Arsene Wenger says the tension experienced by Premier League managers at this time of the year is akin to playing Russian roulette.
Reflecting on the pressures of the end of the season (‘squeaky bum time’ as a whiskey sodden Scot once labelled it), the boss even admitted he has to curtail his desire to coerce his team from the touchline for fear of personal negativity spreading.
“It’s easier to be calm in September than in March,” Wenger told assembled media in his Friday press conference.
“Every game is kill or be killed. This period of the season, you feel much more under pressure as a manager.
“In September, you think, ‘Okay, we lost this game but we still have time to catch up’. Now, it’s one, two, three games to go and you look at the table, at the bottom and the top, and everybody plays a bit [of] Russian roulette.”
Touching on his sideline antics, he continued: “Sometimes I stand up, sometimes I sit down, sometimes I speak with (assistant manager) Steve (Bould), but still most of the time I am up.
“Sometimes I try (to stay away from touchline), yes, consciously, because when you get up there you know you are tense.
“I try to sit down when I feel I am in a negative mood, because then on the touchline you can become a handicap and you can have a negative influence (on the players), your presence can be negative.”
We’re not advocating the harm of other men (Arseblog News loves you all equally) but if Arsene were ever to be sitting around a table with other managers and a loaded gun…well you know, you’d hope he’d at least give Jose Mourinho a crack across the nose with it.
I know what I would like to do to the cunt which is more than breaking his nose.
THANKS BREN, AS ELOQUENT AS YOUR RATHER INBRED NAME WOULD SUGGEST. I WOULDN’T LIKE TO BREAK JOSE’S NOSE BUT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE HIM RUN DOWN THE TOUCHLINE THINKING CHELSEA HAVE SCORED A WINNER, TRIP OVER HIS VAST EGO, GET BACK UP TO REALISE THE GOAL HAS BEEN DISALLOWED AND GET JEERED BY EVERYONE FOR ALL ETERNITY. THAT IS WHAT I WOULD LIKE.
Use your indoor voice, please
Wenger would do nothing to him like how Batman doesn’t kill villains, and then everyone would be looking at Wenger with massive respect. Yep, that’s probably what Wenger would do, classy man that he is. You stay classy Arsene <3
And of course, SOME of the media who would then go on to write it as 'Wenger shows cowardliness when handed big guns'.
He’s the manager Arsenal deserves, but not the one it needs right now… ok sorry, it sounded better in my head
Yes.
I would like to think that Wenger would be Robert De Niro to Brendan Rodgers Joe Pesci, “you gonna let him talk to you like that”, Rodgers would then shoot the cunt dead and have to dig the fuckin hole himself.
Guess Liverpool got killed! stupid cunts with no liver
Regardless, we wouldn’t mind him going to the touchline and making tactical changes and giving any misbehaving player a stern look
I would love a manager to play Russian roulette for each shite performing player when they are subbed. Not our team, but I would watch Villa vs West Brom a little more on the edge of my seat.
I kid i kid.
Agreed. I feel like if he could probably show some added passion on the touchline when things are rough some players might feel inspired. Although I still think he has his own style and he thinks it works. Do your thing Arsene…Do you.
Thankfully Pardew and his cronies seem fairly content with their mid-table finish so hopefully they won’t be too hyped up for tonight’s game, otherwise Arsene could have been next in line for a headbutt!
It reminds me the time the Guardian Football Weekly podcast discussed which PL manager would you least like to have a fight with. I’d probably put Wenger in the top 4 and Mourinho in the relegation zone, the eye-poking sissy.
so would Southampton when the played Everton. Only thing is that we’re at home and we expect to win 4th place or not
Remember the little twat would have top get past Stevie Bould first, I doubt he’d fancy that.
And anyone going tonight don’t forget the tubes on strike, so that will add to the fun.
Is that image lifted from the revels advert from way back when?
… awaits tidal wave of abuse from anyone over 35…
I couldn’t stand that advert – mostly because I quite like the coffee ones…
That advert was bloody awful.
Blogs, you’re the king of Arsenal-related humour! ‘Tip o’ me hat to ya’, as the Gent would say.
