Bendtner, broccoli and banners: imagining if Arsene Wenger had taken the Manchester United job in 2002

Arsene Wenger claims to have turned down the Manchester United job in 2002 - but what if he hadn't?
Arsene Wenger claims to have turned down the Manchester United job in 2002 - but what if he hadn't? Credit: GETTY IMAGES

When, in front of a rapidly emptying Old Trafford last May, Arsene Wenger was presented with a trophy acknowledging his 16 seasons in charge of United, it was hard to reconcile the atmosphere of restless rebellion with the euphoria of his appointment. 

As he had at Highbury, Wenger began in Manchester in a whirlwind of innovation and success. What a midfield pairing his first signing Patrick Vieira made with Roy Keane. At the very sight of them, the rest of the Premier League packed up and went home. 

Three titles in as many seasons: no wonder the United board congratulated themselves on their recruitment. How hollow it sounded when Sir Alex Ferguson, who reversed his decision to retire the moment he heard his old adversary Wenger was to be his replacement, announced at his first press conference at Arsenal: “With the money we’ll be getting from this new stadium, we’ll soon be knocking United off their perch, don’t you worry about that.” 

Wenger among his adoring United fans
Wenger among his adoring United fans Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Looking back, United historians largely agree about the moment things began to change for Wenger. Sure, the manager had maintained the United tradition of promoting youngsters from the academy (though not many fans shared his apparently unshakeable faith in Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Darron Gibson) and was still keen to find value in the European market (how he was initially applauded for bringing in Jose Antonio Reyes at half the price Ferguson paid to take the unknown Cristiano Ronaldo to the Emirates), but it was the departure of Keane that first suggested things were not stable in the Old Trafford equilibrium. 

Apparently unhappy with Wenger’s insistence that he go easy on the Guinness and try some broccoli instead, the captain’s foul-mouthed leave-taking – the rumour was he told Wenger to “collez-vous vos ballons” at a team meeting, before claiming he “never liked Vieira anyway” – presaged the start of a dash for the exit.

At the heart of the decline was a problem with money. After the American billionaire Stan Kroenke took a controlling interest in the club in 2008 (which was about the same time as the Glazer family were introduced to Arsenal through a horse-racing contact of Ferguson’s), the transfer budget seemed to wither. 

Arsene Wenger: the alternative king of Manchester?
Arsene Wenger: the alternative king of Manchester? Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Wenger – who had spurned the chance to sign Wayne Rooney after stating he thought Nicklas Bendtner a better long-term prospect – found himself continually outspent in the market.

Worse, a puzzling failure to secure existing players on long-term contracts led to David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and the Neville brothers all leaving, citing a desire to win actual silverware (as well as to open a hotel opposite the Emirates). 

Wenger’s routine response – that nowhere else could a player be guaranteed annual Champions League qualification – sounded increasingly forlorn as Jose Mourinho down the road at Manchester City began to hoover up those talents that were not being bought by the big spending Arsenal. The purchase of Gervinho and Lukas Podolski did little to appease a growing disquiet in the Old Trafford stands.

Then came the long years without a title, stagnation in Europe and numerous post-defeat press conferences in which Wenger eulogised the character of his team, a sequence given chastening perspective by that 8-2 thrashing at the Emirates. Thus it is that, despite winning the club’s 18th FA Cup last May, Wenger has begun this season obliged to conduct affairs under the shadow of a giant banner strung out along the front of Old Trafford’s newly named Stan Kroenke North Stand: “16 years of excuses and it’s still c---,” it reads. “Ta-ra Wengie.”

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