Wenger tempted by international role

LONDON — Arsene Wenger has told beIN Sports he could be tempted to take over as coach of a national team once his reign at Arsenal is over.

Wenger has been linked with both the France and England jobs on several occasions, and said the lighter schedule involved in international management could be beneficial as he gets older.

“Maybe, yes, I will do it at some stage. But until now I’ve liked to be involved every day in the life of a club, because the real test is there,” he said.

“Four or five weeks... OK it’s a different experience, it’s more concentrated. But I believe the real experience to manage a team is on a daily basis.

“But I will not always have the physical strength to do that, so maybe I will move into that (international work).”

Wenger has been in charge at Arsenal for 21 years and was given a new two-year contract in the summer despite missing out on Champions’ League football for the first time during his Gunners career.

He also serves as a TV pundit in France during international breaks and major tournaments, and laughed at the suggestion that he could find himself coaching at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“Maybe — you never know,” he said. “I haven’t decided that, to me it’s just a fact that my life is linked with football.

“In what way will depend on my physical state. But until the end of my life I’ll be in football. I don’t know in what kind (of role), as a director, as a manager.

“As long as possible as a manager, but one day that will stop. But I will stay in football, of course.”

Meanwhile, Manchester City have opened up an eight-point gap at the top of the English Premier League soccer table, scoring 38 goals along the way, but while some are predicting an unbeaten season for Pep Guardiola’s side, Arsenal manager Wenger is not convinced.

City have won 10 of their opening 11 games, a home draw against Everton in August depriving them of a perfect start, and their 3-1 win over Arsenal earlier this month extended their winning streak to 15 games in all competitions.

Arsenal are the only team to go unbeaten throughout an entire Premier League season (2003-04) and when asked whether City could emulate his “Invincibles” the Frenchman said there was still a long way to go.

“They are a good side but they are not an unstoppable side,” Wenger told BeIN Sports.

“People always want to predict what will happen in the game.

“I don’t know more than you, maybe, maybe not, but at the moment only one team has done it”.

Arsenal, who trail City by 12 points in sixth, host Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby on Saturday. — Reuters.