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. Obviously I'm slightly biased, as a long-suffering Arsenal fan, but this was a great read. It plays out pretty much how you'd expect it to - beginning with his early years in starkly rural Alsace and all the challenges that encompassed, to his position as a player-coach as AS Nancy and Cannes, through his troubled tenure at Monaco, his famous 22-year life at Arsenal and ends on his current position at FIFA. The writing also it has to be says is a little off - its hard to know if it is the original or the translation, but its an odd assortment of very simple and clunky sentences with rather enigmatic statements (which I suspect are in the French original). Such lego sentences. And beyond that, what did you like about Viera? How did he make you feel? How did he feel? Tell us! Or better yet share anecdotes to show us. How did he fit into your philosohy? What surprised you about him? What did you learn from him? Coaxing that level of introspection and detail would've made for a better read. Wenger brought Arsenal to three English Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, making the team a constant presence in the UEFA Champions League. He is regarded as a transformative force within English football. At the end of his debut season, just he and Chelsea’s Ruud Gullit represented non-British or Irish managers in the top-flight. By the time he departed all but eight of the twenty teams could boast the same.

Including Real Madrid, twice. “It’s terrible to have to turn down your childhood club,” he says. “But I had a mission at Arsenal, a contract to honour, and I’d given my word.” I must admit, being a closet-fan of the club since 2004, I was drawn to the use of the word 'Unauthorised' in the title. This book would finally answer all that I've wanted to know about the man at the club's helm for over 20 seasons, I assumed. After finishing this book, I was left disappointed. It fails to provide any insight into the life of the man whose leadership has fascinated or frustrated fans in equal measure. It could at best be described as a well-written recap of Wenger's managerial career at Monaco, Japan and of course, Arsenal.Wenger has not returned to the sidelines since leaving Arsenal, but as of November he has brought characteristic rigour to his role as Fifa’s head of Global Football Development. He separated from his wife, Annie Brosterhous, in 2015; their daughter Léa is finishing a doctorate in neuroscience at Cambridge University. He divides his time between London, Paris and Fifa’s base in Zurich, often staying in hotels, and he admits that the hardest part of Covid-19 for him was when most of the leagues around the world were suspended. “I don’t know why but football games are my life and I don’t think that’s ever going to change,” he says. “So I missed it very much.” 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!

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 was disgusted at Arsene's hounding by the press after a vicious journalist spread lies which although totally unfounded resulted in his 12 year old step-son being hounded. This hurt him deeply. 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 From the outset, we embark on a near 70-year retrospective where life is totally interwoven with the sport. He takes as the starting point the family-run restaurant in Alsace where Wenger was first exposed to football, courtesy of the weekly gatherings of the local village team, culminating with the intensity of his time in North London where his sphere of influence ultimately permeated every aspect of Arsenal’s daily activity. Being hard on him doesn’t work. Like all artists, he needs to feel supported in his creativity. He has a feel for passing and an exceptional sense of timing when he passes,” he says. “There is something magical and simple about his playing style. The Premier League is a train that goes by at 200 kilometres per hour, and Özil doesn’t always go at this speed, but you always have great affection for his artistry.” His first match was a victory… or was it?

Customer reviews

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. One small oddity is Wenger’s (at least) twice repeated claim that he inherited a mid-table club from Rioch – Arsenal had finished fifth the previous season. Consecutive managers at Arsenal have struggled to fit Mesut Özil in their teams, for one reason or another. He’s now been left out of the club’s European squad, and many expect him not to make the cut for the Premier League, either. Arsène Wenger was the man who signed the German midfielder from Real Madrid in 2013, and in the book he explains how he got the best from him. In the years following they would holiday on Dein’s boat, and the Arsenal board member would watch Monaco’s matches in France. After some time in Japan, the invite to manage Arsenal arrived. He loved Real Madrid as a youngster

What to say? That this book left me underwhelmed is an understatement. I don't think anyone going to read this ever thought Wenger would lift the lid and dish out some nastiness or air vendettas against people, but what I expected was more emotion. More honesty. I was there for all the events he described. I know what happened. But I didn't need that. I wanted to know how he felt after the big decisions, the big games. Especially where he felt there were injustices.You received a lot of criticism over your career, more so towards the end of your time with Arsenal. Was there any that particularly affected you?

Chronologically his career is laid out culminating with Arsenal where he led the team for twenty-two years. The impact of Wenger on Arsenal is immeasurable and probably because of the nature of modern-day football commercialisation, will never be replicated. At Arsenal he had total control, he developed some of the best football players the English Premiership/ Europe ever witnessed, he achieved an unbeaten season with a team of INVINCIBLES - love saying that. He was instrumental in the building of a new stadium and advanced football style, medical treatment and diet to new levels. I loved Arsene Wenger and I remember watching an interview with him many years ago when success was regularly achieved, him saying that he would know when it would be time to leave Arsenal. Unfortunately, what tarnished his reputation was that he did not. The banks demanded guarantees such as restricting salaries to 50 per cent of the overall budget,” he reveals. “And they sought a technical guarantee by asking me to sign up for five years. The project and I were interconnected.” The reason he took Robert Pires off in the 2006 Champions League final Football to him is not merely a profession, most certainly not a hobby, it is framed much closer to an obsession. For the tall Frenchman, it has been a foe who can bring with it sleepless nights, the occasional gift of unbridled joy but consistently a entity against which he battles to improve himself, his players and in much more than a philosophical sense, the game itself.

The interesting aspect of the title is that Arsene Wenger's career has been with football teams that played in Red and White as home colours. It is interesting to understand the journey he was on and how complete he was in his commitment to the job and the details, even inspecting the grass on the pitch on a daily basis and discussing its improvement daily with the groundsman. He truly committed his life to football and I am proud that he managed my team. As well as this we get his views on what a coach should be. But again there's no personality injected into his words. It comes across so mechanical and impersonal that it was boring to read and made him come across as emotionless robot. Case in point, his wife. She's barely mentioned and at one point he describes their relationship as "friendly". Can't you just feel his love radiating as you read that? His theories on player recruitment, scouting and management are for the most part thought-provoking and demonstrate why he is so in demand as a speaker amongst the denizens of the international business world.