film: ""The Shining". In 2002, Natalie Portman was nominated for Worst Supporting Actress and for the Saturn Award for Best Actress for the same role in "". Cassandra Peterson was nominated for Worst Actress at the 9th Golden Raspberry Awards and for Best Actress at the 16th Saturn Awards for her role as Elvira in the 1988 film "".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: In 2001, whilst Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes" garnered all three Razzies it was nominated for, Rick Baker's makeup designs were very well received, that it earned him a Saturn Award nomination for Best Makeup, while Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth and Colleen Atwood were respectively nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Costume.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: The 1997 apocalyptic film "The Postman" "received" all five awards, but also three Saturn nominations.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Quentin Tarantino was nominated for Worst Supporting Actor in 1996 for his role in "From Dusk till Dawn". The previous year, he had been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for the very same role.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: In 1985, Michael Cimino's "Year of the Dragon", which was nominated for five Razzie Awards (including Worst Picture) at the 6th Golden Raspberry Awards, was also nominated for the César Award for Best Foreign Film "(César du meilleur film étranger)" and was listed by the prestigious French magazine Cahiers du Cinéma as the third best film of 1985.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: In 2017, Darren Aronofsky, director of "Mother!", was nominated for both the Worst Director Razzie at the 38th Golden Raspberry Awards and the Golden Lion (the highest award offered at the Venice Film Festival) at the 74th Venice International Film Festival.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: In 2018, the mystery comedy "Holmes & Watson" won four of its six nominations (including Worst Picture and Worst Director (Etan Cohen)) at the 39th Golden Raspberry Awards, but was also nominated for two ALFS Awards (including British Actor (Steve Coogan) and Young British Performer (Noah Jupe)).


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Despite Johnny Depp receiving two Razzie nominations for his performance in the film, Emily Blunt received an ALFS Award nomination for her performance in the CGI-animated box office hit "Sherlock Gnomes". She also received nominations for her parts in the critically acclaimed movies "A Quiet Place" and "Mary Poppins Returns".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: While M. Night Shyamalan's "After Earth" tied "Movie 43" for the most awards with three, it also brought its composer James Newton Howard a World Soundtrack Award nomination for Film Composer of the Year.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Every decade-closing ceremony includes an award for the worst actors and movies of the decade—though the 2000 ceremony put the actors as worst of the 20th century instead. Special prizes for the 25th anniversary of the Razzies awards were also given out in 2005.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: The Razzie Redeemer Award is presented to a former nominee or winner who has subsequently made a comeback from critical or commercial failure. The award was introduced in 2014. Winners include Ben Affleck, Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, "A Safe Hollywood-Haven", Melissa McCarthy, Eddie Murphy and Will Smith.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: This award has been given five times, to Ronald Reagan in 1981, to Linda Blair in 1983, to Irwin Allen in 1985, to "Bruce the Rubber Shark" from "Jaws" in 1987, and to director Uwe Boll in 2009 who received this for his achievement as "Germany's answer to Ed Wood".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: This is a special award given by Razzie Award Governor John J. B. Wilson to an individual whose achievements are not covered by the Razzies' other categories. It was awarded in 2003 to Travis Payne for "Distinguished Under-Achievement in Choreography" in the film "From Justin to Kelly".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: This award is given to a critical and financial failure that would have been nominated if it had received an eligible release. It was awarded in 2015 to "United Passions," to "Misconduct" in 2016, in 2017 to "CHiPs" and in 2018 to "Billionaire Boys Club".


