Arsene Wenger
Arsene Wenger
Arsène Wenger, OBEɛʁ]; born 22 October 1949), is a French football manager and former player. He has been the manager of Arsenal since 1996, where he has since become the club's longest-serving manager and most successful in terms of major titles won. Football pundits give Wenger credit for his contribution to the revolutionising of football in England in the late 1990s through the introduction of changes in the training and diet of players...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth22 October 1949
CityStrasbourg, France
CountryFrance
For a while, you could decide when you loan the player out whether he plays against you or not, and I always decided that he could play against us. But I must say I didn't get any protection from the media because when the player I loaned out scored against us, it's 'aaahhh, look at him, stupid...'
Sometimes now, when I watch continental games on television, I'm a bit bored. I ask, 'where is the intensity?'
If you want to win a horse race, you need your horse to be 100%.
If I were going to war I would want to be alongside an Englishman not a Frenchman. The Frenchman would think too much.
The best football players in the world still earn very little money compared to people who really earn money.
Messi's like a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make. He made the impossible possible. He has something exceptional. He has six or seven years in front of him, touchwood that nothing happens to him, and he can reach unbelievable levels.
I don't think it's because of my eyes, my beautiful eyes. (on Henry staying at Arsenal for the money)
Everybody has a different opinion in this league and nobody is a prophet. I personally don't know who will win the league. I managed 1,600 games so, if Nani knows, he must be 1,600 times more intelligent than I am.
My job is to give people who work hard all week something to enjoy on Saturdays and Wednesdays.
When you're dealing with someone who only has a pair of underpants on, if you take his underpants off, he has nothing left - he's naked. You're better off trying to find him a pair of trousers to complement him rather than change him.
A manager is a guide. He takes a group of people and says, 'With you I can make us a success; I can show you the way.'
Work on your strong points because they are what made you.
You ask me: 'Was he a fair player?' I say: 'No, I'm sorry, for me he was not a fair player.' I just think I respect him highly as a quality player. I did not like some things he did on the football pitch and I have the right to say that. It's not because you are older, suddenly, that you are a saint.
You build a player like you build a house. You start with the foundations. The fundamentals.