ONLY THE LONELY
The Arsenal manager reveals his feelings of isolation as he agonises daily about players, results and life at the Emirates
ARSENE WENGER has given an insight into the loneliness he feels struggling to satisfy Arsenal fans’ desperation for another title.
It is 14 years since the Frenchman last won the Premier League, leading to a split in the club’s fanbase between supporters who want him out and others convinced he still retains his magic touch.
Arsenal kicked off the new season in sensational style with an epic 4-3 win at home to Leicester (Olivier Giroud celebrates his winner, right).
But, having signed a new two-year deal to remain in charge during the summer, Wenger admitted to feeling the pressure of keeping fans happy while sticking to his principles.
He said: “There are moments when a manager feels very alone. When you take responsibility for your choices and you play a youngster because he deserves it.
“Every defeat is a nightmare. One of the handicaps, when you stay at the same club for a long time, is that you feel an enormous amount of guilt when you lose a big game.
“The longer you stay at the club, the more difficult it becomes, because you know to what extent people are affected – they have a horrible weekend, they’ll be crying maybe.
“When you sign a two-year contract initially, you don’t care as much, because you do not understand how a club can mean so much to its fans. But, as time goes by, the more difficult it becomes. Each time, you feel so guilty.”
A plane banner calling for Wenger to go was flown over the bet365 Stadium, ahead of Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Stoke City in May.
The Gunners’ Emirates Stadium was also the scene of protests last season and even fighting, as disputes between rival factions turned ugly.
Speaking to France Football magazine, Wenger branded the plane stunt “ridiculous”. But he accepted his delay in confirming his decision to sign a new contract contributed to the implosion in Arsenal’s fortunes – on and off the pitch.
The 67-year-old said: “There have been a lot of divisions amongst Arsenal supporters.
“They have sometimes been expressed in a ridiculous way, like when a plane flew over the Emirates with a message hostile towards me. The fact I had not taken this decision to stay or to leave created uncertainty. And when we are not winning, you know, other problems take priority.”
Wenger has also admitted to questioning whether he was the right man to take the club foward before signing his latest contract.
He fears, however, that too few fans sympathise with the constraints he has had to work under in the changing landscape of European football over the past decade.
He added: “People do not take a step back to look at what
has happened. For me, the environment changed between 2006 and 2015, because we were under financial restrictions (the construction of the Emirates), at a time when a lot of money was injected into English football. “We had less money, we had to sell our best players, whilst other teams were strengthening… sometimes with our own players.
“But the expectations were exactly the same. To be completely honest, I have never worked more than during this period, between 2006 and 2015.
“I had signed a five-year contract, because the banks required it whilst we were building a new stadium.
“We had absolutely no guarantees and I went to the end of my contract because I wanted to respect this challenge. But it was difficult. I am proud of what I have done.
“You always ask yourself questions. Am I the right person to continue to do good work? When I am faced with uncertainty or sadness, I try to really focus on what really counts in football.
“I question myself. I work harder, I try to advance myself, to become better, but I cannot say that the critics do not affect me.
“Everybody wants to be liked, by the fans especially. You have to continue to fight, to concentrate on your motivation.
“To be able to resist stress is an important quality in modern football, and not only for managers.”