Arsene Wenger says he’s still not ready to return to the Emirates because he wants to leave Unai Emery undisturbed to do his work.
The Frenchman hasn’t taken in a game at the stadium he helped to build since drawing a line under 22 years of Arsenal service in May 2018 although he has admitted being in contact with people at the club.
“I have been in touch with some people at the club, but I felt when you go like that you cannot be half in and half out,” he told beinSPORT.
“You have to let the people who come in work their way. I wanted to take a complete distance, it’s still a bit early to go back. I haven’t been back.”
Our former boss also touched on why he’s not yet returned to management despite insisting in the aftermath of his Arsenal departure that he was eager to do so.
“I still cannot live today with the fact that I will never ben on a bench again,” he said. I might go for an intermediate position. What I want to do is to share what I know, what I’ve learned as much as I can in the game.
“I would like to experience one more time the experience of the competition.”
“What happened is that I took a distance a little bit. I was realising I had been living like somebody in a coma for 35 years who has now woken up and is experiencing something different in life [other] than just my club, my game, my work.
“I thought maybe I have to analyse that better and take a little bit more longer distance. I was tempted and as well a little bit afraid to dive back into it straight away.”
Thank you for the accurate headline. The clickbait sights had it as “Wenger talks about returning to Arsenal”
Indeed. The interview confirms that Wenger continues to ooze class and continues to respect and support Arsenal FC in the most challenging form: by staying away. That is immense.
I read somewhere else that he also tipped Arsenal as the one team to give City and Liverpool a go of it this year — gotta love him.
Le Boss, just call it quits with coaching and enjoy your stacked up cheese. You can share all that knowledge in a series of coaching books. Let the young grow.
We miss you though.
MMmmmmm…. Cheeeese!
At best, sounds like international football would be best for him; it’s basically part-time management.
Can you imagine him as England manager. If Southgate shits the bed at the Euros I think Wenger would be at top of the list.
Hope he gets to manage Arsenal one last time. It would be the heaviest nostalgia for an arsenal fan.
imagine managing one charity match with Arsene and Ferguson managing all-time greats during their time as manager of respective clubs, or even re-create the line-up for Pizza Match. that would be legendary.
On that note (pizza gate?), there’s an entertaining video on YouTube dealing with the rivalry: Keane and Vieira – Best of enemies (part 1 & 2).
Thanks.
I enjoyed the videos – pure bliss!
To be fair with the team we are building right now it would be interesting to see how he did
No,it wouldn’t . We’re still a disaster at the back and he’d only make it worse.
Just unbelievable that some of these idiots on here want him anywhere near the club.!!!. Stayed ten year’s to long. Destroyed any legacy he had by continuing. Stubborn beyond belief. This is the man that refused to acknowledge the teams deficiancies year on year on year and expected to challenge for the title. Just think on this. Xhaka. Mykhitarian. Gervinho. Denilson. Stepanovs. Cygan. Sonogo. Chamakh. Mustafi. The list is endless. Millions wasted in the transfer market. £10 Million a year wages for continued failure. His final act of idiocy was to hand that waste of space Ozil £350 grand a… Read more »
Wish I could vote this comment down more than once. Fucking stupid comment, for every bad buy in all those years, we had Henry, Pires, Ljunberg, Sol, Kanu, Cesc and loads more. Idiot.
Clearly you no absolutely nothing about the game. Yes, he had a good first 8 years. The basis being the goalie and George Graham back four. French football was on top of the world and he benefited hugely from these player’s. After2005 he tried to play like Barcelona. Only with the the players that were mentioned in my first post. If you think that was successful then you are clearly one of life’s losers. !!!!!
Arsenal were 13th with Graham’s back four when Arsene took over. Please note that Cole, Toure, Campbell – all Invincibles, were his buys/promotions and not Graham’s.
*know
Moron..
One more thing. I reckon you are one of those clowns that think Ozil is a great player.??????
Just say thank you and shut up. Financiers of the Emirates demanded he was in charge for x amount of years. That meant every time the big dogs came calling he said no.
Gave us his best years, gave us ours. Freak season apart, what else could he have done?
