Mr Red and White Arsene Wenger speaks to us on Arteta, Aubeyamang, Ozil and the 2010 Fifa World Cup
Speaks to Arsene Wenger, author of My Life in Red and White, about the Invincibles, Mikel Arteta, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil and 2010 World Cup
● Many people around the world associate red and white with Valentine’s Day. But for Arsene Wenger it holds special meaning.
“Because all the clubs I have managed played in red and white,” said Wenger. “It was as simple as that. Is it a coincidence, my destiny, I don’t know?”
Those clubs were Nancy and Monaco in France, Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan and Arsenal in England.
“And on top of that my last club had the name I have, Arsenal, Arsene,” he laughed.
Speaking to the Sunday Times from London where he is promoting his autobiography Wenger: My Life in Red and White.
In 2018 Wenger walked away from the
I was not born to sit in the office [for the] whole day. I try to serve football in a different way
Ozil is a top-class player. At the moment he is not selected by Arteta. I don’t know the reason. He is [a] world champion
Gunners, his home — from Highbury to the Emirates — for 22 years, where he enjoyed unfettered carte blanche to do with the club as he saw fit and in the process catapulted himself to one of the most influential figures in football.
“You get the freedom when people trust you to make the right decisions and manage the club in a safe way. You have to earn your freedom and I thank people for giving me that power.”
Wenger, who turns 71 on Thursday, grew up in an agricultural village where “I didn’t have to talk too much, had to show respect, go to church, go to school and spend my entire free time playing football”.
These days he misses his drug, the grass, “that feeling to walk out [to the pitch]. I was not born to sit in the office [for the] whole day. I try now to maybe serve football in a different way.”
That way is through his job as Fifa chief of global football development: “I hope I can help countries like SA to move forward on the footballing front.”
Wenger was in SA during the 2010 Fifa World Cup and was touched and moved by two things. “There was a huge vibe in the country. Secondly, I must say the team was not at the level of great spirit. They could not go much further. But they beat France.”
Regrettably, SA didn’t use hosting the World Cup as a fillip to boost its national team. “It is a shame that you didn’t do that. The main target is of course to develop quality development programmes to educate young players and integrate them into the first teams in SA. That is what it is about.”
One of Wenger’s former players, former Ivory Coast international Kolo Toure, is a product of such academy programmes. SA must work hard on it, Wenger feIt.
“I supported the creation of the academy Kolo Toure grew up in. That is a good model. There are two positions. One is to group the best players at the academy in the country. The other is to develop a superior programme. I know that in Soweto there is a Nike centre.”
Were the 2003-04 Invincibles the pinnacle of his coaching career?
“Well of course I think I had great players. Some came from Africa and had that strength, desire and hunger... I found that my example of 49 games unbeaten shows you that if you put a deep motivation into a team they are capable to respond to it.
“So don’t be scared to propose high ambitions to a team. That is something that I keep from my experience of these 49 games.”
Last season Liverpool had the hallmarks of being unstoppable. Did Wenger think Jurgen Klopp’s Reds could become the latest English Premier League invincibles?
“I thought at some stages that yes they could become invincible. But it shows you that even when you have a super team you’ve got to keep focused, have that motivation for every game.
“The most important is to achieve consistency. Make your team refuse to lose at any stage of the season.”
Arsenal are shaped in Wenger’s image. He still calls them my team. Unai Emery didn’t work out. Wenger believes the team is in good hands with Mikel Arteta.
“He has a big influence on the team. The players look like they follow his instructions. We made only 56 points last year. Wewill do much better. We have a chance to be in the top four. Why not.”
Vital is the word he picks to describe Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang extending his contract with the north Londoners.
“He is the main goalscorer. If you lose him you lost 25 goals. I think it was vital. It is important to get some goals from people around him. The responsibility to score should not be on Aubameyang.”
Mesut Ozil last played in March.
“For me Ozil is a top-class player. At the moment he is not selected by Arteta. I don’t know the reason. He had the best assist numbers. He is [a] world champion. He is top, top quality.
“Hopefully he will not give up and convince Arteta that he can come back to the team. He gives creativity to a team.”