I NEVER DREAMED I’D CHOC UP 810 PREM GAMES
Wenger began his Arsenal career by banning Mars bars ..21 years later he’s still sweet on life in charge of Gunners
ARSENE WENGER started his record-equalling journey by confiscating chocolate.
Twenty-one years later, the Frenchman will match Sir Alex Ferguson’s record of managing 810 Premier League games tonight, admitting his job now is much harder than just controlling the sweetie jar.
Wenger began at Arsenal with a 2-0 win at Blackburn on October 12, 1996, and went on to win three titles – including two FA Cup Doubles – as well as making history with the Invincibles season in 2004.
The 68-year-old will match Fergie’s record with a trip to Crystal Palace which, last season, was one of the lowest points as Arsenal lost, with the travelling fans chanting, “You’re not fit to wear the shirt”.
That perhaps puts into stark perspective Wenger’s thick skin and his ability to ride out the bad times, as well as enjoy the good, which included a record-breaking seventh FA Cup last summer. “I would have said, ‘You’re absolutely mad, absolutely no chance’,” said Wenger, when asked if he would have believed anyone who told him he would still be in charge all these years later.
“I remember when I was 33, 34, I thought that to 60, is 25,
The core of the game is the same. What has changed is the society
26 years, you’ll never get there. Because every game is such a gamble.
“It’s Russian roulette, every game. So you think, at some stage, the bullet will hit you. So that’s absolutely unbelievable. You can never predict that.
“I just remember in our first game I banned all the chocolate the players had before the game. When we drove to Blackburn on the coach, they chanted, ‘We want our Mars bars back’. And 21 years later we are still here.
“Now they have their music (signals to his ears to show headphones). It has changed but, overall, it is more the decor that has changed. The core of the game is the same.
“What has changed is the society. We have gone to more individualism. More individual plan of careers so that is more anxious for the players as well.”
Wenger was the unknown who arrived to newspaper billboards – it was billboards rather than headlines – which asked “Arsene Who?”
But he quickly changed opinion, despite the initial scepticism surrounding his methods, which included taking away sweets, bringing in health supplements, extending players’ careers with stretching, and a stopwatch on intensive training sessions.
These days, his magic powers have been eroded by the finances of the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea, but he puts his staying power down to hard work and a slice of luck. “It’s a conjunction of many things,” he said. “First of all, loyalty, dedication, and hard work, the sacrifice of your life, that’s what it demands. And as well luck, because I was in a club who trusted in me always, through good and bad.
“And luck as well because I didn’t miss one game in 21 years, that means you need to be healthy.
“Overall, I believe that on my side, the merit I have is to show huge commitment to my job. And I believe as well I stayed here because I am at a club where I can identify with the values.”
But last season’s defeat at Selhurst Park seemed to suggest his reign was coming to an end.
“When you lose a game there is always a big focus on the negative side,” said Wenger.
“When you watch a game again you realise it was not that negative. If we watch again this game against Palace, you will see it was not as bad as everybody said.
“Football has become more important. We live in a society that is more demanding, that is more opinionated. People are better informed, people are better educated. People have more knowledge of the game.
“You go to a doctor and he is more questioned than he was 20 years ago. Today, when you go to see the doctor, you have read up before on the internet and he has to convince you that you have not necessarily got what you think you have.
“So that basically means that you are questioned more. In every single job, people are questioned more.”
The final question was about why Sead Kolasinac has suddenly found himself out of the team. Wenger admitted he thinks he is too attacking for a flat back four.
So, has Wenger moved away from a back three and does he prefer playing with a flat back four? “In my heart, I prefer with one defender!”
That sums up Wenger in one simple answer.