I can still remember my first impression of Arsene Wenger when he took over as Arsenal manager back in 1996. He had the look of a geography teacher about him and came across as being very studious. A few of us in that Arsenal side were of an age where we were set in our ways, but also looking over our shoulders to see how long we had left in the game. So we were pretty receptive to new ideas.
At 32 years of age I was wondering whether he was going to phase me out, but he told us he would extend our careers if we followed his advice. I was more than happy to listen to him if he could get me playing until the ripe old age of 38 - and he did.
WENGER'S FIRST GAME (12 Oct 1996)
Blackburn 0-2 Arsenal
David Seaman (English), Lee Dixon (English), Nigel Winterburn (English), Patrick Vieira (French), Steve Bould (English), Tony Adams (English), David Platt (English), Ian Wright (English), Paul Merson (English), Martin Keown (English), John Hartson (Welsh)
SUNDAY'S STARTING LINE-UP (4 Oct 2009)
Arsenal 6-2 Blackburn
Vito Mannone (Italian), Thomas Vermaelen (Belgian), Gael Clichy (French), Bacary Sagna (French), William Gallas (French), Andrey Arshavin (Russian), Cesc Fabregas (Spanish), Alex Song (Cameroonian), Abou Diaby (French), Tomas Rosicky (Czech), Robin van Persie (Dutch)
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