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<H1>Wenger: The ultimate team builder</H1>
<SPAN class=artByline>By NEIL ASHTON -</SPAN> <SPAN class=artDate>Last updated at 12:10pm on 11th January 2007</SPAN>
When Arsene Wenger spoke about the culture running through his club after Arsenal's stunning 6-3 Carling Cup win at Liverpool, he struck a chord with the backroom staff who have played their part in another success story. <DIV id=ArtContentImg>
Nurturing: Wenger with Cesc Fabregas</DIV>
While the established stars — Thierry Henry, Gilberto Silva, Robin van Persie and Tomas Rosicky — stayed at home, the next generation stepped into their shoes and gave the Arsenal boss a glimpse of the future.
As the rest of country sat back and admired the composure on the ball of Julio Baptista, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Denilson, their performances simply added credence to Wenger’s coaching philosophy.
While Baptista is finally showing signs that he can rampage his way past Premiership defences, all the talk at Arsenal yesterday was about technique.
Wenger’s maxims are a nod in the direction of the successful system that has been used at De Toekomst, the Ajax youth academy, for the past 50 years. But he has refined it to cope with the physical demands of the English top flight.
The overriding principle is technical ability. Put simply, if the players cannot cope, the Arsenal manager is not interested.
Former England coach Don Howe, who managed the club in the mid-1980s and is now a scout for Wenger, said: "For Arsene, it is technique over everything. He wants to know what a player’s touch, control and vision is like. Without that, they can forget it — it is his No.1 quality.
"If a player meets that criterion, the manager might ask about his size, weight and pace, but even then he has exacting standards."
Those standards have been met by Fabregas and it was a measure of Wenger’s standing around the world that he persuaded the Spaniard to leave Barcelona for north London.
He spent a year under Liam Brady’s careful supervision in the youth side and was knocking on the door of the first team within 12 months.
Fabregas’s successful transition, from schoolboy potential to polished Premiership performances that are likely to earn him the Young Player of the Year award in April underlines Wenger’s core values.
Nigel Winterburn, who played under Wenger for four years between 1996 and 2000, said: "One of his greatest assets is the fact that he recognises the need for a team to evolve.
"There is not a single survivor at the club from the day he walked through the door and yet this team has been in development from that very moment. It is incredible to think of it that way, but he has been refining it ever since.
"In 10 years, football has changed, but Arsene wants players who are technically gifted because he believes he can work on everything else. It is always about technical ability with him and ball retention was a constant theme of his training sessions."
Wenger is a meticulous planner and he organises, and takes, every training session. More often than not he is the first man out on the pitches and will be the last off. He has created a culture of respect at the club and, although his former players reveal that he does not like confrontation, he maintains a disciplined environment.
Winterburn said: "Every training session is a timed programme. If it is a 15-minute session, it is 15 minutes. Not 16 or 17. It is disciplined and carefully calculated. Boro Primarac and Pat Rice are his sounding boards, but there is no doubt who is in charge.
"It is very rare, but if a player is late out on to the training field, he is never angry — just disappointed because he feels it shows a lack of respect to the other players."
It is no coincidence that Wenger has successfully brought in so
<SPAN class=artByline>By NEIL ASHTON -</SPAN> <SPAN class=artDate>Last updated at 12:10pm on 11th January 2007</SPAN>
When Arsene Wenger spoke about the culture running through his club after Arsenal's stunning 6-3 Carling Cup win at Liverpool, he struck a chord with the backroom staff who have played their part in another success story. <DIV id=ArtContentImg>
Nurturing: Wenger with Cesc Fabregas</DIV>
While the established stars — Thierry Henry, Gilberto Silva, Robin van Persie and Tomas Rosicky — stayed at home, the next generation stepped into their shoes and gave the Arsenal boss a glimpse of the future.
As the rest of country sat back and admired the composure on the ball of Julio Baptista, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Denilson, their performances simply added credence to Wenger’s coaching philosophy.
While Baptista is finally showing signs that he can rampage his way past Premiership defences, all the talk at Arsenal yesterday was about technique.
Wenger’s maxims are a nod in the direction of the successful system that has been used at De Toekomst, the Ajax youth academy, for the past 50 years. But he has refined it to cope with the physical demands of the English top flight.
The overriding principle is technical ability. Put simply, if the players cannot cope, the Arsenal manager is not interested.
Former England coach Don Howe, who managed the club in the mid-1980s and is now a scout for Wenger, said: "For Arsene, it is technique over everything. He wants to know what a player’s touch, control and vision is like. Without that, they can forget it — it is his No.1 quality.
"If a player meets that criterion, the manager might ask about his size, weight and pace, but even then he has exacting standards."
Those standards have been met by Fabregas and it was a measure of Wenger’s standing around the world that he persuaded the Spaniard to leave Barcelona for north London.
He spent a year under Liam Brady’s careful supervision in the youth side and was knocking on the door of the first team within 12 months.
Fabregas’s successful transition, from schoolboy potential to polished Premiership performances that are likely to earn him the Young Player of the Year award in April underlines Wenger’s core values.
Nigel Winterburn, who played under Wenger for four years between 1996 and 2000, said: "One of his greatest assets is the fact that he recognises the need for a team to evolve.
"There is not a single survivor at the club from the day he walked through the door and yet this team has been in development from that very moment. It is incredible to think of it that way, but he has been refining it ever since.
"In 10 years, football has changed, but Arsene wants players who are technically gifted because he believes he can work on everything else. It is always about technical ability with him and ball retention was a constant theme of his training sessions."
Wenger is a meticulous planner and he organises, and takes, every training session. More often than not he is the first man out on the pitches and will be the last off. He has created a culture of respect at the club and, although his former players reveal that he does not like confrontation, he maintains a disciplined environment.
Winterburn said: "Every training session is a timed programme. If it is a 15-minute session, it is 15 minutes. Not 16 or 17. It is disciplined and carefully calculated. Boro Primarac and Pat Rice are his sounding boards, but there is no doubt who is in charge.
"It is very rare, but if a player is late out on to the training field, he is never angry — just disappointed because he feels it shows a lack of respect to the other players."
It is no coincidence that Wenger has successfully brought in so
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