Arsene Wenger reacted mirthfully to suggestions that he might let any of his players take place in the Olympics football tournament in London next summer.
Like most managers, who would object to the players they pay huge money to buggering off and playing in a worthless tournament nobody cares about, he gave short shrift to the idea of any Arsenal player being involved. Especially as there’s the small matter of Euro 2012 to contend with anyway.
“Why not organise another tournament behind that?”, he laughed at his press conference this afternoon.”Imagine a player who has played in the Euros and the Olympic Games? You can’t use him after that, it’s impossible. I usually try to give four weeks off to a player who has played a tournament. That tells you maybe I would get the players back at Christmas”.
And he scoffed at the idea that anyone takes the football part of the Olympic games seriously. “The Olympic tournament for me is not a real football tournament. For me the Olympics is for track and field basically.
“If I asked you now who won the Olympic Games 20 years ago you would have problems telling me”.
Unlike Euro 2012 clubs do not have to release players for the Olympics as it is not a FIFA sanctioned tournament. Therefore, any manager with half a brain will refuse to allow his players to go. There has been some suggestion that it should be left up to players to decide but the idea of allowing them to choose to take time off from their extremely well paid jobs to play in what should be an amateur kickabout is ludicrous.
And Wenger is right about football in the Olympics. When I bought Daley Thompson’s Decathlon for my ZX Spectrum, there was no football. Just a series of games where you had to pound keys on the keyboard as fast as you could in order to make your little pixelated man run.
And if life has taught me anything it’s that the video games of my youth never lied. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to put on my jet pac before I go mining in a particularly manic fashion.
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Funny because it’s true!
is there any doubt that this will be turned around into ant-English sentiment from Wenger and, even though it makes sense, he will be chastised for not being behind the “national team” that nobody cares about?
Considering it’s an under 23 tournament although you are allowed 3 players over that age it could be good and bad. I think for reserve team fringe players it could be a good tournament for them to get some more playing time and play another international tournament. But for first team players there is no point with Euro 2012 being the same year. This will cause a lot of hassle though that i can guaranteed.
My brother knackered a kempston joystick hitting it off the table where our spectrum was in frustration at that game!
I had a kempston – infinitely better than the sinclair joystick as I recall. But I always preferred the keyboard actually. Match Day and Chuckie Egg were particular favourites, along with Manic Miner and The Hobbit. I know nobody asked for this information, but it’s out there now.
I loved my ZX spectrum 48k. I spent months figuring out Dizzy and eventually completed it. I paused it and went to get my mates so we could see the end sequence together (and so that they’d believe me) When I got back with my mates the game had crashed and there was only a blank screen waiting for me. I eventually completed the game again about 15 years later on an emulator and the ending sequence was something like “Congratulations” scrolling across the screen! 🙂 Only slighty less frustrating that watching that troglodyte Shawcross get paid for playing the… Read more »
Would be neat to see Wilshere, Ramsey, Bale, Adam etc. Playing together under British Flag, though…
would be nice to see maradona, pele, zidane, cruyff, best & beckenbauer play together, too…so?
If you want ramsey wilshire bale and adam playing together just buy them in fifa or pro evo best way
And let’s take Welbeck, Jones, Rooney, Ashley Young, Fletcher, Carrick, Cleverly and other promising ManU stars instead…… It would be like a pre-season for them
Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner, you legend.
But are we going to let Theo enter into the 100m dash? He may be better suited for track and field. This could come back to bite wenger in the arse.
Sorry but I hate FIFA to bits. Anything that loosens their vampirical grip on football is a good thing. The idea of staging a football competition that they can’t touch; with the best young players around and not Blatter or one of his cronies getting any money out of it fills me with glee. Football really needs an Arab Spring clean, but maybe an Olympic Summer job might cause some much needed circumspection in Zurich
Agree about FIFA but why not make the football in the Olympics a tournament for the best amateur players?
Clubs, at every level professionally, have too much invested in their players to let them take part in this
I love the comment about Ryan Giggs- very clever little dig.
lol troll