A video of Arsene Wenger has surfaced. In it he seems to be part of a panel discussion at Laureus Sport Award 2019 (Monaco). He’s asked several questions and in his usual way, gives frank answers. I provide the transcript here for folks who may want to quote him.
Do you have any big news to tell us? What’s your future holding?
My future is unknown. Even for me. I’m quite open. I enjoy daily life now. I travel a lot now, all over the world, to see how sport develops. Sport has become a huge importance. I believe as well, and Jon just talked about that, that sport in the world has a huge responsibility. This responsibility is not only about the Star system but about values and that’s why Laureus is important for them.
Blah blah turned down offers for Real Madrid will you coach Real Madrid if they offer you the chance?
(Editor: I would be pleased if we could stop asking Wenger this question. He’s answered it too many times now.)
Some of your question is right. I turned down some clubs. But basically my job is to help people to get the best out of themselves. And I will continue to do that, in what way I don’t know. To do that I have to get the best first out of myself and I will try to continue to do that as well.
Will I do it on the field or will I do it by sharing my knowledge with people who are in our job? But [this, referring to something cut from the video] is a good example that is very interesting, you know. You asked them “why do you play football” and it bounces back to think ‘why is football popular’?
And basically it’s because you don’t need any materials to play. You can play with an orange, with anything.
And you can play if you are tall or small, there’s no selection for the size of your body.
And it’s the most unpredictable sport that I know of in the world. A top level team can lose against a division 3 or 4.
And that’s why, maybe the sport has developed so much and why these kids enjoy it so much.
So, I haven’t answered your question because I cannot answer your question because I don’t know what I will do!
TEDIOUS FOLLOW UP – what made you turn down that job at Real Madrid
Because I was involved in (sigh) I wouldn’t like to talk too much but I believe that a manager has an impact on three levels: 1) on the life of the individual players, you can sometimes help to make a career for some players 2) on the style of play and results of the team and 3) on the impulse, the structure, and the development of a club. This third aspect was very important to me. And I felt at the time that it wasn’t the right moment for me to leave [Arsenal] because I wanted to develop the club.
(Jump cut in the video perhaps the question is about Vieira and Henry’s futures as managers)
I believe both have the qualities to be outstanding managers. Patrick started the season so he could know the players and develop the team. In our job (management) it’s one thing when you start the season, even if it doesn’t go well, you have six months. If you arrive in October and the team is in a very bad position, you have three months because in January everybody starts to become nervous that things could go very badly. So, you have less time when you arrive in the middle of a season.
That’s what happened to Thierry (Henry). How he bounces back will be very important. I believe that he has the quality and he has the desire to make a career and a career is judged on a longer period. I started my job at 33 years of age. I had plenty of very promising people around me. Many of them disappeared and some survived. Why? You need luck and you need to work hard but it’s always very difficult to predict the career of the manager because we depend a lot on the quality of the players and the quality of the clubs and the quality of the confidence that we get. So I wish both have the qualities and they both make a great career.
It’s very good to see the players I had continue to share our game with people and develop young players.
Next season Ramsey will be a Juventus player, what do you think about him as a player and what do you think about next week’s game, Atletico v. Juventus.
That’s two questions!
First I must say that it will be an interesting move for Ramsey. He’s a player with great drive going forward. His main quality is that he can give the final ball but he makes interesting runs from deep and you don’t find too many players today who make deep runs off the ball from midfield. He will be an interesting addition and I think he will be a loss as well for Arsenal.
Wenger’s facility with the English language is unbelievable. Yes, there are many smart, multi-lingual people, but he uses nuance and humour with great deftness, and combines that with great delivery and timing. He’s the master of the twinkle and the half-smile. You appreciate this in full by watching the video.
No way he was going to let some journo sucker him into a cheap headline that “Wenger Eyes Madrid Job”. Which was the angle he was clearly after.
And interesting comment on Ramsey, the last man to whom the gave the Arsenal captain’s armband.
Wenger has so many more interesting things to talk about than Real Madrid. I wanted to hear what he’s been doing around the world, how does he see the development and future of football in the UK and abroad, what does he make of Arsenal’s season so far, and on and on… I could talk to him for years.
