Arsène Wenger was not the first foreigner to manage a top-flight English football team. But when Mr Wenger arrived as Arsenal manager in 1996 he may as well have been from Mars – an unheralded French manager with a spotty playing record and strange ideas about diet. Yet as he announces his retirement after 22 years at Arsenal, Mr Wenger and his ideas now seem part of the footballing furniture. The few non-British managers preceding Mr Wenger had either been great ex-players or monumental failures or both. Mr Wenger could boast only an undistinguished career.

Source: The Guardian April 20, 2018 16:12 UTC