My Life in Red and White: The Sunday Times Number One Bestselling Autobiography

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Wenger was known for having a huge influence over how Arsenal was run from top to bottom, but he’d long been involved in the minutia of his clubs’ business practises. Especially in his role at Nancy in Ligue 1. Apart from that, I believe book is a must read for anyone who intends to go the distance in the field of management. For instance, how manage difficult characters, how to make sure your employees achieve more than they are doing it now. Importance to help make them realize that what you achieve as human being is far more important than what you achieve as the professional. Banished was the players’ diet of fizzy drinks and chocolate, introduced were caffeine drops on sugar cubes at half time, physical and mental preparation was revolutionized, relative to what was then the norm. Facilitating the improvement of human performance through tailored man-management is a constant ambition.

Arsène is also a hardworking man even in his 70’s he works out for 1,5 hour every morning. He gave it all to his purpose and is an all around great man. As a life-long enthusiastic Arsenal supporter (God help me), this was a book I was always going to buy - well get as a Christmas gift. The overall feeling is that to a large extent it was missing so much. Arsene Wenger was such an innovative coach who looked holistically at players development, the cohesion of the team and the structures within the club itself. So why were the details of that creative thinking missing? Unless it wasn't as creative or innovative as I imagined. I appreciated watching Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger just how important the manager was to a club, how they instilled the culture, the belief and all the science and training that helped develop players. I would love to have learned how they achieved that and what their secret sauce looked like.Passages relating to the 2003/04 season where Arsenal’s Invincibles won the League unbeaten provide great insights, particularly of the mental toll exerted on him. The anguish of losing the 2006 Champions League - to Barcelona - is recalled in one of the book’s best passages. Arsene Wenger on a recent Late Late Show interview

It was extremely interesting listening to his life at Arsenal. How he discovered players and united them behind the vision of winning. Arsene has always been great at cultivating talent and his scope on developing/scouting young players was a pleasure to listen to. I had the opportunity to get to know you at U efa and F ifa meetings and dinners. With your culture and vision, I believe you have the qualities to be a top exec, such as a CEO or director of football, at a club. Would you have ever considered such a role at Arsenal or was your desire always to remain on the pitch? What were you feeling when you watched Manu Petit score a goal in the 1998 World Cup final [to confirm France’s 3-0 victory against Brazil]?

Instead of detailing his feelings as he goes into key matches he brushes aside huge events in a couple of sentences. Pretty much: “That year we won the double and the following year united won the treble.” Wow, ok thanks for the insight Arsene! Yes, of course. It was the end of a love story. And when you cannot speak any more to the loved person, you can’t go to the training ground, you can’t go to the stadium. You just have to stay where you are. And I never did that [before] in my life. You do 22 years and then suddenly you stop. It was very difficult. The pictures include a picture of a banner-trailing plane – but unfortunately not the one I helped crowdfund.

Gutted - I really wanted this book to be good but to be honest you don’t get anything you couldn’t have learned reading a few post match interviews, and really they would contain more detail. French. I speak German and English well, and French very well [laughs]. I can understand Italian, Spanish, some Japanese, but I speak them less well. But if I live for a while there it’s OK. I was really looking forward to this book. Although I am not an Arsenal supporter I do however admire Arsene Wenger and all that he has achieved in Football. A very interesting life I'm sure while working at the very top of the game and dealing with some of the major personalities and players in doing so. I was interested to know more and maybe hear a few lesser known stories that have remained secrets till now. Unfortunately this book does not tell us anymore than we have already witnessed. No stories behind the transfer dealings or banter regarding the scrapes making this book a very disappointing read. Full disclosure, I have been an Arsenal fan for over 50 years, and an Arsene Wenger fan since the day I saw him announced as our manager on the Jumbotron at Highbury in 1996. I was devastated when he eventually left Arsenal, even though I knew the day had to come sometime.

I did however learn a lot about Arsene Wenger the man. I knew that he was very committed to his role as a manager, but hadn't realised quite how much football had taken over his life. Although in many ways a solitary man, it was clear from the book that he had many friends and colleagues that he thought highly of. Although of course with this being an autobiography it is a subjective book, he came across as a very fair man who cares passionately for the wellbeing of his players and is prepared to put in a lot of effort personally to nurture up and coming players. I suppose it speaks to Wenger's character that he hasn't engaged in gossip, which I give him huge credit for. It's also clear he has, unsurprisingly, huge knowledge of the game and a passion for its advancement.

Gone for three because I love the man and couldn’t bear to go any lower, but it probably should be a two. It was definitely readable, and I’ve got a deep respect for anything Wenger has to say. However, he doesn’t say all that much. With the wide margins, large font and the fact that the book is fairly short anyway, it doesn’t really go any deeper than as to briefly describe a situation (sometimes a whole premier league season in a couple of paragraphs) before adding a passing comment or two, or a general description of how he felt during each period. The book is perhaps most interesting on Wenger’s early life and career – as this is little covered elsewhere. Another area that is perhaps even clearer from the book than I already thought it was is how the Invincible Season was an extremely deliberate and very explicit target (and it was interesting to read this part only 5/6 games into the 2020-21 season when already every team in the Premiership has lost). FANS have been given their first look at Arsene Wenger's new book - with the Arsenal legend set to reveal the full inside story of his rise and fall at the Gunners. Wow, what a disappointment this book was. As a lifelong fan of the Arsenal and ‘Le Professeur’ Arsene Wenger I was hoping this would be a detailed look into the man, the teams, the players and the matches that defined them. Instead you get a whistlestop tour of his career with the author providing what is essentially a top line summary of some of the events, not even always chronologically.

The book just fails to come to life – I was at many of the games featured in the book but almost never did I feel that the book was adding anything to spark my memories of the matches. And many iconic moments are simply not mentioned at all. I always felt that your philosophy as a manager reflected the ethos of the local community. How did you stay true to those principles when it came to be so difficult in football? Apart from the rare 'exclusive' snippet (Bendtner in the airport, Arsenal after party to 03 FA Cup win) it discusses many stereotypes without much learnt. In My Life in Red and White, Wenger charts his extraordinary career, including his rise in France and Japan where he managed Nancy, Monaco and Nagoya Grampus Eight (clubs that also play in red-and-white, like Arsenal!) to his 22 years at the helm of an internationally renowned club from 1996 onwards. He describes the unrest that led to his resignation in 2018, and his current role as Chief of Global Football Development for FIFA. The next game-changer is neuroscience. Why? Because we are at the end of the improvement of physical speed. The next step will be to improve the speed of decision-making. The speed of execution, the speed of coordination and that’s where neuroscience will come in. In the last 10 years, the power and speed of individual players has improved, but now you have sprinters everywhere. The next step certainly will be to improve the speed of our brains.