He’s absolutely not going to answer any questions on our season so far.
The one question nobody ever asks is: when will the autobiography be published?
This is the one. But Wenger is never going to write that tell-all autobiography. He’s too diplomatic, and not the type to burn bridges and expose charlatans.
Love that guy. But yeah, I do wish the interviewer was a little more creative. Me, I’d ask him for his favorite recipes and then his metaphysics and the relationship between art and life. Which is probably why my piece would never be published in a sports outlet.
As I recall, you really enjoyed the lightning round Qs with him and Mertesacker. That was, sort of, the Arsene that it brought out.
That’s true. I’m dying for an autobiography, but not especially to learn about why he signed this or that player (Amaury Bischoff).
FWIW… I had to catch up on your last few posts and they reminded me why I visit here everyday. Great reading as ever.
I know it’s old but I just wanted to leave this here…
What were your expectations from Emery’s Arsenal this season? 5th/6th
Has he met them? YES
For years our ambitions were title and we ended up clinging to 4th place. However, I bet there are very few who thought in pre-season that we would be anything higher than 4th. Our unbeaten run and ManU collapse gave unfair expectations for many (including me).
YES. Emery has disappointed me in many ways, YES. Ozil issue is too distracting. But if you had told me we would be one point from top 4 and still in Europa (assuming we beat BATE) in Feb, I would have taken that during pre-season.
On the AW video, it made me sad for the first time since he left. I waived my goodbyes, Emery came in, exciting unbeaten run, mixed results during christmas and these things gave no time to reflect. After a poor BATE game when I wanted to see/hear anything but our performance in that game, this video made me realize once again what a great manager/person we were fortunate to have. Also I wish people ask him some intelligent questions to him!
Our love of Arsene the man (undying for most gooners I know) is in many cases so different from views of the latter years of his tenure. For me, I can love him dearly and still think that he stayed at least 4 years too long, and should have left or been made to leave long before he did.
Emery will never have his effortless charm, and in fairness, that’s a high bar I hope no one expects him to clear. But if he proves to be a better coach who makes us more competitive than Arsene did latterly, we won’t really care.
To put simply… Emery know his football but Wenger know his players as well. To be really successful you need the right mix between both.
Anyone watching the FA Cup? The love-in for Man United is taking on newly nauseating levels, but the biggest takeaway is that Sarri is doing what I hoped he would, which is to double down on the same tactics and same style of play with Higuain as the striker. The result is that teams still know exactly what’s coming and if the talent levels aren’t vastly different, they look predictable and one dimensional in possession and then on transitions Jorginho just can’t be asked to stop the counter attack. In many ways their situation is similar to ours: new coach who is making some unpopular decisions so that his team can play the way he wants them to play. It led to great results earlier this season but is now petering out a bit and he is coming under fire. I remember a lot of folks on this forum had high praise for Sarri when the hire was announced. I wonder what the consensus is now?
Screw the silly interview, though I enjoyed listening to his voice again. That Laureus lifetime award acceptance speech is where it’s at! A room full of stars, completely silent, listening to him intently and with genuine respect. A well deserved honour for One Arsene Wenger. There will truly never be another like him.
I’m also catching up today. I had us finishing 5th at end of season, and that still feels right. The question is one of trajectory. Early in the season, our results belied the ongoing issues, but our arrow was pointing upwards. Now it has been pointing downward. Instead of getting better, the eyeball test and the stats say we are getting worse. I would have expected our defense to show some improvement by this time, and our offense maintain its form from last year. Neither is happening. So, I am disappointed so far, but am light years away from Emery out. He has faced many obstacles because of injury and little support from the transfer market. It was never a 6 month makeover, so I continue to reserve judment. But if our results don’t improve and our style of play looks anything like it has in recent weeks, then I will get antsy at season’s end. And if we don’t support him over the summer with quality players, he will be doomed.
Yeah.
All expectations ‘tempered’ when your ‘back six’ have been out for extended periods– or rest-of-season.
jw1
I don’t hear a lot of mention about this but he is also building that midfield from scratch and the combination of Torreira and Guendouzi is the first opportunity we’ve had to get excited about anyone in that part of the pitch in a long time.
