ARSENE Wenger’s quotes in Thursday’s Sun were surprising.
The quotes originated in So Foot, a French football monthly, published two weeks ago.
That interview was later cannibalized by Liberation, a daily paper.
It was perhaps the most personal interview the French maestro has ever done
What he said was so candid that it did not sound like the Arsene we know.
But, as you read it, you realised that it sounded real, sounded genuine, sounded like a man we do not really know, or didn’t until now.
Wenger, who has transformed the Arsenal brand, won seven trophies, signed world class talents, choreographed the fastest, most stylish football we have ever seen, and overseen an ambitious move to a 60,000-seater stadium, said he is obsessed by retirement and death.
And the Professor, who is now 57, amazingly admitted that he neglects his wife and daughter because he spends 90% of every day working.He said he had to be very selfish.
English football’s premier sports scientist turned his analytical intelligence on himself and came out with some startling statements.
Taken together, Arsene’s comments are quite alarming. He talked about arthritis, testosterone and death.
He said, “I need to accept that in 10 years I’ll be 67 and in this job you need a certain amount of instinctive physical power and an animal instinct for winning. It is something which must come naturally to you but you can lose it when your testosterone levels drop or when arthritis hits you or you just go through the process of becoming old.
“The fact is that you can lose it when you are 45 and I know — I’ve seen guys who got fed up of coaching in their forties. There are guys who won the European Cup 10 years ago and now they are just nowhere.
“Then there are men like Sir Bobby Robson and Giovanni Trapattoni who will go to their graves with the same hunger to win.
“You need to be sensible, particularly as in my job you have to be absolutely passionate and also very selfish. Any man who concentrates his energies totally on one passion is, by definition, someone who hurts the people close to him. My job takes up 90 per cent of every day of my life and, as far as my family is concerned, they have had to be pretty self-sufficient.”
We know that he is a workaholic who has taken on wider responsibilites ever since he joined Arsenal in 1996.
“As a coach you can never just coast along. You are either flying high or on a terrible low. You must learn to cope with disappointment — without losing your love of the game. Every defeat is like being jilted in love and you ask yourself ‘Will I ever be able to love again?’”
He compared his competive drive to Polish pianist Artur Rubinstein, who played concerts until the age of 90. Arsene has been talking about Rubinstein for years.
He said, “I’m obsessed by things like retiring and death.What drives me on is that belief that tomorrow I’ll do things better and be a better person than I am today.Most of my life has gone without me even noticing how fast time was passing.
“But when you turn 50 you suddenly realise you have reached the top of the hill and that your days are numbered. It’s a very painful realisation. This is the moment when you start reflecting on how best to use the time left to you.
“Is it best to go on as normal without really thinking about the future or should you change direction and adapt as you get older?
“Do you impose your own limits or do you allow other people to do that for you?
“But I’m someone who needs to set my own limits. If I ever lose that then my career will be over and it will be the end to my aspirations for my life.
“I’ve never understood people who say ‘I’m no good at this or that’. I simply cannot understand the idea of settling for what you have or for who you are.”
Clearly, Arsene Wenger has been a fantastic manager for Arsenal and the club has been a wonderful vehicle for his ideas and ambitions, allowing him to take on more and more areas of responsibility.
He is a director’s dream manager, especially as he generates money in the transfer market and only wastes a few millions, as all managers inevitably do.
It sounds as if he is still hugely ambitious.
He has taken AFC on an educational and colourful journey. He modernised the club and recreated the infrastructure, His Invincibles were unbeaten for a whole Premiership season. OK, he could not beat Barcelona with ten men. But no team could have beaten the best team in the world with ten men. His Arsenal came closer to beating Barca with ten men than any other team would have done.
Arsene should take some satisfaction from that. Rather than allowing a failure in the European Cup Final to haunt him for the rest of his days.
He’s damaged himself enough in the cause of AFC and it must be time to chill out a bit now. If he takes a day off, or goes home early, the training ground won’t fall apart.
He talks about the need to be sensible. He wonders whether he should adapt as he gets older. Of course he should adapt as he gets older !!!!
Does he even need to ask himself that question ? He knows the answer. He doesn’t need me to tell him the answer to that one. Don’t deliberately damage yourself so much. Don’t be such a masochist. Leave that to Marlon Brando
He should delegate more. He should stop being such a control-freak and delegate more. He should spend more time with his daughter, who must be about ten now. He’s lucky to have a daughter because girls are generally more versatile, responsive and entertaining than boys, especially during their secondary school years.
If Arsene misses out on Leah’s golden years, he’s a mug. If he spends 90% of every day on his job, he’s a mug.
Football is only football. Yes, we all love it. But seriously. Come on, Arsene, you’re a smart guy.You’re a legend even if you never win another match. And you know that football is the most important unimportant thing in the world.
That’s all it is.
But, as we have all seen, Arsene Wenger is in the grip of an obsession. He can’t help himself.
It’s no good asking him to be more “normal.”
Arsene Wenger is Arsene Wenger. He is a one-off.