Where do I begin, no seriously, where the fuck do I start?

This man, as we all know, is our manager, but not just any old manager, there are thousands of them all over the world, and the one we've got goes unnoticed, and it's criminal. We've become so used to seeing Wenger at the club, hell, that's why this post has come about, and because of that, the appreciation of the man has dwindled down in recent years. There has been a lot of abuse that the guy has taken, whether he sees it or not, but I think he knows more than we do.

It would be unintelligible to say that his last years are not ahead of them, and I've seen my fair share of comments either with the guy or against him, more against than with if I'm being perfectly honest. Of course, everyone just wants the best for their club, and the man who wants it the most, is the man who I'm writing about.

This post is not about me shedding my opinion on how I perceive Wenger staying at the club and all that nonsense that get's overworked, this post is just to appreciate. It's to appreciate a man who has literally dedicated his whole life to football and to this club. I can't imagine the emotions that go on in his head on a day-to-day basis, and not that I'd want to, I'd probably quit the second I got the chance.

We all know the story, weird foreign guy comes into Arsenal Football Club, and he's French! Oh, and it's not like he's come from a constructive job at Ajax or something like that, but from a club in Japan of all places. The way that the club picked Wenger out is still probably, if not the best decision this club has made; the best gamble ever played out.

Arsène Wenger totally revolutionized English football, in more ways than one, whether it be the new diets of the players, the way they trained, or the way he treated the press. Not only that, but he changed an Arsenal side than needed a new life. He was keen on making a bargain as early as can be remembered, whether you look at brilliant signings like Viera, Anelka, Henry, etc. He has also always remained consistent when it came to "giving youth a chance" as we can still see the benefits of it to this day with the likes of Bellerin and Iwobi.

He won his first league title in his second season with the club, another fond memory. There was no question that United were going to win the league as we were already 12 points behind in February, but we went on a 9-game winning streak that saw us win the Championship after our 4-0 win against Everton. To make things more special, Wenger's first ever league title in England was accompanied by his first ever FA Cup as well. We won the double this season, and we went on to do it again in our 2001-2002 campaign.

We won our second FA Cup under Wenger in 2003, and then, probably Wenger's most iconic display in English football, was him saying that he thought that we could go the whole season unbeaten, which to the surprise of everyone, and I'm sure himself, we did. 26 wins. 12 draws. 0 defeats. Just thinking about that feat makes my head hurt. How can a team, in the Premier League, go a whole season unbeaten? I guess one day I'll have to ask Wenger that myself.

We won our last bit of silverware, the FA Cup, in 2005 and then we headed to our only ever Champions League Final so far under Wenger against Barcelona in 2006, which is probably the most gut-wrenching match you'll ever see as an Arsenal fan. The club's period of success, measured over what we've won and how far we've gotten in competitions had ended quite dramatically, as the time came for a new era in our club's history, and was probably one of the most defining moments of Wenger's career: the Emirates Era.

The club had made the bold move to exit Highbury, where there had been so many beautiful moments captured, and we decided it was time for the next step. The new and absolutely beautiful Emirates stadium opened up on July 22, 2006 which we currently have the privilege of playing at to this day.

Most people at the time would have probably figured that this new stadium would equal lots more success and good times, and there were of course good times, that's what being a football fan's all about, but it didn't all turn out that way, in terms of instant gratification.

Through this period where the club was financially burdened, people like Abramovic showed up with his billions and would soon start a trend to follow (I'm looking at you City). Chelsea's newly found domination truly began when the cunt himself came along, Jose Mourinho, and Arsenal's fate looked different since. It was all about the money, and still is today to an extent, but at that time, with the fact that the stadium had to be funded and taken care of with all of the correct infrastructure, it was a hard task, managing the success of a football club on and off the pitch, or at least that's how I picture it.

We were a laughing stock when it came to the types of players we were signing and the players that we had to let go in this era. Man City came in like the a new business across the road and took all our best customers, one after another. We then lost the backbone of our team in 2011, when Cesc Fabregas desired to go back to his childhood casa, FC Barcelona. He was the one who Wenger essentially built the team around, the guy who Wenger nurtured, left, and we were put in a critical stage. This wasn't the first time that Wenger had to improvise with the types of players we worked with, and this is where your true character comes out. Nowadays, in football, it's so common to see managers walking out when things get tough, but he stayed through all of it, and here's to hoping that he gets to reap the rewards.

