Arsène Wenger's top 10 moments at Arsenal

Arsene Wenger taking over at Arsenal in 1996Wednesday night sees Arsenal face Galatasaray in the Champions League, but more importantly has Arsene Wenger celebrating 18 years at the North London club. The Frenchman was appointed in 1996 and since then has guided Arsenal to three Premier League titles, five FA Cup crowns, five Community Shields and the successful move to a new Stadium.Here’s a look at Wenger’s top 10 moments at Arsenal, some of which pretty much defined the way English football is being played today.

#10 Promoting the youth

Arsene Wengerhas always believed in having a young squad. He very rarely offers deals to aging players and he signs players at a rather young age; something other managers dont often do. He brings in young players, nurtures them and stands by them through thick and thin.

The fact that Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott and Wojciech Szczesny are all first team players isproof of his youth policy.

#9 Eighteen consecutive Champions League appearances

Arsenal and their UEFA Champions League appearances

No English club apart has achieved what Arsenal have under Arsene Wenger. Qualifying for the Champions League 18 times in a row is no small feat and Wenger knows that. The Gunners have been shaken and stirred over the years, but never has their UCL qualification run been interrupted.

This points to the consistency that Wenger has ensured, both in his style of management, and in the level that he demands from the players year after year.

#8 The 98 Double

Arsene Wenger does the Double in his first full season

1997-98 was Wengers first full season at Arsenal and he guided them to the Double, something which was last done in 1970-71. He inherited from George Graham a stalwart defence consisting of Tony Adams, Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon and Martin Keown.

Wenger used that defense as his bedrock, and started building a team around them, thus laying the initialfoundations for the eventual Invincibles.

#7 Return of Dennis Bergkamp to the shadow striker role

Once Bergkamp lost whatever speed he had, it was feared that he would become yet another peripheral figure at Arsenal.

But Wenger put him in a place where he never failed to shine Right behind Thierry Henry and Sylvain Wiltord,turning him into someone who not only scores goals, but a player whose vision and skill were vital to the teams playing style.

And ever since that shift, the Dutchman was incredible for Arsenal, orchestrating their play, acting as the link between attack and midfield, and dovetailing beautifully with Henry to give rise to beautiful football with great regularity.

#6 From Boring, Boring Arsenal to a team that plays beautiful football

Under George Graham the chant One nil to the Arsenal defined that resolute defensive style of playing which didnt go down too well with most fans. When Arsene Wenger came on board, he went about changing things slowly.Right from what the players ate (no food with alcohol) to the kind of training they did,Wenger kept an eye on everything.

He even carried out psychometric tests to see if a player was good enough to play for Arsenal!

With him introducing free flowing football, he changed Arsenal from "boring, boring Arsenal" to a team that plays beautiful football and scores spectacular goals. That was a radical shift which also changed the philosophy of the club.

#5 Signing Thierry Henry; Resigning Thierry Henry

When people say The King, Arsenal fans will only point to Thierry Henry

Arsene Wenger is shrewd. No matter what anyone says, the man knows his way around players. He brought Thierry Henry to replace Nicolas Anelka and immediately molded him into an extremely prolific striker.

Wenger bought Anelka for 500,000, won the double with him and sold him to Real Madrid for 22.3 million. And signing Henry with that money (11 million) disgruntled many, but Wenger believed in his former player. The rest, as they say, is history.

Henry went on to become the all-time leading scorer for the Gunners with 228 goals in all competitions. And he was so good that Wenger signed him twice!

January 2012 saw Henry return to Arsenal on a two-month loan deal, and as always is with the man, he scored two vital goals for the team The only goal vs. Leeds United in the third round of the FA Cup and a stoppage time winner against Sunderland.

#4 The move from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium

Arsenal banked heavily on their move to the Emirates, and it has paid off very well

Arsene Wenger laid the foundations for the 350 million pound, 60,000 all seater stadium and credit has to be given where it is due.

Wenger sold Anelka to Real Madrid for 22.3 million and struck a deal with Barcelona for the joint sale of Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit. Anelkas transfer particularly helped fund the opening of the clubs new training center at London Colney.

The Emirates is now the third largest stadium in England after Wembley and Old Trafford, and is also known to be one of the most beautiful stadiums, both in terms of facilities and the actual football pitch.

#3 Champions League final 2006

Sol Campbell scoring for Arsenal in the final

It wasArsenals first appearance in a Champions League finaland they were the first team from London to do so. They were unbeaten on their road to the final, defeating the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus.Wenger has mentioned that losing this game has been the worst moment of his entire time at the club, until date.

He said, You have the feeling that your team performedwell, butof course, when you lose a Champions League final in the last 30 minutes, its of course bigger. The guilt happens when you feel that your team has not performed at the level at which they should have performed, and thats when you turn inside and you say I didnt manage to get the best out of my team and thats where every manager feels miserable.

Jens Lehman was sent off early, but a Sol Campbell goal brought Arsenal back into the game. Samuel Etoo equalized for Barcelona in the second half and Juliano Belletti scored a few minutes later to give Barcelona a 2-1 victory.

#2 FA Cup final 2014

The wait ended with the 2014 FA Cup title win

A nine-year trophyless drought finally came to an end when Arsenal defeated Hull City 3-2 to win the 2014 FA Cup. Wengerhad faced a lot of flak from fans for not making top signings and for not being able to win trophies,but when he signed Mesut zil for 42.5 million in the summer of 2014, it was the beginning of a new era at the club.

Arsenal spent 128 days at the top of the Premier League until a defeat at the hands of Chelsea changed everything.While everyone thought Arsenals season was over, they went on to prove everyone wrong and goals from Santi Cazorla, Laurent Koscielny and Aaron Ramsey saw Arsene Wenger lift a trophy after nine long years.

#1 The Invincibles

26 wins, 12 draws and not a single loss something which no manager apart from Arsene Wenger has achieved in the Premier League until now.This was definitely Wengers greatest moment at Arsenal. He added Jens Lehmann and striker Jos Antonio Reyes to the squad and successful extended the contracts of Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires.

Four games into the season and Arsenal were already on top of the League table. Their Champions League season too was off to a flying start as they scored five past Inter Milan at the San Siro.Thierry Henry was Arsenals leading scorer with 39 goals in 51 games.

A draw at White Hart Lane ensured that Arsenal were crowned League Champions at their rivals home for the second time,the first being in 1971.

Arsene Wenger summed up the unbeatenseason beautifully when he said,We've been remarkably consistent, haven't lost a game and we have played stylish football. We have entertained people who just love football.

Edited by Staff Editor