BROCCOLI

"There was a lot of broccoli."

Andy Linighan recalls Arsenal's pre-match preparations ahead of Arsene Wenger's first game in charge at Blackburn.

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While it’s a bit of a stretch to suggest broccoli alone powered Arsenal to silverware in Arsene Wenger’s first full season in charge, it’s clear the Frenchman was shocked by what his players had been eating and drinking before his arrival and that changing their dietary habits was high up his agenda.

“I will not ban beer completely, because one pint helps relax people,” Wenger told the media. “But I do not want the players drinking fifteen beers, because that is bad. A footballer’s body is his work. If he then destroys that with bad habits like drinking, it’s silly.”

On the booze front, Wenger’s cause was helped by Tony Adams who, having come to terms with alcohol addiction, requested that his teammates no longer hit the beers on the bus back from away games. Such was the respect he commanded, he got his wish. That said, it didn’t stop the players from moaning about other things.

Keen to introduce a diet low in fat and sugar, Wenger’s immediate ban on their favoured confectionary did not go down well.

He later recounted: “We were travelling to Blackburn [for his first game in charge] and the players were at the back of the bus chanting ‘we want our Mars bars!’”

In 2017, Martin Keown revealed that sweets and chocolate had actually been a relatively recent introduction to the Arsenal dressing room.

“We never had chocolate or sweets under George Graham but Bruce Rioch had brought it into the dressing room. He believed it gave you an energy boost.

“But I challenge you to eat just one wine gum from a bag and not the whole packet! That's what it was like.

“Wenger's philosophy was totally different. He did not want his players to have dramatic ups and downs in our blood sugar levels. He wanted us to go into games in a steady state.”

There were concessions along the way. Having initially banned ketchup and tea, Wenger turned a blind eye to them following discussions with some of their biggest advocates within the squad.

Writing in his autobiography ‘A Life in Football’, Ian Wright sums it well. “Pushing us to think and behave like adults was a big part of how he motivated the team, as he was encouraging us to motivate ourselves as much as anything.

“Arsene’s way was to give us absolutely everything we needed to allow us to perform to the extent of our talents and abilities: ‘Take the tablets, eat the right food, do it at home as well as at the training ground. Chew your food properly - chew to win. Get the right amount of sleep. Train properly so that you’re so well prepared, so that you are 100 per cent ready for the games… He made sure his players had everything, but then it was up to them.”