We then lost Robin van Persie, which was honestly heartbreaking. It was yet another piece of our spine that Wenger would have to patch up to the best of his abilities. He went off to Manchester, and the rest is history.

We had gone yet another season without winning the league, as we finished 4th, which would soon become a huge meme as social media outreach grew. Going into that summer after, we had only signed Mathieu Flamini on a free, and I can only imagine how pissed people must have been. I mean, this is a guy who we already know can he still do a job, why is he coming back? This was the summer when things changed forever. It was deadline day, and this to me, and not because I'm an Arsenal fan, but a football fan, was one of the greatest deadline days of all time, if not the best. We had just signed Mesut Özil, the Mesut Özil, from Real Madrid. Our club record signing, still to this day, was purchased for £42.4m. This signing was so much more than just a fancy player who came from a fancy club, but a signing that showed that we still had intent, that we had the money and the ambition.

We went on to play, some of the best football in my recent memory that season in 13/14. We were top of the league come Christmas, and all was good. Of course, we fell off in February, and then Liverpool eventually did too, and Man City were the ones left to take it, but this season was so fucking special. After this long, barren time without any trophies, we had won our first piece of silverware in what had been nine years, which sounds insane, but that was how it was, all for good reason you can say.

It was one of the most special days because it was a final "fuck you" from Wenger to all the critics and the way we had won it could not be any more Arsenal like.

The season after, Wenger again made a crazy good signing, that one being Alexis Sanchez, who then came, from Barcelona. Another fancy player from another fancy club, but this was a shrewd acquirement when you consider how much players are going for now and what an impact he's had on our club. We went on to win back-to-back FA Cups in this 14/15 season where we comfortably beat Tim Sherwood's Aston Villa. Wenger had made history and is currently the most successful man in the competition, which holds a dear place in my heart.

Going into last season (15/16), it looked like the league was set up for the taking. We had just won two back-to-back FA Cups and had signed Petr Cech from Chelsea, which was an impressive deal to pull off to say the least.

This last season was probably the most defining in Wenger's post-struggle Rennisance. The expectations to win the league were at an all-time high with the improvements of quality in our side, and we failed to deliver, as we let the league slip one too many times, and ultimately, history was made when Leicester City won the league. In all actuality, all of the "big" sides in the league should have looked at themselves in shame considering the countless amount of opportunities to go top. Hence, in the glory days of social media, the #WengerOut campaign was in full force. I had never in all my years of being an Arsenal fan, seen so much hate towards the manager.

It was truly eye-opening, to have seen it in that fashion, as the world, and football especially, is now moving towards the digital age. Whether it be that day in December 2014 when we lost to Stoke and Wenger got verbally attacked in public or a random day in March where Wenger most likely got verbally attacked via Twitter from a random dude in Hackney, it was easier than ever to go on about all that was wrong with the club, or I guess, how it looked from the outside, as 90% of the people chatting probably have no affiliation with the club what so ever.

So, here we are now, going into our 21st season with Arsène Wenger at the helm, and my god what a journey it has been. My point in trying to summarize the past 20 years under Wenger has been an easy and a hard thing to do at the same time. Easy because I love this club, and hard because I love this man.

I cannot imagine Arsenal without Arsène Wenger. Can you think of any manager in this day and age who would stay this long, put in this much work, deal with that much shit, not for his own benefit, but for the benefit of others, for the benefit of his project, this project that still holds an incredible future because that's just the way he wants it. This is, probably the most selfless act of all, to put the future of the club's glory over his personal glory.

This post had no direction when going into it, but I'm glad with the way this turned out. No way does this do any justice to describe the type of incredible man that Arsène Wenger is and how much the man has sacrificed through his tenure to bring stability and success to this club. I can go over all the impressive stats about the 20 consecutive years that we've spent participating in the highest caliber of football in playing in the Champions League, or the ever-standing record of finishing above Spurs, but to me, this is all just trivial. What matters to me is to signify Arsène's life and strength in mentality through an outsider's perspective, because you and I both know that without him, we would've never been in the position that we are in today, and the Arsenal that has blossomed today would have never done so if no one believed in it the way he did.

#WengerIn

20 Years of Arsène Wenger