Djemba-Djemba, Fortune, Jones, Rafael, Fabio, Silvestre, Anderson, Smith…even SAF misjudged a few players. Every team has their Le Tallecs and Sinama Pongolles. Otherwise teams would keep the same squad (more or less) for 4-8 years.
Fergie won trophies with those duds though.
Vieira, Kola, Jens, Reyes, Gilberto, RvP, Sagna, Nasri, Clichy, Diaby, Rosicky, BFG, Anelka? By the way three league titles and six FA cups, plus runners up in the Champions League (x1), Cup Winners Cup (x1), League Cup (x2). Also perhaps you are too young to remember that he was integral in getting London Colney and the Emirates built…if you have nothing positive to say about a loyal servant of the club then please be quiet. Just because you have a keyboard, you don’t have to use it
I think you will find he didn’t get runners up in the cup winner’s cup. It was the UEFA cup 1999. I don’t think your messiah won a European trophy did he.???
“I am a little bit on the outside looking in. when I return, you will be the first to know!”. I miss Wenger’s pressers and the way he gave journalists the runarounds
I just hope that the Board don’t decide to bring him back in some sort of role, he would want to take over the transfer ins and outs, plus he’s already saying that we were wrong to send Elneny out on loan. Please, please don’t bring him back. He’s got £ms in the bank, let him go elsewhere.
Absolutely. We were declining as a club at a rate of knots by the time he left, and were about to nosedive into mid table with the ageing, demoralised, injury prone, lopsided, bloated squad he had accrued. It was shocking how dictatorial he became in his last few years – refusing to work with a DOF, keeping his old mates around in coaching/scouting/playing positions despite obviously not being up it, holding the club in limbo until a month or 2 before the end of his contract on 2 or 3 occasions like the club was just his plaything. He hardly… Read more »
I will always be on the fence with Mr Wenger, as he is one I’ve idolized during my entire childhood. This is, however, a very well written post and I cannot help but agree with some of the fair points you are raising. Even though I would say that his judgment seriously became a problem the last 3 years, rather than the last 7 years. He had a legacy with the Emirates, that is not an easy fret for anyone. Problem was that the legacy and his way of managing the club during the difficult time of scarcity, seemed to… Read more »
and in his last 7 years, he won 3 FA cups, 3 Community Shields and qualified from the group stages of the CL 6 times and reached the semi of the Europa once. All this while turning a profit for the club, while Klopp, Mourinho, Guardiola, Abramovic, Mike Dean and Arab women slaving sheikhs were infesting the PL.
This is a far more reasoned and respectable critique of Wenger than the unpopular response from Martin Dufosse above. You can still make sensible points about issues without being a fool
I’m really pleased he is enjoying life outside of football as I remember him saying on a few occasions how he was quite worried about what he would do afterwards. I hope to see him in football again as he has such a vast knowledge and is always interesting to listen to.
I would liken him coming back to Arsenal as seeing an ex-girlfriend with someone new. Not a nice thing.
Have him as president of FIFA – eloquent and honest something they could really benefit from.
Eloquent and honest, Kind of rules him out of the FIFA role then….
I think Emery will be very much welcoming for a return to sit down for a discussion on opinions. Wenger is a wise man. Emery could ask a thing or two how Wenger perhaps could do differently then, it is still up to Emery at the end of the day. Yeah, but still a little bit too early.
Are you for sure??. Wise man??. This idiot never,ever , acknowledged the team needed a DM and two top centre halves for 8 years. He’s the last person to give advice. Tactically clueless.
I imagine it’s well past your bedtime.
Not sure where 8 years came from. Song left in 2012, Xhaka signed in 2016. In that 4 year gap we won 2 FA Cups, reached a Champions League Semi, and our league record was 4th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, so we were relatively competitive in those years.
My bad there was no Champions League Semi, just several painful last 16’s unfortunately! I believe he didn’t buy a DM precisely because of the abundance of talent options we had in midfield; Cazorla, Rosicky, Ramsey, Wilshire, Arteta. I agree that he wanted to emulate Barcelona’s tactics.