“I remember a lot of folks on this forum had high praise for Sarri when the hire was announced. I wonder what the consensus is now?”
Yea, that was somewhat of a mystery to me when Arsenal fans praised and expressed the desire for someone like Sarri.
Three decades in managment. Fired from half a dozen jobs and walked away from at least that many after only a season or less.
No trophies to speak of either.
After this dreadful loss to United the only person I seriously worry about is that Chelsea fan who blew his gasket in the YT video post the City trashing.
Poor fella 🙂
My main worry is that they sack Sarri soon and then experience a Solskjaer effect afterwards.
On the other hand, since they’re our main competition for a reward as insipid as 5th, I’m having trouble caring either way. Keep him, sack him, whatevs.
Watching Chelsea yesterday I was struck by the notion that they would be a very fine Serie A side, a very fine Serie A side indeed. Then I kinda had this feeling that that’s not exactly a compliment in the modern game, and probably not what Roman had in mind when he made this hire.
They just have a few too many players who are excellent technicians but when they come up against a team that’s bigger and more physical they don’t really have answers (Remind you of anyone, gooners?). Looking at that starting XI, I counted Rudiger, Jorginho, Higuain, Alonso, and even Kovacic (who played two years with Inter) with prominent Serie A backgrounds. Then I almost laughed out loud when his last substitution was Zappacosta. Even an excellent Serie A side should’ve presented Man United with more problems given that they have Eden Hazard and were playing at home, but Sarri was disappointingly slow to react to United’s simple but effective tactics and his substitutions were, well, let’s just say two of his three subs were for Ross Barkley and Zappacosta and he never changed their formation.
Maybe he was hoping for a change of fortune with a change of striker but this new guy is not going to be a difference maker for them, not in big games. Higuain got one clean look on a header (which was put on a plate for him) but otherwise was easily out-muscled in the box and out-run to loose balls, most notably by Luke Shaw when he should’ve been in on goal. Lack of speed in the PL for a non-physical forward is the kiss of death. Think PL Shevchenko, latter day Fernando Torres, Morata, and those are all just Chelsea players. Higuain is the latest in this hilarious procession of expensive striker failures for them. I think the last time I saw a forward without top tier athleticism or size thrive in this league was Dimitar Berbatov, and even he flamed out when he had to make a step up to play for Man United. You can make a case for van Persie in this regard but I actually think even though his game was not based on speed he was an under rated athlete, certainly in a different class to this version of Higuain. It’s one thing to run around in Serie A playing vastly inferior opposition with world class players feeding you bullets. In theory that could translate to the PL but it’s a very different proposition at Chelsea right now, as he is finding out.
All of that is to say that Emery clearly wasn’t the worst coaching hire of this summer, even if he is “second tier” (m8) according to some, whatever that means.
Rumors are Zidane would consider Chelsea job under two conditions:
A £200m spending cash and Hazard staying put.
That’s reasonable.
I have no desire to keep typing words on the issue, but Wenger’s take on Ozil is interesting apropos of our discussion yesterday:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/feb/19/arsene-wenger-mesut-ozil-comfort-zone-arsenal
Some context of what question(s) he was responding to would be nice.
what a charming and charismatic man. there’s only one arsene wenger.
i, too, have had to catch up on all the discussions from the past few threads. wow, i missed out.
i expected emery to maximize the resources he has available. he hasn’t and i’ve been throwing shade his way since november/december. he made a lot of promises that he hasn’t kept and while many think he needs to be given time, it doesn’t take that long to realize that it’s raining outside. he has an awful reputation as a man manager as he’s had conflict similar to the ozil dilemma everywhere he’s been. that should have been a bright red flag; he doesn’t seem to respect that there’s different levels of player. you don’t treat mesut ozil like carl jenkinson.
one stat that tim raised is that in his last season at valencia, he failed to win a single away game. that’s incredible. that’s incredibly awful! 0-10-9? wow! how did this guy get the arsenal job?
