Sam Steen
Arsene Wenger is one of the greatest managers in Premier League history. When he arrived at Arsenal in 1996 he completely reinvented things. From changing players’ lifestyles to signing unknowns from Europe, and France in particular, he changed the face of Football in England forever.
His Arsenal side were the main threat to Manchester United’s dominance in the 2000’s and the first side to really put Sir Alex Ferguson’s nose out of joint.
Three Premier League titles and, a record, seven FA Cup wins make him one of the all-time greats.
Known as the Professor for his thoughtful approach to the game, as well as, you know, looking like a teacher, he has never been afraid to stick the verbal boot in when it comes to his rivals. Always supportive of his own team to the point of blindness, and despite the incessant calls of #WengerOut during his final years, there’s no doubt, that even his staunchest critic was a little sad when he decided to hang up that ridiculously big coat.
On the 26th anniversary of the day, Arsenal took a punt on an unknown Frenchman who was managing in Japan, we take a look at 10 of Wenger’s best quotes…
What he said…
“He’s out of order, disconnected with reality and disrespectful. When you give success to stupid people, it makes them more stupid sometimes and not more intelligent.” – Not actually about Donald Trump.
“I didn’t see it.” – The Classic.
“Of the nine red cards this season we probably deserved half of them.” – Believe it or not kids, the Gunners were a nasty bunch back in the day.
“Everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife at home.” – Just a small dig.
“I am not against being pragmatic, because it is pragmatic to make a good pass, not a bad one. If I have the ball, what do I do with it? Could anybody argue that a bad solution like just kicking it away is pragmatic just because, sometimes, it works by accident?” – Seriously. That’s actually a great point.
“I’m not scared to spend money, if you go out with me one night you will understand that” – Pints are on Big Weng tonight lads!
“At a young age winning is not the most important thing… the important thing is to develop creative and skilled players with good confidence.” – True, but maybe getting some older players may have helped at times Arsene.
“We were considering him (Ruud van Nistelrooy) and Francis Jeffers and, in the end, we went for Jeffers.” – Not the best decision he ever made.
“In my job, you expect to suffer. That’s why when I go to hell one day, it will be less painful for me than you, because I’m used to suffering.” – Wenger hell = an eternity of difficult zips.
“The penalty decision was Old Traffordish” – Ohhhh burn.
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