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: The Razzies have received criticism, including from news sources such as "Indiewire" and "The Daily Telegraph", for several issues, including that members of the Golden Raspberry Foundation are not required to watch the nominated films, it follows a different set of rules which is different from the invitation-only Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Critics take issue with the Razzies picking "easy targets" and critically panned mainstream films instead of those perceived as less popular but more deserving productions, continuing to appeal to celebrities, seemingly for publicity and attention, over other, worthier films and performances.


title: Golden Raspberry Awards

text: Sam Adams of "Indiewire" has said the Razzies are "like hecklers hurling insults at comedians or a concertgoer yelling out 'Whoo!' during a quiet song, they're not-so-secretly crying out to be noticed. The Razzies, properly enough, avoid pouncing on the little guy; they don't trash no-budget indies no one has seen for having bad lighting or terrible sound". Robbie Collin of "The Daily Telegraph" has said, "the Razzies' ongoing failure to train its sights on anything but the most obvious targets means it grows more tired and redundant by the year". CraveOnline's William Bibbiani stated that the Razzies follow "a cheap shot of pranksterism", and "with only a handful of exceptions, the Razzies have only seen fit to nominate the most infamous movies of the year, and not necessarily the worst." In 2018, Scott Meslow, writing for "GQ", accused the Razzies of being "pretty lazy, very sexist, and a little racist" in their choices, reiterating criticism that voters were overreliant on films already widely perceived as notorious, and further asserting they disproportionally nominated films directed by and starring Tyler Perry and films marketed towards women.


title: Joko Widodo

text: Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), popularly known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014, he was the first Indonesian president not to come from an elite political or military background. He was previously the mayor of Surakarta from 2005 to 2012 and the governor of Jakarta from 2012 to 2014. Before his political career, he was an industrialist and businessman.


title: Joko Widodo

text: He achieved national prominence in 2009 for his work as the mayor of Surakarta. A member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), he was named as the party's candidate for the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election, alongside Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (often known as "Ahok") as his running mate. Defeating incumbent Fauzi Bowo, he took office in October 2012 and reinvigorated Jakartan politics, introducing publicised "blusukan" visits (unannounced spot checks) and improving the city's bureaucracy, reducing corruption in the process. He also introduced years-late programs to improve quality of life, including universal healthcare, dredging the city's main river to reduce flooding, and inaugurating the construction of the city's subway system.


title: Joko Widodo

text: The PDI-P nominated Jokowi as their candidate in the 2014 presidential election. Winning a majority of the popular vote, he was named president-elect on 22 July 2014, to bitter protest from his opponent Prabowo Subianto, who disputed the outcome and withdrew from the race before the count was completed. As president, Jokowi has primarily focused on infrastructure, introducing or restarting long-delayed programs to improve connectivity in the Indonesian archipelago. On foreign policy, his administration has emphasised "protecting Indonesia’s sovereignty", with the sinking of illegal foreign fishing vessels and the prioritising and scheduling of capital punishment for drug smugglers. The latter was despite intense representations and diplomatic protests from foreign powers, including Australia and France. He was re-elected in 2019 for a second five-year term, again defeating Prabowo Subianto.


title: Joko Widodo

text: Jokowi was born Mulyono on 21 June 1961 in Surakarta, and is of Javanese descent. He is the eldest of four siblings and is the only son of Noto Mihardjo (father) and Sudjiatmi Notomihardjo (mother). He has three younger sisters, named Iit Sriyantini, Ida Yati, and Titik Relawati. His father came from Karanganyar, while his grandparents came from a village in Boyolali. Jokowi was often sick as a toddler, and his name was thus changed—a common practice in Javanese culture—to Joko Widodo, with "widodo" meaning "healthy" in Javanese. At the age of 12, he started working in his father's furniture workshop. Throughout his childhood, Jokowi's family constantly faced evictions from their landlords; this greatly affected him, and later in his career organised medical housing in Surakarta during his years as mayor of the city.


title: Joko Widodo

text: Jokowi's education began at State Elementary School 111 Tirtoyoso, known for being a school for less wealthy citizens. He continued his studies in State Junior High School 1 Surakarta, and later wanted to attend State Senior High School 1 Surakarta, but failed the entrance exam and enrolled in State Senior High School 6 Surakarta.


title: Joko Widodo

text: After graduating from university, Jokowi began work at PT Kertas Kraft Aceh (), a state-owned firm in Aceh, Sumatra. He worked in the present-day Bener Meriah Regency between 1986 and 1988 as a supervisor of forestry and raw materials of a "Pinus merkusii" plantation.


