Arsene Wenger says that in the future the Premier League will be played in midweek because the weekends will consist of football from a European Super League.
The Arsenal boss was reflecting on what has changed in English football since he arrived in 1996 and what might happen in the future.
Wenger will take charge of his final match on Sunday, and usually his predictions about football are quite astute, so the game we know right now could look very different in a few years time.
Touching on the club he joined 22 years ago, he said, “When I arrived, we were 80 at Arsenal.
“We are now, today, 700. From a private little company where you know everybody we have gone to a normal company with an HR department where everything has to be processed, regulated.
“It’s not down anymore to your initiative, every single decision has to go through a process that is [the result of] an over regulated society.
“That’s sometimes discouraging as the human aspect has dropped a little bit. On the other hand, the financial power of the clubs has become huge. On the other hand, in 20 years the ownership has changed completely.
“If you look at the ownership when I arrived in England compared to what it is today it has become completely worldwide. England does not own anymore the clubs.
“It’s much more international. The world has become globalised and open. The competition is worldwide now for the players. These owners they buy players from all over the world.”
And the consequences of that will be felt over the coming years according to the the Arsenal manager.
“The Premier League has become a world championship,” he said. “The next evolution? Maybe I will see you in a few years and you will have certainly a European League over the weekends.
“The domestic league will certainly be played Tuesday and Wednesday. I think that’s the next step that we will see.”
Read the full transcript of Wenger’s last ever pre-game press conference.
Wenger is already planning a domestic, European League double and another unbeaten season.
That 4th place European trophy will be the first time he has won anything in Europe
This is one occasion where I hope he’s terribly wrong…
Yeah, but I do hope he’s right about the talking to trees bit.
I am groot
I do think it is going to happen eventually. It does seem like its going to be the natural progression. I think it is also interesting to note that UEFA relaxed their FFP regulations as soon as it became apparent that the Premier League were on the cusp of signing that huge billion pound deal with the TV companies. There is clearly a heightened level of insecurity across UEFA that the English game is going to become too powerful financially. So with Champions League money becoming less important for English clubs, and viewer interest in the Champions League starting to… Read more »
Not so sure about this. A European super league has been talked about for at least 20 years and is no closer today than it was in the late 90s. Hope he is wrong anyway. Domestic games far more entertaining than European, where Uefa have banned beer and fun.
Just intrigued to see that you only enjoy a football match if you can drink beer. What fun has UEFA banned?
Shirley, the fun that has been banned is the beer? Is it possible to have fun without beer?
“Surely you can’t be serious”
“I am serious — and don’t call me Shirley.”
Beer makes people merry. Enhances the atmosphere. So long as people act adult, everyone wins.
beer actually makes people fart and urinate in public places.
I have good evidence for this observation.
You been recording people?
Present Champions League and Europa format seems fine to me.
We have enough matches through the season as is.
If anything if they can get rid of the useless League cup, that may help.
Or morph it into a true under23 competition between the clubs.
I’ve asked a question and I get loads of thumbs down. Most odd.
I voted UP for you mate.
Tee hee hee hee!….sorry mate, nothing personal, its just that most football fans across the world, irrespective of club, humble self included, would tend to think beer and football are like Siamese twins, joined together….forever, we hope!
Hold on a second, so you’re saying the fans are allowed to have beer during premier league games??? AND ITS STILL THAT QUIET AT THE EMIRATES? OH LORD… hehe im obviously joking.. but not about the part that the emirates have been way to quiet………………….
No closer, seriously? What do you think the CL is if it’s not a European Super League? It’s been that way for a decade – at least.
The CL hasn’t really changed for 20 years and that’s my point. They even introduced then abandoned a second group stage at one point as it was so tedious.
Re. Beer, it is more a synotom of uefa’s attitude to fans overall, which is that we are an inconvenience. Not suggesting there is no fun to be had without it (though admittedly I do live a matchday pint).
Even further down the road we’ll have a global league with teams from China, Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia, Nigeria etc being involved.
Look at the situation in Rugby Union … several leagues, several cups, some more important than others. Fuck knows where it’ll end.
All it’ll take is one IPL moment of massive risk and investment to usurp FIFA and UEFA and the FA and the Premier League (all run by 57s) and we’ll have an enterprise worth tens of billions.
I’d do it myself, but there’s this thing this week-end …
No thanks. Standard is too uneven.
Depends on how the system is organized. Imagine players and managers contracts something like they are now. Now imagine an auction for players out of contract. That’s how the standard improves across the board. Owners (and maybe the league too) pumps in money … better players get bought. Just look at how the IPL is organized and make up your own rules to incentivize both local and global broadcasting rights. If it can be hugely profitable for one short cricket event in India then imagine just how much money can be generated over a season for fucking football. It would… Read more »
…and imagine the beer mate, loads more opportunities…never forget that. Sorry Martin!
When you say IPL what do you refer to exactly? Cricket?
I think if he can get the National job for France for the next 4 years, he will profit from a new golden generation and them from his guidance.
It’ll take him till 72yrs. Thereafter either he can return to Arsenal at a board level and/or be potential candidate to clean up UEFA/FIFA.
Plenty for the world to profit from the richness of this man still.
I feel Wenger owes it to himself to go to a club where he could win the UCL. PSG or another top club if they want him. Then he could move into a director role for Arsenal or another club.
football, as we know it, has been going down hill ever since the early eighties
It’s changed. The standard of play’s far higher but the soul’s gone out of it that’s for sure.
“England does not own anymore the clubs”
I read that in his voice and chuckled
I love that after 22 years he still talks English as translated directly from French.
European super league on the weekend? Hmmm I’m cool with it. Only on the one condition that Stoke under no circumstances whatsoever are ever allowed in.
Don’t worry – Stoke will never, under any circumstances whatsoever, be good enough to be allowed in the top 5-6 of the PL anyway.
Hey Blogs, what do you think of if we got Allegri, him bringing back Szczęsny with him? 🙂