JAMIE CARRAGHER: Why I want us all to be Arsenal fans for a season

This view will not be popular at White Hart Lane. I don’t expect too many people will agree around Stamford Bridge, in Manchester or on Merseyside, either. But this season, we should all be Arsenal fans.

If they are successful, that will mean Arsene Wenger stays in the Premier League. And we need him to stay.

This man has had a profound impact on British football and the game here would be poorer without him.



Visionary: Arsene Wenger has guided Arsenal to the top of the Premier League after five games

Where would the Premier League be minus Wenger? Clubs would not have been so quick to look for foreign coaches if he had floundered. His success opened the floodgates and since he arrived at Arsenal in 1996, 47 managers from overseas have been appointed by top-flight clubs, compared to 120 British. That is a remarkable figure.

There is a case to argue that without Wenger, we might not have had Jose Mourinho, Rafa Benitez, Roberto Mancini or Carlo Ancelotti managing here.

Without Wenger, we might never have been dazzled by Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Robert Pires, and so many other brilliant players who have enhanced our game.

Wenger was responsible for some of the most harrowing and unnerving days of my career.

Arsenal conquered all before them from 2002-2004, culminating in them being called the Invincibles after going unbeaten for a whole season. Outstanding footballers and also supreme athletes — they had everything. When you stood next to them in the tunnel before a game, the panic would roll in.

They were the best I ever faced, the only team that left me feeling technically and physically inadequate. From goalkeeper to striker, they were built like tanks. If you tried to tackle them, you would bounce off them.

Arsenal were the first team to start using creatine — a supplement to help increase strength and power and aid muscle recovery — and we used to hear how they had changed their diets and took the right vitamins. You couldn’t outmuscle Wenger’s sides, nor could you outplay them.

Playing right back against that Arsenal team was the most difficult job in football at that time. Henry, Ashley Cole and Pires would terrorise you from the left flank, moving the ball at dizzying speeds. So quick was their movement, you didn’t have time to think. It was an awful feeling.

Wenger’s reputation was at its highest then. Having won the Premier League twice, as well as two FA Cups and a pair of Community Shields in a three-year period, you would have been laughed out of town had you suggested he would add only one more prize in the next nine seasons.

Arsenal have fallen away because of the huge amount of money at the disposal of Manchester City and Chelsea. Other sides have copied Wenger in buying young players from abroad.

The foreign legion: Managers such as Roberto Mancini (left) and Rafa Benitez (right) followed Wenger's route into the Premier League after building their reputation abroad

Conquerors: Wenger built a team of stars like Robert Pires (right) and Patrick Vieira, who dominated between 2002 and 2004. Thierry Henry (below) spearheaded the Frenchman's attack to devastating effect



'You couldn’t outmuscle Wenger’s sides, nor could you outplay them. Playing right back against that Arsenal team was the most difficult job in football'

On Friday, there was vocal support from majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, but his praise of Wenger should be saved until after Christmas. It’s too early to judge Arsenal, even if they are the League leaders on Saturday morning.

Do not doubt that they still have a lot to prove and the most accurate gauge of their potential will be when they lock horns with Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea. One victory over Tottenham — the only side of substance they have faced — is not enough.

Arsene should not have a job for life just because of who he is. He wouldn’t expect it to be that way. He phased out Pires and Dennis Bergkamp, remember, when they stopped hitting their numbers.

The run of qualifying for the Champions League for the past 16 years has been impressive but why haven’t they been able to add a League Cup or an FA Cup while they have been finishing in the top four? It has not been good enough.



Struggle: Jamie Carragher (left) trails Henry as the Frenchman clips home his hat-trick goal back in 2004

The inevitable result has been discontent in the stands. I’m sure some Arsenal supporters are fed up with hearing people saying ‘Wenger has done this and that’ — they know their club better than anyone and if they want him to go, fair enough.

Those who are frustrated could easily turn on him again — do not forget the angry scenes after they lost to Aston Villa on the opening day, prompting a fans’ group to express their ‘deep concerns’.

I was also very critical of Arsenal. It appeared nothing had changed. They looked weak.

The arrival of Mesut Ozil, however, coupled with progress in the Champions League, has been revitalising. Ozil was the only top-class player who arrived here during the last window and he has helped make Arsenal the most impressive team in the opening weeks, though things are going to become trickier now, given they have assignments against Swansea and Napoli to negotiate.

Revitalised: Summer signing Mesut Ozil (left) chats to Pires during Friday's training session

Cover needed: Arsenal may struggle if goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny or Olivier Giroud (left) pick up an injury



Certain areas of the squad must be addressed. They will be in trouble if Olivier Giroud picks up an injury, while surely they should bid for either Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas or Victor Valdes of Barcelona in January to secure the quality goalkeeper they need.



