In a stunningly frank interview with French radio station RTL (English translation here), Arsene Wenger has admitted that up to half his first team wanted to quit the Emirates this summer as widespread discontent ravaged his pre-season plans.
Having sanctioned the sale of long-term stars Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Emmanuel Eboue and with the likes of Denilson, Nicklas Bendtner, Carlos Vela and Manuel Almunia demanding regular first team football elsewhere, the Frenchman was left with little choice but to bolster his squad by entering into a frantic spending spree which saw five new players recruited in the final 48 hours of the transfer window.
Reflecting on the unprecedented upheaval and the toil it took on his side’s stability in the opening weeks of the season, Wenger ruefully reflected:
“This summer was the most agitated I’ve ever known. I had half the players in the dressing room who wanted to leave.
“You prepare a season, we go to Asia, we don’t know who is coming, the players who are still there are asking themselves what is happening and if an earthquake is hitting the club. It’s extraordinarily difficult.
“I think that what saved us is that we are a club which is extremely solid and united. There are many other clubs who would have exploded.”
Taking heart from the fact the situation could have been even worse, Wenger justified his last gasp shopping spree by stressing that his work was not haphazard and had actually been rather successful.
“It was a crazy close season because I signed four players in three days.
“It was a whole night of negotiations and a lot of uncertainty but in the end it worked well.
“I believe it was a very good summer in terms of signings.”
While many Arsenal fans have lamented the fact that replacement duo Yossi Benayoun and Mikel Arteta are not in the same class as Nasri and Fabregas, Wenger effectively admitted that this was indeed the case, but that finding similar calibre players was not always easy.
“You have to be conscious of the fact you don’t find a Fabregas and a Nasri in every corner of the street.
“It’s not for that that your signing policy goes wrong, it’s just that they are players of great class and to find their like again is not easy.
“Fabregas — even if you don’t mess your transfer policy — you still have to travel far to find one.”
Speaking more openly in his native tongue and with a media he trusts more than the one he takes on in England, Wenger also answered questions on whether he was growing tired of the increased pressure at Arsenal.
“I have periods where I am tired, yes. It’s true that the close season makes people think you’re resting but it’s during that that you work the most.
“I got in the habit of working all the time. I think I must have been lazy in a previous life and was punished to come back in a very tiring and stressful job.
“I’d like to go to Tahiti for a month but I can’t. From time to time I would like to because I’m running out of time. Everyone gets older.”
He then somewhat philosophically added: “When I arrive at the gates of Heaven the Good Lord will ask ‘what did you do in your life?’
“I will respond ‘I tried to win football matches.’ He will say: ‘Are you certain that’s all?’ But, well, that’s the story of my life.”
Arsenal will travel to France tomorrow for their Champions League clash with Marseille where Wenger will no doubt be expecting an onslaught from the travelling English press eager to challenge his latest remarks in the pre-game press conference. They may also be curious as to how Arsene has secured himself a quizzing at the hands of God rather than usual Pearly Gates doorman Saint Peter.
FYI – Flights from Nice to Papeete, Tahiti leaving on Thursday morning currently cost £1,968.10.
I will respond ‘I tried to win football matches.”
Then the Lord will ask “Then Why didn’t you force Fabregas to see out his contract? “
Because when a player wants to leave, sometimes a manager doesn’t have a choice.
yeah I know….
But just for some discussion arry has succesfully forced a player(modric) to stay
Then Harry comes to the Pearly Gates, and God says “Harry, why wouldn’t you let Modric leave Spurs when he wanted to go?”
Harry says “Because no bastard leaves my team til I’ve bled him dry and destroyed his career, even if it makes financial sense:”
God says “Did you do that Harry?”
Harry says “Of course I did. Then I sold him to Chelsea and we both got relegated the next season”
God says “That is Good Work my friend, but you’re still a twat. Fuck Off.”
Are you having a bad day mate . So negative.
I meant Mr … Master Bates
And Wenger will respond “Because I believe that morally it was the right thing to do for somebody who gave so much to my team for so many years. But Lord, it was a difficult decision to make.”
And God will say “Correct. Come in and be Welcome”.