What’s Song and Xhaka got to do with it.? They’re just 2 of a long list of white he bought. Failures
Just STFU,Martin.
Wenger made mistakes for sure and many of us felt he outstayed his welcome. But couldn’t you find a way of giving us your opinion about him without resorting to abuse?
So he can’t get a new job and he’s still bitter at Arsenal for sacking him?
That sounds about right.
How the feck did you manage to pull those words out of what was actually said?
If that’s how much people listen when others talk, no wonder the world’s falling to bits!
Some people just want to see the world burn, eh?
No: I just like the truth. Believe me, Wenger is still burning at his dismissal. He’s like Thatcher after 1990: a washed-up bitter has-been who couldn’t see his faults and can’t believe that he’s no longer wanted.
I agree I think he is still fuming. But I highly doubt he can’t get a job.
He is waiting on the France national job
Poor Fats …
Simply prefacing a comment with “believe me” doesn’t give it any more credibility. Argument and perhaps a few facts would help a great deal though.
Believe me lads, Fatgooner is still burning at his dismissal. He’s like Thatcher after 1990: a washed-up bitter has-been who couldn’t see his faults and can’t believe that he’s no longer wanted.
Maybe you should actually try and read the interview. The words are really quite simple and shouldn’t take you more than a couple of minutes. But that would probably ruin that narrative you’re so fixated on.
Evidence reading and comprehension is a lost skill…
Fats I am astounded by what you just said. I know you may be annoyed the Ashes are lost but I thought you were a fan and not a troll?
Please stop projecting your own sad inscurities on the man.
Love the man and his first 10 years. Would love to see him back at the club in some capacity but as long as its away from any decision making on transfers, finance, back room staff and coaching.
Kit man?
I don’t think he will return to top level management.. most likely he will manage an international side or he might go to Japan or China or something of that sort.. or may take up some executive position at PSG..
I don’t think he’s bitter about leaving Arsenal now. He’s said on a few occasions that this has taught him to look at other things in life aside from football and it’s done him good.
There’s definitely only one Arsene, what Id give to share a bottle of wine with him.
What I’d give to share a plate of steamed broccoli with him.
He would probably love that, what with his high level of fitness for his age haha.
If you ever do please ask him why he failed to buy a couple of decent defender’s and DM
Koscielny and Mertesacker?
Both average at best
I suppose I have to spell it out for those who are unable to read between the lines. He’s going to wait and see how the National job for France pans out after the European championships 2020. a) He doesn’t really have to prove anything club level anymore Even if CL eludes him. b) If he takes any club job now and falters, it will affect his chance at the National job when Deschamp steps down. They did not expect Didier to be so successful and cash in for another run till 2020 at least (If he wins that too… Read more »
Some things are certain in life, taxes, death and arrogant Santori starting his posts with belittling others.
Legend!
I just want that book he keeps talking about writing.
Does he keep talking about writing a book? I don’t ever remember that
Love that man
What a difference between Arsene and Fergie, who’s shadow still casts over Old Trafford. The man has always been and will always be pure class.
The man that invented the 4th place Trophy.
Yet for 6 clubs each season, that 4th place trophy is the minimum requirement. To get 4th is no easy feat in the EPL.
I wonder what Wenger thinks of the hierarchy now. During his days he pretty much handled a lot of the transfer activities, contract negotiations, etc, a lot of work load for a morden manager. Having seen the activity during this transfer window, if he would have liked similar support post-Dean era.
From what I’ve read Wenger & Dein worked really well together in that Wenger would identify a player he wanted and Dein would just go get him. The manager really was the one in charge in that era & others would effectively help him achieve what he wanted in the transfer market. While Emery gets a lot of credit on here from fans for certain signings, my understanding of the modern set up is at the end of the day Emery might tell Edu he wants a combative midfielder, Edu is the one ultimately in charge of deciding the squad… Read more »
I really miss this man, his philosophies, his sentence structures and his overall class. Never mind football management – I’ve learned so much from Arsene about how to be a human, much more than anyone else I can point to.
Wenger for FIFA president!!!