Arsene Wenger has basically ruled out ever returning to Arsenal even as a spectator.
The Frenchman was Arsenal’s manager for over 20 years and he helped the club to become a giant in English football.
However, in his later years at the helm, he struggled to get the Gunners to win trophies as new managers with fresh ideas began to beat him and he even failed to get the Gunners into the top four in his last season.
He was talking about the chance of returning to the Emirates one day and he claimed that when he was the club’s manager he was dedicated to everything.
He was even there at the site daily when the Emirates Stadium and the club’s current training ground were being built.
He claimed that he gave everything for the club because when he eventually left them; he wanted to leave completely and not to return.
Speaking via Bein Sports Wenger said when asked about a return to Arsenal, “A return to Arsenal, would it be only to go see a match? Listen, it’s difficult I have examples of people who have stayed extremely long like Guy Roux, we always want to get involved in what is happening. I built this stadium, I built the training center, Every day I was on the building sites. So I said to myself, even if it means leaving, I might as well do it completely. This is the decision I made ”.
It would have been good to see what he could have done at Newcastle with all the money about to be thrown at them ,seeing he did an amazing job here with limited funds ,I wonder what he could have done with an endless pit of cash .
But it looks like Poch as his eyes set firmly on that job reading his comments this week .
@Dan kit
I won’t deny that the financial restrictions made life tougher for Wenger (not him personally, as he was kept on as one of the highest paid managers in the world, despite the long period of regression), but so many of his perennial errors were not in relation to finances.
In fact, Wenger could have spent hundreds of millions more, if he (along with Gazidis) didn’t keep wasting money on contract extensions for players who had either flopped at Arsenal or were always injured. And think of the potential revenue lost constantly letting contracts run down, or even worse, letting players go for free, or knock down prices because their wages were so ridiculously high.
Wenger changed a successful system to accommodate Cesc, and it back fired drastically! We went from a physically imposing counter-attacking style, to a timid, gung-ho, possession based style. Also replacing physically powerful players, with smaller more technical players. Lack of squad assessments in the off season, no defensive training at all for about the last decade from what I can tell, ignoring form, a player’s natural position for team selections, no plan B, etc. None of that has anything to do with money.
One also needs to remember Wenger’s philosophy. I can’t imagine an endless pot of money would have changed that. I feel the ONLY way unlimited funds would have worked, is if Wenger was kept away that the actual process of signing players. Remember that many deals feel through because Wenger had his own valuations on players, and on many occasions, Wenger was too loyal to what he already had.
Ultimately, we never should have moved to the Emirates. It meant our Invincible’s squad was broken up far to quickly, and the club lost it’s soul.
He did change his system ,but that was also the same time the stadium was built ,and I will admit the years of success was lean apart from the fa cups ,but when he came to England he was ahead of his time and maybe he thought that he could do it again ,unfortunately it dint quite happen .
I will say I was one of the ones on here probably back in 2015 calling for him to go ,but I’ve moved on from the past and I don’t understand some of the constant criticism that comes his way .
He made mistake but every manager does .
You talk about wasted money on injured players and contracts but he never had the luxury of having 3 +50million plus players wArming his bench like plenty of our rivals .
Dan in my opinion he would have wasted it on underperforming or wrong players as was seen in the latter years of his reign.The first halve was good for club and him, as he grew older he did not evolve. Power and authority may have made him arrogant to accept change.Thank him for the titles and good times, good he left and is never close to the building as his ideas are outdated, let those in authority now have their own ideas implemented so that we can judje them without distractions.
Poch to Newcastle would be interesting as Poch is good in building a team but unfortunately bottled up on big occasions.
Finally wish Wenger all the best but stay away from us now and forever
“I built the stadium, I built the training center”. Clearly Wenger’s ego knows no limits.
What about the fans that kept pumping their hard earned cash into a regressing club? We stood by a sinking ship for so long. That deserves some mention surely?
At TMJW
Can I ask if you’re an arsonist supporter and why?
And if you’re a supporter how long have you been doing so?
AW is Highbury. A little apartment in Highbury Sq would be perfect for the old man. There he could sit on a bench feeding pigeons and remember the glory of yesterday. All the beautiful goals in front of the crowd on East Stand.