WENGER ADMITS HE IS ‘SCARED’ OF RETIREMENT
ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that he is “scared of the day” he is eventually forced to retire from football.
With only one year left on his contract at the Emirates, Wenger is now approaching a crossroads in his career and there is a growing sense among many that this season may be his last at Arsenal.
The Frenchman is one of the longest serving managers in the history of English football and is set to celebrate 20 years at the club having joined the Gunners in 1996.
But it seems the 66-year-old is still in two minds about retirement as his contract nears its end.
With Arsenal two matches into the Premier League season, Wenger admitted he cannot imagine walking away from the beautiful game.
“Football has been my life, and honestly, I’m quite scared of the day. Because the longer I wait, the more difficult it will be to lose the addiction,” he said in Game Changers: Inside English Football.
“After Alex Ferguson retired and we played Manchester United over there he sent a message to me to come up and have a drink with him.
“I asked: ‘Did you miss it?’ and he said: ‘Not at all.’ I didn’t understand that. It’s an emptiness in your life, especially when you’ve lived your whole life waiting for the next game and trying to win it.
“Our pleasure comes from that – and our social attitude as well.” Whether or not Wenger walks away from the game of his own accord, the Frenchman has come under considerable pressure to do so in recent seasons for a perceived lack of investment in the transfer market.
His parsimonious spending policy has frustrated fans who have been forced to sit back and watch Arsenal flounder in recent transfer windows while rival clubs invest big money in players from the continent.
The club have made just one high-profile signing this summer so far – Granit Xhaka from Borussia Mönchengladbach – and have struggled to land a number of their targets.
Meanwhile, Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey’s injury could have been prevented, Wales manager Chris Coleman has said, adding he was surprised the Euro 2016 semi-finalist was rushed back for the opening Premier League game against Liverpool.
Wenger’s decision to play Ramsey in Arsenal’s 4-3 defeat against Liverpool backfired as the player suffered a hamstring injury and was ruled out of his country’s World Cup qualifier against Moldova on September 5.
Coleman said he expected Wenger to hand Ramsey an extended break following the tournament in France.
“It’s disappointing he’s got an injury. Could it have been prevented? Possibly, yes,” said Coleman. “I think we all expected him to (miss the start of the season), so I don’t know what happened between and when he ended up on the pitch.”
Defender Laurent Koscielny, midfielder Mesut Özil and striker Olivier Giroud were all left out of the team for the game against Liverpool.
“It was a long tournament for Aaron, after a long, hard season. So I don’t know why he was treated differently,” Coleman added.
“I think Arsenal have a certain way of doing things. A lot has been said about their injury list, they’re doing the same things now as what they’ve always done – they’re not going to change now.”