emery isn’t suited to coach a big club. he’s a better fit at a mid-table club seeking to make it into the europa league but that’s his ceiling. he’s all graft and doesn’t know how to manage exceptional talent, hence his struggles with players like isco, ben arfa, mesut, and the like. he should be at a team like burnley, a team full of grafters. that’s his niche. he can’t make arsenal better.
he’s a better fit at a mid-table club
===
[ahem]
yes, bun. mid-table. i don’t believe he can take arsenal to the championship. look at what he did in paris. that team was chocked full of special players and those men have nothing good to say about unai emery.
emery’s reputation suggests he’s no good dealing with special players, which all top teams have. he has this sort of graft and grind type of strategic approach to playing the game. that’s where his success lies. that approach is suited for teams that lack the talent to play a higher level of football. that’s not arsenal. it doesn’t suit the slick and sophisticated style of the players he’s inherited nor arsenal’s reputation.
if arsenal were winning or at least playing good football, my argument wouldn’t be legit. however, arsenal are losing AND playing crap football. there’s no follow through on the promises he made when he came to the club and there’s no favorable footballistic direction that the club is headed.
I’m not saying it’s not true but I genuinely don’t recall any sort of clamour for Sarri to be Wenger’s successor. Napoli played some good football last season, but Sarri seemed a weird choice for Chelsea to me.
I was high on Tedesco, and I could see the potential upside in Arteta (yes I know). Both btw, an acceptance of a slow rebuild rather than representing a quick turnaround that people seem to think the demand against Emery is. I would earlier have taken Ancelotti or Pellegrini even, but we didn’t want more of the same. I really can’t recall anyone seriously wanting Sarri.
But even if I misremember, it’s weird to use his struggles at Chelsea to brush Emery’s issues under the carpet.
On Sarri (and The Unemployed One).
From my perch:
The managers of the two clubs we might have leapfrogged into top-4? Are at the moment either angling for his next job– or wishing he were. Right at– the 2/3 pole in this race, the stars have aligned for Arsenal to take advantage.
No miracles required. Be solid. Not drop points. Occasionally surprise.
Usually the silver-lining optimist? I’m not getting the best vibe presently.
jw1
Yes, I’m not too confident. Nor, honestly, bothered.
personally, i was pushing for patrick vieira. he was, undeniably, a true arsenal man who’d won everything that arsenal have won. he was a centerpiece for all three bpl trophies that wenger won and four of the 7 fa cups. he also won at inter, juventus, and man city.
also, unlike arteta, he had experience managing a team. even though it was mls, it was still experience managing players careers and livelihoods. nycfc played plenty of young players and played exciting football. there was a survey that went out to all mls players and 68% of them said they would rather play for patrick vieira than any other manager in mls. that’s a crazy number; more than 2/3 of all players in a league who have huge respect for you as a manager.
would vieira had done better than unai emery? we’ll never know. what we do know is he knows the culture of the club and has garnered more respect for players and his bosses than emery has. he’s also the only man wenger personally endorsed being his successor, particularly after announcing that he’d be stepping down as arsenal manager. however, vieira’s time preceded ivan gazidis and we are where we are.
“personally, i was pushing for patrick vieira. he was, undeniably, a true arsenal man”
I was just transitioning from a more casual fandom to being more informed around the time that Patrick was sold to Juve, but I don’t recall that being a particularly nice or smooth transition. I think he had been wanting away for some time and was having what seemed like a public falling out with Wenger which continued into criticisms long after he was gone, didn’t it? If he was really “An Arsenal Man” wouldn’t he have stayed around for another year or two or at least kept his criticisms private? I’d say Mikel Arteta was much more the model professional for this club. Always did his job, set an example for others with quiet determination, and gave his all for the club until his body could no longer do it.
“would vieira had done better than unai emery? we’ll never know.”
