The football world was rendered momentarily aghast on Friday morning when word came down from the top that Arsene Wenger is to give up the Arsenal reigns come the end of the season after 22 years in charge.
It wasn’t long before social media was awash with tributes and testimonials to the French doyen, which made a nice change from the usual steady stream of opprobrium that has been funnelled his way for the past few years.
Arsenal themselves were the first to kick things off, and did so by reminding Wenger just how terribly he has aged in the job…
#MerciArsène pic.twitter.com/h3XAQvr2pw
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) April 20, 2018
Several of his former players lined up to offer their sincere gratitude…
Sad day for @Arsenal with Arsene leaving, can we now give him the send off/respect he deserves?!! #rememberthetrophies
— David Seaman (@thedavidseaman) April 20, 2018
😱
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) April 20, 2018
Wow! pic.twitter.com/4yED6f4N8m
— Sol Campbell (@SolManOfficial) April 20, 2018
Thanks Arsene for all your confidence in me over the years. You are a very special man & a top coach! Definitely one of the very best ever! 1/2 pic.twitter.com/6Ry174GCIS
— Robin van Persie (@Persie_Official) April 20, 2018
I will always see you as my footballing father where under your guidance I had the chance to grow as a man and a player, i'm forever thankful for that and wish you all the very best for the next chapter in your life! #ThanksArsene #TheBoss 2/2 pic.twitter.com/ekhFNfExvN
— Robin van Persie (@Persie_Official) April 20, 2018
Even the old adversaries were effusive in their praise…
Congratulations on an incredible 22-year career at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, and best of luck for the rest of the season… apart from on your 60th game against us next Sunday 😉
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 20, 2018
Arsene Wenger built the best teams that I played against in English Football .The 98 team was Amazing.The biggest compliment is that he played football that made us change the way we played against them. He now deserves the most incredible send off from all in the coming weeks.
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) April 20, 2018
Graeme Le Saux speaketh thus…
A perfect time to recognise and praise the massive impact that Arsène Wenger had on English football culture. A true pioneer who raised the bar for all of us who played against him and his teams. @Arsenal
— Graeme Le Saux (@graemelesaux14) April 20, 2018
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn lead the way as several politicians poked their heads above the parapet…
Arsène Wenger, thank you for all the achievements, over such a long period, for the club I love.
Three Premier League titles, the unbeaten season, a record breaking seven FA Cups and revolutionising the English game. https://t.co/2jWgUsY9Nf
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 20, 2018
Not the resignation I was hoping for this week. #Wenger
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) April 20, 2018
Henry Winter went off on one recalling the first time he ever laid eyes on his lanky Gallic paramour…
David Dein invited 9 of us correspondents into Highbury board-room to meet #Wenger in 96. Arsene spoke for 50 mins, and we were spellbound by his attacking philosophy, belief in nutrition (broccoli!) & obsession with #afc as a community club. A visionary had arrived. 1/10
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) April 20, 2018
I remember talking to Sol Campbell in Colney canteen & he demonstrated how Wenger insisted if players were to drink tea or coffee (milk bad), and if you had to have sugar, there was a Wenger-approved technique of stirring it in to make all the granules absorb. Perfectionist 2/10
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) April 20, 2018
There are eight more mini-vignettes where that came from so click through to read the whole thread.
Elsewhere, the Friday morning press conferences brought quotes from Wenger’s contemporaries, beginning with Jurgen Klopp:
I admired his work always, it was always brilliant. Since I’ve been in England it’s a little bit different because now we have to challenge them, of course, but from Germany he was always a big, big role model in that job.
Pep Guardiola came next:
The Premier League is the Premier League because of his personality and what he has done. It was a pleasure to compete against him”
Swiftly followed by his English equivalent, one Neil Warnock:
He’s the man who changed the whole face of the game. We owe him so much, yet have given him so much stick.
In a way I’m glad he’s going, I wouldn’t want to see him get any more vitriol than he’s had.
Paul Merson implored Arsenal to do the right thing and give their departing manager the kind of permanent tribute he so richly deserves:
They (Arsenal) shop drop the ‘Emirates’ bit – they don’t need the money – and name it the Arsene Wenger Stadium.
That’s his stadium. He built it. He made that stadium. Even if they call it the ‘Emirates Arsene Wenger Stadium’, he deserves to be on that.
If Wenger’s endowment to the game can be boiled down to just the one overarching achievement, it must be that he got Merse to speak sense for the first time in his media career.
What a man, what a legacy.