Kai Bailey provides the lowdown on Le Professeur’s documentary on Arsenal’s record-breaking season
“Le Professeur” is the nickname commonly used by pundits and ex players when describing Arsène Wenger. This documentary shows an in depth look into the life of a man who revolutionised modern English football .
From the title the viewer expects a majority of the documentary to be about the 2003/04 league season where arsenal finished “Invincible” . However this documentary perfectly conveys Wenger’s saying that “life is made up by mili meters “. It starts off with Wenger returning to his home village in Alsace, France reminiscing about growing up around football even resorting to prayer for some matches. Also he tells the viewer about his hunger from young to understand the world and understand people , this drive leads into his coaching career . Arsène’s sister in law speaks about the struggles that Arséne had between choosing his family and friends or following his passion of seeing the world . Viewing and hearing stories about his upbringing in a small post war village helps us to understand his drive to succeed in life .
Embed from Getty ImagesStories from ex Arsenal players explained how he changed the drinking ethos within the arsenal squad making his players eat and drink healthily. Something which in modern football now is something followed by footballers, even at a amateur level showing the effect his philosophy has had over the last 30 years .
He reflects about his coaching experiences before Arsenal speaking briefly about working with English players and winning the league with Monaco . But due to corruption and match fixing after 10 years in the french game he moved onto Nagoya Grampus in Japan . Revolutionising a team from bottom of the league to second and a cup win in the first year .
He reinforces and shows how the smallest margins could have changed the course of his and others career. For example Dennis Bergkamp missing a late penalty against Man United in the 1999 Fa Cup . That kick could have lead to no invincible team in 2004 and no treble winning man united side in 1999.
Words throughout this documentary from Arsène’s signings, rivals and colleagues help paint the picture of a true football “Professeur”
Overall this documentary is a perfect insight into a man who. helped make what football is today . It is a captivating watch for anyone who enjoys football not just fans of Arsène.