#aha… love that pic! Wenger is the man!
Out of subject but is telling your players to defend and score on a counter atack called a tactical genious?….No?….. Thought not
For the record, I hate mourinho. But it is called tactical genius because he takes attacking players and teaches them to maintain defensive structure like no one else. Its not like he plays four defensive midfielders or a back five. He maintains defensive shape using normal players against an attack like Liverpool’s so that the team can score on counter attack too and win the game. It is a tactical genius and I hate it.
sitting back and waiting to exploit mistakes is easy. coming forward, taking initiative and having to create is the difficult part. otto rehaggel kept a defensive structure and won the euro with greece in 2004. didnt hear anyone talk about tactical genius then …all i saw were headlines “the death of football”..thing is rehaggel had stelios and some other unknowns while mou has squads of 200m-300m value and over. Obviously there are games were you need a solid tactical/defensive performance to achieve whatever target you got but had gerrard not slipped the game had 0-0 written all over it….so jose,… Read more »
and Abramovitch supposedly fell out of love with Jose first time around because of his negative football. Does he give a shit anymore probably not as long as they win something.
“Tactical genius” my arse. Any idiot with a half decent squad can organise his team to park the bus. Abramobitch paid over £100m in transfers this season alone so that Maureen can park the bus? Why don’t people praise Big Sam for doing exactly the same, with a team that costs one tenth?
And your point about instilling defensive discipline in attacking players is pure rubbish. He sold Mata, their most creative player. Does Hazard do any defensive work? Would you call Ramires, Luiz, Matic, Willian flair players? Rubbish. RUBBISH.
it’s hardly genius, sensible maybe but they don’t equate, it was a sensible notion that the earth was the center of the universe given current technology, it too the GENIUS of Galileo to change that. Arsene had the genius to reinvent football in england, the only genius Mou has is to be able to swindle abramovich not just once but twice.
Didn’t you hear what bloggs said today – this place is not for Mourniho Lovers?
I dont want another nerve wrecking ending to a season.seal this once and for all.my heart cant take it no more.hopefully next season wenger will invest on really good competent players.negredo isnt having enough playing time at city.cant believe they got him at only 16.5 million.that guy would fit perfectly to our squad,given the lack of creativity and skills for our current batch of strikers.giroud price should cover half of negredo’s.pump some money and next season we will be a beast.!
It should be straightforward from now, but why do I get the feeling that qualification will be drawn out until that final game at Norwich?
In theory, we could qualify tonight. If we defeat Newcastle and then City beat Everton on Saturday, our final two games will be irrelevant. But we don’t do things easy, do we?
Love the picture by the way. Wouldn’t it be fun to watch Wenger play REAL Russian roulette?
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/28100000/mr-chow-the-hangover-2-28112353-245-168.gif
Wouldn’t know about the roulette…but it would be fun watching you bungee jump…without the cord.
Arsene can pretty much do and say anything to pardew later, he literally can’t do shit now. I’d turn up with a super soaker.
Arsene has the ultimate Mental Strength and would beat anyone at Russian Roulette
I’m feeling confident about a result tonight, first time in a while. Two very winnable games and then we can rest players.
With Chelsea all but sealing 3rd spot yesterday we can definitely think about resting as many players as possible Norwich on the final day of the season..all going well tonight and next Sunday obviously!
We’d get into the shit for resting players on the final day, with the way things are poised at the arse end of the table and a whole week before the final.
All this talk of Russian Roulette only reminds me of that Lady Gaga song.
“Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun
And baby when it’s love if it’s not rough it isn’t fun, fun”
Now I can’t get the song out of my head. Thanks Arsene and Blogs
Wenger loves to gamble. Why on earth would he have played sonogo against Munich.
Wenger is more scared to stand on the touch line and do up that coat with the Dodgy Zipper than berate the players some times, a few fucks into the players would’nt go a miss now and then, he needs to rethink on his non tactical stance on never change it till its too late, we need a plan B plan A is ok when it works but sticking to it costs us games…………………
Nothing I can really add to the discussion on this article. I’d just like to say Chelsea is basically Stoke City with endless pockets. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day.