Enduring love: Why Arsene Wenger meant so much to Arsenal, and why he had to go

“My love and support for ever.” With that heart-wrenching pay-off, Arsene Wenger concluded the statement which announced the end of his 22-year tenure at Arsenal. Through all the pulsating highs of his first decade in charge, even through all the disappointment and vitriol of his second, it always has been a love affair for Wenger and Arsenal. Sometimes thrilling, often painful, but always love.

Nascent love which flourished when he came as a complete unknown from Japan, to widespread bemusement, and set about transforming a club and revolutionising the national game. Enduring love which convinced him to turn down job after job with rival clubs who promised almost limitless funds, at a time when Wenger dedicated himself to helping Arsenal through their era of austerity to finance their stadium move even at a cost to his own sporting ambitions. And, finally, the twisted love which, until Friday, prevented him from relinquishing his grip on the club even when the supporters had turned against him.

It is reported that Wenger decided to leave on his own terms rather than be forced out by the board in the summer in the kind of messy exit that Stan Kroenke, Ivan Gazidis and colleagues have nervously shied away from in recent seasons, but could no longer avoid. But even if Wenger should have happily walked away following the FA Cup final win over Chelsea last season, he still deserves a fitting denouement. Leaving on his own terms, and giving Arsenal fans the chance to pay their respects between now and the end of the season, gives him a chance.

And what could be more fitting than, in his final game as Arsenal manager, winning the European trophy which has eluded him throughout his career? If the Premier League is now a meaningless spectacle for Arsenal, the Europa League has taken on more significance than anyone could have expected. More emotional resonance than can reasonably be understood. Atletico Madrid will be formidable opponents in the semi-final but if Arsenal can sneak past them, there is the tantalising prospect of a final in Lyon on May 16. One last match.

“I urge our fans to stand behind the team to finish on a high,” said Wenger in his statement. And they will respond. The crowd may have slowly fallen out of love with Wenger, through the ‘banter era’ which was seemingly without end; all the Champions League last-16 exits; the disappointing signings; the inability to challenge for the Premier League title. But by and large there is a huge reserve of respect for a man who has managed their club for 22 years. A man who feels like family, even if they have never met him. A man whose decisions and pronouncements have shaped their daily lives. For good and bad, sure, but in that first decade, gloriously for good..

The years 1996-2006 were stunning vindication of Wenger’s guiding principles. In an interview in 2015 with L’Equipe, he outlined what drives him: “Religiously, it is said that God created man. I am only a guide. I allow others to express what they have in them. I have not created anything. I am a facilitator of what is beautiful in man. I define myself as an optimist. My constant battle in this business is to get out there what is beautiful in man. We can at this level portray me as naive. At the same time, it allows me to believe it and it often gives me reason.”

Not only a noble mission, but one Wenger succeeded in. ‘A facilitator of what is beautiful in man’. The 1997-98 team which ripped the title away from Manchester United and claimed the double was certainly beautiful to watch and hinged around the magnificent Dennis Bergkamp, who had found in Wenger his kindred spirit. ‘A facilitator of what is beautiful in man’. Then came the next great team, spearheaded by Thierry Henry, a wiry, misfiring winger from Juventus, who was transformed by Wenger into the greatest Premier League forward of his generation and delivered a second double in 2002 as Arsenal perfected piercing, passing football. ‘A facilitator of what is beautiful in man’. Finally, the triumphant unbeaten season of 2003-04, in which Arsenal played some of the most spellbinding football these shores have ever seen.

And it wasn't just about winning trophies: it was about trusting in people and talent. Believing that the job of the manager was not to talk up his own legacy and enforce his own doctrines but to allow players to find their own solutions on the pitch. To let a talented collective create art through their collaborative efforts. It was about signing a 16-year-old from the Barcelona academy and making him into one of the great creative midfielders in the game. It was about signing a young Ivorian midfielder and turning him into a dominant centre-back. It was always about helping players reach the fullest expressions of themselves - which only hurt all the more when Wenger lost this knack in his later years.

All the tributes which follow Wenger’s announcement will rightly regale the revolutionary impact he had at Arsenal, and beyond. They will talk of the way ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ became, ‘Arsenal, always trying to walk it into the net’ – how Wenger completely reoriented the perception of the club in the national consciousness. And they will all do so with the implicit acknowledgement that Arsenal are in need of that exact same renewal now.

There is no way to sugarcoat this: despite those three FA Cup wins in four years, results in the Premier League in recent seasons had shown Wenger to be a manager painfully out of date. His apparent refusal to take counsel, or to adapt his approach to suit more daunting opponents, cast him as a football recluse, stubbornly hitting all the same, tired notes in hope that his glory days would return. And they would not. The signings became progressively more unconvincing. Even when the tactics received a rare shot in the arm with a move to the back three at the end of last season, it made no significant difference. Last season was the worst finish under Wenger as Arsenal finally slid below Tottenham in the table for the first time under the Frenchman. This season they may slip below Burnley too, and a dismal away record is among the worst in the division.

Comparisons have been made with the apocalyptic mess Manchester United encountered when Sir Alex Ferguson left – but they are deeply misleading. United were still winning titles under Ferguson; Arsenal are not. And with the appointments of head of recruitment Sven Mislintat and head of football relations Raul Sanllehi earlier this year, a new power structure has been quietly put into place. The only piece remaining was for Wenger to finally come to the realisation that what the club needed was a new direction. After all these years, a new manager.

Wenger had his chances to step away on a winning note and spurning them meant he burned through a lot of goodwill. But there could be one more in Lyon in May. And after everything, it’s Wenger. Wenger. “To all the Arsenal lovers take care of the values of the club,” he said in his statement. But Arsenal’s values are his values. Lovingly nurtured and protected over two unforgettable, remarkable decades. Divisive at times, even nasty towards the end, but always cut through with imperfect but undeniable love.