I would expect them to finish in the top four again but I would like to see Wenger go for it in January and bring in more quality, so they can really challenge.

We should want him to stay, so we can see more of the great football Arsenal play and the players he always produces.

We should all be rooting for Arsenal this season. Wenger needs another glorious moment and we should all wish him well. English football owes him.

Tough break: Arsenal now turn their attentions to Swansea before bidding to stop Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain

MY FIVE GREATEST FREE-KICK TAKERS



1 KEVIN SHEEDY



Everyone has been talking about dead-ball specialists since Leighton Baines’s master-class last week, but Sheedy was Everton’s pioneer and I was at the game in 1985 against Ipswich when he entered folklore. After whipping one over the wall and scoring, the referee spotted an infringement and asked Sheedy to take it again. He did — and promptly scored again, whipping the ball into the opposite corner.

VIDEO : Watch Kevin Sheedy's free-kick against Ipswich Town





2 DAVID BECKHAM

If you wanted an example of how practice makes perfect, there was nobody better than David. After training he would spend hours sharpening his technique, and I will never forget being on the bench against Greece in 2001 when he sent England to the World Cup finals.

VIDEO : Watch David Beckham's stunner against Greece to clinch qualification in 2002





3 RONALD KOEMAN

Everyone will remember the deft clip he scored for Holland to knock England out of the World Cup in 1993, prompting Graham Taylor to exclaim ‘Do I not like that!’, while his thumping drive at Wembley secured Barcelona’s first European Cup in 1992.

VIDEO : Watch Ronald Koeman's strike for Barcelona against Sampdoria in the 1992 European Cup final





4 JUNINHO

Not the little winger who played for Middlesbrough, the other Brazilian who played for Lyon. He had an incredible record and 44 of the 100 goals he scored in France came from a dead ball. He also came up with the ‘knuckleball free-kick’ technique — making the ball wobble in the air — that Cristiano Ronaldo now uses.

VIDEO : Watch Juninho's beauty fly past Bayern Munich's Oliver Kahn





5 SINISA MIHAJLOVIC

The Serbian was so good that he once scored a hat-trick of free-kicks for Lazio in a game against Sampdoria. His left foot was like a magic wand and he could bend them over the wall or go for raw power.

VIDEO : Watch Sinisa Mihajlovic's hat-trick of free-kicks





Longest goal drought ended by a goal

Date ended

Player

Games without a goal

02/12/2006 Jamie Carragher 262 14/10/2001 Peter Schmeichel 260 01/01/2012 Tim Howard 250 27/03/2004 Claus Lundekvam 214 04/03/2007 Paul Robinson 199 11/12/2010 Aaron Hughes 193 10/09/2013 John Obi Mikel 185 19/03/2005 Richard Dunne 169 07/12/1997 Francis Benali 168 19/04/1998 Steve Clarke 164 25/09/2004 Simon Charlton 163 12/12/1998 Steve Chettle 158 26/10/2008 Ricardo Gardner 156 21/08/2004 Luke Young 151

DROUGHT OF ORDER

I am proud of some of the numbers I amassed in my career, such as the 737 appearances for Liverpool.



But 262 is a figure that is set to haunt me.

It was brought to my attention by my MailOnline colleagues this week, after Jon Obi Mikel scored for the first time in 185 games, that I have the longest goal drought in Premier League history.



Three goalkeepers — Tim Howard, Peter Schmeichel and Paul Robinson — were all more prolific than I was in the 262 games I went without scoring.

Now I realise why everyone was so keen to keep me away from the opposition penalty area!



GOOD WORK, SWANS

Swansea have another big week ahead and there are many people who deserve plaudits for their dramatic rise, including Brendan Rodgers, Michael Laudrup and Michu.

The richest praise, however, should be going to their chairman Huw Jenkins.



Clubs do not make a bigger signing than a new manager and Jenkins has invariably got it right.

Barcelona and Ajax choose managers who have a certain style but it is easier for them, as they can attract top players.

What Jenkins has done in South Wales has been both brave and remarkable, and he deserves the highest praise.

His is a model that others would do well to follow. He has continually made the right decisions, from Kenny Jackett to Roberto Martinez, Rodgers to Laudrup.

Top dog: Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins has chosen a string of successful managers at the Welsh club

Past and present: Brendan Rodgers moved on to Liverpool before Michael Laudrup took over at the Liberty



In this era when clubs are perceived to be out of touch with their fan base, with some changing colours and names, Jenkins is fully in tune with Swansea supporters.

It is not essential for a chairman to also be a fan, but there is no doubt it helps and Jenkins’s bravery has been rewarded.

After winning the Capital One Cup last season, they have enjoyed a fantastic night in Valencia this year and you would not bet against them enjoying more of the same.

Bargain: Michu has set the Premier League alight since joining Swansea from Rayo Vallecano for just £2million