Wenger: I am too old to retire now

ARSENE WENGER has echoed the sentiments of one of his most bitter rivals as he made it clear he will not quit management.

In his 20 years in charge of Arsenal, Wenger (above, right) had numerous clashes with the abrasive Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

But suddenly they are in agreement. Fergie once declared: “Retirement is for young people.”

And Wenger acknowledged that assertion as the fans wait for a decision about his future.

“I will not retire,” he insisted. And, like his old adversary Fergie, he said: “Retiring is for young people. For old people, retirement is dying.”

As Wenger prepares his team for this afternoon’s clash with Manchester City at the Emirates, he is aware of a section among the supporters who feel it is time for him to move on.

The Arsenal board want him to stay and Wenger has the offer of a two-year contract.

It now appears certain he will accept that offer – especially as transfer negotiator Dick Law was at the London Colney training centre speaking to a number of agents last week.

Clearly, Wenger has a wanted list.

Deals are in the pipeline for an influx of new talent in the summer – and Law would not have entered into any talks without the blessing of Wenger.

And Wenger, 67, has revealed that he has lost none of his appetite for football. “Yes, I watch every football game,” said the Frenchman. “I find it interesting. And I am as hungry as when I first came.

“I carry a bit more pressure on my shoulders than 20 years ago, but the hunger is exactly the same.

“When you see what the club was and what it is today – well, one share was £400 and it is £18,000 today. And I tell you straight away, I don’t have any shares!”

Wenger is realistic enough to know that a setback against City this afternoon will give further ammunition to the disaffected section of the Gunners crowd.

But Wenger stressed that he is as bad a loser as he ever was. The late Sir Bobby Robson once famously said – after Newcastle had won at Highbury and witnessed the over-reaction of Wenger and his players to the setback – that “people at this club have got the learn how to lose”.

To which Wenger responded: “We don’t want to learn how to lose!”

And he has that same attitude today. “I hate defeat,” he said. “But I can understand the fans that are unhappy with every defeat. But the only way to have a victory is to stick together with the fans and give absolutely everything until the end of the season. That’s all we can do.

“Fear? No. My next game is about hope and desire.

“I have been in this job 34 years and I have never met anybody who told me, ‘You can afford to lose on Sunday‘. In your mind, you can never afford to lose.

“You are always focused on winning the next game.”