True, but his coaching credentials are not established. It’s possible he could come in and be amazing like Zidane was for Madrid, or he could also completely flame out like Tony Adams at Portsmouth. It’s a big risk. Personally if we are going to take a risk like that I would’ve favored Arteta over him or Henry.
you don’t remember the vieira departure being smooth so you blame it on vieira? what public falling out did vieira have with wenger? what public criticisms did vieira make of the club? dude, what are you talking about?
let me bring you up to speed. summer, ’05. juventus make an offer to arsenal for patrick vieira. wenger notifies vieira that the club has accepted juventus’ offer and that he’ll “remain neutral”, i.e., he won’t fight to keep or sell the player. vieira senses he’s wanted more at juventus than arsenal and moves to juventus.
the reason the transition wasn’t smooth is because arsenal were ill-prepared to lose vieira either as a player or as a leader; that’s not vieira’s fault. vieira (with bergkamp) was the centerpiece of all of arsenal’s championships under arsene wenger. if you take vieira out of that team, no way do they win either of those championships; that’s not vieira’s fault. the reason vieira doesn’t stay another year or so is because the club sold him; that’s not vieira’s fault either.
do you know how many games vieira played injured? he endured countless chronic injuries but you say that arteta gave his all for the club? dude, you need to go and talk to some people that don’t know. this is the wrong forum for you to make those kind of claims.
That’s harsh on Doc. He’s not making claims in bad faith.
Anyway, I agree with you on Vieira’s playing days. And I remember you arguing for him to be the new manager, along with Bergkamp.
My emotional feeling on Vieira was tainted not by his departure, but his ManCity ties. Plus, he didn’t know the post-Invincibles Arsenal. Arteta did. He had a big part in stabilizing the club when he came in. Him in charge, along with Per as academy manager would have been a continuation of the club’s two captains building on the culture. Of course, the fanboy in me would have been thrilled with a Vieira and Bergkamp pairing too. It just seemed like that was more unlikely I guess?
Also, just want to say I was very disappointed that we decided to get rid of Jens Lehmann this season. It was a couple of years ago watching a documentary on the Invincibles that for no particular reason I felt that one day Lehmann will make a very good manager.
I like your rationalization in favor of Viera. Better than many I’ve read/heard. Not averse to him myself. But I’ll sport a different perspective on your idea that Viera was:
“the only man wenger personally endorsed being his successor.”
To which I’ll add: ‘and publicly’ before ‘endorsed’.
Theoretically? My thoughts on Mikel Arteta:
Gazidis’ support for hiring Arteta didn’t just come on a whim when AW announced his resignation. I’ll contend that this was one of the avenues of succession for an extended period. Probably one of the scenarios (among several/many) when we pulled the trigger to bring Sven, then Raul aboard. These decisions were among ones Wenger must have been involved in making. Arteta as Wenger’s successor had to have had AW’s approval conceptually as the process unfolded. (And? They seemed quite close during MA’s playing days. )
I, personally, had come to the conclusion it could be Arteta– back as far as December 2017. So if an (idiot) savant can stitch together the rationale six months prior to the hiring/non-hiring event? I’d feel confident in stating it was a decided aspect of the club’s overall strategy for an even longer time.
jw1
kaius, you made a comment saying how people were clamoring for paul merson and ian wright to be included in the squad. sorry, i don’t recall that. once everyone saw what patrick vieira could do, no one was asking about paul merson. same goes for wrighty. after anelka showed what he could do, even ian wright knew his time at arsenal was up.
arsene wenger introduced to the premier league, two of clairfontaine’s very finest. anelka and vieira; both teenagers, over 6 foot tall, very talented with huge ceilings that exceeded anything that wright or merson could do on their finest days and neither had that nasty fish & chips and beer diet. at 19, they were already better, more talented athletes with better health habits and training habits than their predecessors. both wright and merson knew they were done.
Arguing about how good whoever replaced Merse and Wrighty were isn’t the point; what I’m saying is those guys were popular in the stands and especially in the dressing room.
What’s happening with Emery is not unusual -there’s always turmoil when a new coach comes in. Decisions have to be made which are right in the long-term but aren’t popular. Let’s not pretend Wenger came in and everyone just fell in line because they loved… (checks notes)Nicolas Anelka so much.
Nicolas Anelka! lol
ha! agreed. anelka has zero charm but wow, was he electric.
WE ARE NOT A MID TABLE CLUB, WE ARE NOT A MID TABLE CLUB, WE ARE NOT A MID TABLE CLUB
How many times do I have to type it to make it true ?
Heh.
Not sure there’s a number.
But ‘through May’ might do the trick! 😉
jw1