On the eve of Arsène Wenger’s 1,000th match in charge of Arsenal, there is an irresistible temptation to call it a reign of two halves. If the first 500 matches represent the years of enlightenment, the years of wonder, the years of plenty, the second 500 represent the years in which the financial landscape of English football changed and this great luminary was, at times, plunged into darkness.

To cut to the chase, to paint this initially as a black-and-white picture before trying to embellish with the all-important shades of grey, Arsenal’s last trophy came in Wenger’s 497th match as manager, the 2005 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. The 500th was a narrow but chastening away defeat by José Mourinho’s Chelsea team. Even with