title: Joko Widodo

text: However, Jokowi soon became uninterested in his activities in the firm and returned home. He began working in his grandfather's furniture factory for a year before establishing his own company, Rakabu, whose namesake is his first child. The company, which mainly focused on teak furniture, nearly went bankrupt at one point but survived following an IDR 500 million loan from Perusahaan Gas Negara. By 1991, the company began exporting its products, and they were successful in international markets. The firm first established a presence in the European market in France, and it was a French customer named Bernard who gave Joko Widodo the nickname "Jokowi".


title: Joko Widodo

text: By 2002, Jokowi had become the chairman of Surakarta's furniture manufacturers association. Ultimately he decided to become a politician and promote reform in his home town, Surakarta, after seeing the neat layouts of some European cities while promoting his furniture there. After becoming mayor, he also made a joint venture with politician and former lieutenant general Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, when the two founded PT Rakabu Sejahtera (from Rakabu and Luhut's PT Toba Sejahtera).


title: Joko Widodo

text: In 2018, Jokowi reported his net worth to be Rp 50.25 billion (US$3.5 million), mostly in the form of property holdings in Central Java and Jakarta.


title: Joko Widodo

text: After first joining PDI-P in 2004, Jokowi ran in the mayoral race in Surakarta in 2005 with F. X. Hadi Rudyatmo as his running mate, with the support of PDI-P and the National Awakening Party. The pair won 36.62% of the vote against the incumbent Slamet Suryanto and two other candidates. During the campaign, many questioned his background as a property and furniture businessman. However, one academic paper claimed his leadership style was successful because it established an interactive relationship with the people, through which he was able to induce people's strong faith in him. He adopted the development framework of European cities (which he frequently travelled to as a businessman) as a guide for changes in Surakarta.


title: Joko Widodo

text: His notable policies as mayor include building new traditional markets and renovating existing markets, constructing a 7-km city walk with a 3-meter wide pedestrian walkway along Surakarta's main street, revitalising the Balekambang and Sriwedari parks, employing stricter regulations on cutting down trees along the city's main streets, rebranding the city as a centre of Javanese culture and tourism under the tagline "The Spirit of Java", promoting the city as a centre for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE), launching healthcare and education insurance program for all residents, a local bus rapid transit system named "Batik Solo Trans" and a Solo Techno Park, which helped support the Esemka Indonesian car project.


title: Joko Widodo

text: It was during his tenure as mayor that he conducted the "blusukan", an impromptu visit to specific areas to listen to people's issues, which proved popular later in his political career. He also prohibited his family members from bidding for city projects, therefore suppressing the risk of corruption. His policies brought him into conflict with then provincial governor Bibit Waluyo, who on one occasion called Jokowi a "fool" for the latter's opposition to a provincial construction project in Surakarta.


title: Joko Widodo

text: His supporters pointed to rapid positive changes in Surakarta under his leadership and the city's branding with the motto 'Solo: The Spirit of Java'. While in office, he successfully relocated antique stalls in the Banjarsari Gardens without incident, a helpful move in revitalising the functions of the open green land; he emphasised the importance of business firms engaging in community activities; he improved communications with the local community by appearing regularly on local television. As a follow-up of the city's new branding, he applied for Surakarta to become a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities, which was approved in 2006, and subsequently had the city chosen to host the organisation's conference in October 2008.


title: Joko Widodo

text: In 2007, Surakarta had also hosted the World Music Festival (Festival Musik Dunia/FMD), held at the complex of Fort Vastenburg near the centre of the city. The following year, it was held in the Mangkunegaran Palace Complex.


title: Joko Widodo

text: Part of Jokowi style was his populist 'can-do' ("punya gaye") elements designed to build bonds with the broad electorate. As mayor, he became personally involved in an incident just before Christmas 2011 when the Surakarta municipality had overdue bills of close to $1 million (IDR 8.9 billion) owed to the state-owned electricity company "Perusahaan Listrik Negara" (PLN).


