THERESE RAPHAEL: The rise and fall of Arsene Wenger
'An economist by education, he looked more like his nickname, "the professor," than a hardscrabble soccer coach'
The leader of what was once considered one of the best-managed soccer clubs in the world stepped down Friday and the Twittersphere erupted in two opposite directions: jubilation and sadness. Half of English football fans seem to regard the departure from the Arsenal Football Club of 68-year-old Arsene Wenger as coming years too late. The other half rues the brutality of a changing industry that turned his virtues into handicaps. Wenger was enormously successful and his club was nicely profitable, but his fall is a reminder of how quickly industries can change — and how even a great leader's fortunes can turn if he doesn't change with them. The French-born coach had spent 22 years at the helm. An economist by education, he looked more like his nickname, "the professor," than a hardscrabble soccer coach. Fans made parlor games out of reading emphasis into his monotonous interview responses and searching his pleasantly lined face for a flicker of expression. Wenger wasn't always the co...
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