title: Joko Widodo

text: Following its policy of pursuing a more disciplined approach to collecting overdue bills, it imposed a blackout on street lights in the city just before Christmas. The city government quickly authorised payment, but in settling the bill, protested that the PLN should consider the public interest before taking such action. To reinforce the point, Jokowi made a highly publicised personal visit to the local PLN office to deliver the IDR 8.9 billion in cash in the form of hundreds of bundles of notes and even small coins.


title: Joko Widodo

text: In 2010, he was re-elected for a second term, again running with Hadi. They won 90.09% of the vote, losing in only a single polling station. He was later chosen as the 'Tempo Leader of Choice' by Tempo news magazine (2008) and received a 'Changemakers Award' from Republika newspaper (2010); his name also started being considered in national polls for the governorship of Jakarta, long before PDI-P's nomination, including those by University of Indonesia and Cyrus Network (2011).


title: Joko Widodo

text: In 2012, Jokowi faced a smear campaign after declaring his intention to run for the governorship of Jakarta. A group calling itself "Save Solo, Save Jakarta and Save Indonesia Team" (TS3) reported him to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly having facilitated misuse of education funds by his subordinates in Surakarta in 2010. The KPK investigated the allegation, found it was based on false data and said there was no indication Jokowi had misappropriated funds.


title: Joko Widodo

text: Despite disappointment from some Surakarta residents that he would not complete his second term as mayor, Jokowi ran in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election and defeated the incumbent Fauzi Bowo in a runoff round. His inner circle of advisers in Jakarta reportedly included people such as FX Hadi 'Rudy' Rudyatmo, Sumartono Hadinoto and Anggit Nugroho, who were colleagues while he was mayor of Surakarta, as well as Basuki Tjahaja Purnama ("Ahok"), his deputy as governor of Jakarta. Jokowi continued the "blusukan" practice he had adopted as mayor of Surakarta by regularly visiting population centers, especially slums. During these visits, he wore simple, informal clothes and stopped at markets or walked along narrow Jakarta alleys to listen and witness firsthand issues addressed by residents, such as the price of food, housing difficulties, flooding, and transportation. Polling and media coverage suggested that his hands-on style proved very popular both in Jakarta and elsewhere across Indonesia.


title: Joko Widodo

text: After taking office, taxes and Jakarta's provincial budget increased significantly from IDR 41 trillion in 2012 to IDR 72 trillion in 2014. Both Jokowi and Ahok publicised their monthly salary and the provincial budget. They also initiated programs aimed towards transparency, such as online taxes, e-budgeting, e-purchasing, and a cash management system. Moreover, all meetings and activities that Jokowi and Ahok attended were recorded and uploaded on YouTube.


title: Joko Widodo

text: In healthcare, Jokowi introduced a universal health care program, the 'Healthy Jakarta Card' ("Kartu Jakarta Sehat", KJS). It involved an insurance program provided through state-owned insurance company PT Askes Indonesia ("Persero") and a plan to regulate health charges for treatment for over 20,000 services and procedures. The program was criticised for confusion over details of the implementation and long queues, though Jokowi defended it and counselled patience. In education, Jokowi launched the 'Smart Jakarta Card' ("Kartu Jakarta Pintar", KJP) on 1 December 2012 to help needy students. It gives an allowance that can be withdrawn from ATMs for buying school needs such as books and uniforms.


title: Joko Widodo

text: His administration's other notable policies include a system of bureaucratic recruitment called "lelang jabatan" (literally 'auction of office position'), giving every civil servant the same opportunity to achieve a certain position by fulfilling the required qualifications, regulation of the chaotic agglomeration of street vendors in Pasar Minggu and Pasar Tanah Abang, the dredging and reservoir normalisation projects to reduce flooding, and the inauguration of long-delayed Jakarta MRT and Jakarta LRT. As governor, Jokowi also appointed a non-Muslim 'lurah' (subdistrict chief) for the Muslim-majority subdistrict of Lenteng Agung despite protests by some residents. Former deputy governor Prijanto claimed that Jokowi had carried out maladministration when abusing government certificate asset of BMW Park by formalising another expired certificate.


title: Joko Widodo

text: In 2013, Jokowi was reported to the National Commission on Human Rights over the eviction of the squatters near Pluit. In previous "political contracts", he had vowed not to evict residents to distant locations. Jokowi met with Pluit residents and Komnas HAM to explain the evictions were necessary for restoring water catchment to reduce flooding and that families were being relocated to low-cost apartments.


title: Joko Widodo

text: Megawati Sukarnoputri nominated Jokowi to be the presidential candidate of her party. During the campaign, a social media volunteer team, "JASMEV", once made a provocative statement by threatening that Islam would not be given a space in Indonesia if Jokowi won the 2014 election. The group was paid IDR 500 million to campaign for the Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla ticket during the 2014 election.


title: Joko Widodo

text: Following the release of Quick Count results from many different polls, Jokowi declared victory on 9 July. However, his opponent Prabowo also declared victory, creating confusion among the population. On 22 July, hours before the announcement of the election results, Prabowo withdrew. Jokowi's victory was expected and realised hours later. The General Elections Commission (KPU) gave him a close victory with 53.15% of the vote (almost 71 million votes), to Prabowo's 46.85% (62 million votes), though Prabowo's camp disputed these totals.


title: Joko Widodo

text: After his victory, Jokowi stated that growing up under the authoritarian and corrupt New Order regime, he would have never expected someone with a lower-class background to become president. "The New York Times" reported him as saying, "now, it's quite similar to America, yeah? There is the American dream, and here we have the Indonesian dream". Jokowi was the first Indonesian president outside the military or the political elite, and the political commentator Salim Said gave the popular view of the politician as "someone who is our neighbour, who decided to get into politics and run for president".


title: Joko Widodo

text: In 2018, Jokowi announced that he would run for re-election next year. His vice president Jusuf Kalla was not eligible for another term because of the term limits set for president and vice president. Kalla had already served a five-year term as vice president during Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first term (2004–2009). Speculation surrounding Jokowi's choice of running mate focused on several candidates, including Mahfud MD, a former defence minister and chief justice of the Constitutional Court. In a surprise move, Jokowi announced that Ma'ruf Amin would be his running mate. Mahfud had reportedly been preparing for the vice-presidential candidacy. Ma'ruf was selected instead following a push by several constituent parties of Jokowi's governing coalition and influential Islamic figures. Explaining his decision, Jokowi referred to Ma'ruf's extensive experience in government and religious affairs.


title: Joko Widodo

text: The KPU officially announced that the Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin ticket had won the election in the early hours of 21 May 2019. The official vote tally was 85 million votes for Jokowi (55.50%) and 68 million votes for Prabowo (44.50%). Supporters of Prabowo protested in Jakarta against the result, and it turned into a riot which left eight people dead and over 600 injured. Following the protests, Prabowo's campaign team launched a Constitutional Court lawsuit but was rejected in its entirety.


title: Joko Widodo

text: Despite vowing not to give government positions simply to political allies during the 2014 campaign, many members of political parties received ministerial positions in Jokowi's first cabinet. The first year of Jokowi's administration saw him controlling a minority government until Golkar, the second-largest party in the People's Representative Council (DPR), switched from opposition to the government. Jokowi denied accusations of interfering with Golkar's internal affairs, although he admitted that Luhut might have influenced the change. His cabinet's Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto was elected chairman of Golkar in 2018. The National Mandate Party (PAN) had also switched sides beforehand but later returned to being the opposition in 2018.


title: Joko Widodo

text: Jokowi announced the 34 names in his cabinet on 26 October 2014. While it was praised for the inclusiveness of women, with Retno Marsudi becoming Indonesia's first female foreign minister, it received criticism for several perceived political inclusions, such as Puan Maharani (daughter of Megawati Sukarnoputri). The Jokowi administration also saw the formation of two new ministries (Ministry of Public Works and Housing and Ministry of Environment and Forestry) from a merger of old ministries, in addition to renaming and reorganisation of other ministries. He conducted a total of three cabinet reshuffles until 2018, removing ministers such as Rizal Ramli and Bambang Brodjonegoro while including ministers such as Luhut and World Bank Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati. Another reshuffle occurred in December 2020, replacing six ministers including two apprehended by the KPK.