Morally ? He had a long term contract with Arsenal , the moral thing was to see out his contract . That’s what football contract used to mean , that’s how we got Sol Campbell from sp*rs . I don’t care how many years he has given this club ,he should just leave any time ,it setting a bad example that we are a selling club .He had a huge salary and was captain, it wasn’t torture . If anybody is immoral it’s him not us ,the same he joined Arsenal is the same reason he left ‘Glory Hunting’. Anyway… Read more »
I can’t help but think that there must have been some sort of agreement with Fabregas that we would let him go under certain circumstances, possibly as part of the incentive to sign the long contract that we gave him. I think that possibly the contract was designed to keep teams other than Barcelona off of Arsenal’s back. I did get the feeling that Fabregas was a bit embarassed about the behaviour of Barcelona once he had signed. Of course I may be gullible, and it may have been all part of some cunning plan to destroy Arsenal. I don’t… Read more »
MB does have a point. Wenger and PHW need to stop complaining about what hard work it is or how fickle the players are. is this really going to persuade RvP to sign a new contract? is it surprising half the dressing room wanted to leave when they see the team’s best player leave, with years left on his contract and for quite a bit less than he was worth? I’m wondering if Wenger has a bit too much power and now his ‘ideals’ are being pampered a little too much. Did none of the management foresee the consequences of… Read more »
All I want to know is this. Barca was Fabregas’ only destination. They say that’s why he went for a cut-down price. Why then did Ronaldo go to Real Madrid for 80 million? It was an identical scenario. I know Wenger has morals, but sadly if you look how far morals get you today look at Man City and Chelsea … to clubs running roughshod over everyone helmed by footballing dictators. Personally I would have been brutal with Fabregas and forced him to stay against his will. Sp*rs did it to Modric. And they didn’t do too badly in their… Read more »
Idiot! ⇧
Great Conner pascal. Way to contribute to the conversation.
the thing that blows my mind is the ignorance about the slide since Wembley and Birmingham. Wenger, Gazidis, Kroenke, media etc all fail to see that is when it started. 8-2 was the bottom, hopefully. That is why players wanted out – they knew CF and SM would go and saw no sign of players coming in.
There’s only one arsene wenger.
Penny pinching. Refused to reinforce the squad when it mattered the most. Delusional with Project Youth. So much for building a core and loyal young team. What crap. Top players are only after money and medals. Arsenal can’t offer either, and so they leave.
And please don’t use cash as an excuse because it’s a false excuse (The stadium is a long term mortgage and Arsenal is still sitting on a 100+M cash reserve). What now,Mr. Wenger?
Oh god, how incredibly boring. Thanks for your incisive insights, fella. Yawn.
This guy and I share the same name. I am embarrassed.
How did you know his surname was Deen ?
There is only one arsene wenger.
Tahiti could be good trip for wegner. They have some promising 17 year old beach players who show great mental strength and play with the handbrake off.
All in all, a fairly depressing little read that.
There is only one Arsene Wenger. Arsenal live and goes into oblivion with him. What a story to to tell your grand kids.
Run, trip, fall on a sharp blade. Thank you!
Arsene has had his share of cock ups in his fifteen year tenure. But truth be told, I can’t imagine where we’d be without him. For those of you out there that want to protest the man or have him sacked, I say, sit back and have a deep breathe and a pint. We are 8 games into the season and were going to finish strong this year I think. So let’s not go dismissing a 15 year track record of a man who’s built this club into a well oiled machine, because we had our first real shitty spell… Read more »
Frog, someone’s using your name again and getting the old thumbs up.
Thought you should know.
Ps – nice one. Agree 100%.
Haha! Indeed.
No it’s me. I’ve always been a firm arsene wenger supporter. I don’t feel he is the reason for our recent decline. I blame the ownership and the board. As far as I’m concerned arsene has done a better job with the resources available to him than anyone else in the world could have done.
I love that man, pleasure to watch him build team after teams without bankrupting the club. We need to invest seriously this Jan and summer. Wenger deserves to finish this era with his head held up high.
PS Master Bates, Jim and blade runner = The Three C*ntketeers!
We sold 3 starters and 3 squad players this summer . Transfer windows should be for additions NOT replacing players.Teams in transition don’t win very often .
P.S I am not a Na$ri
A football club is like a barefoot child running through a field of cows. It picks up new shit as it goes along, but drops off the old shit at a roughly equal pace. Some sticks around longer, but it all comes off in the end.
Oh, nearly forgot paragraph 2. – Of course, with Arsenal it is custard and trifle and ice cream that it picks up. We aren’t like the other clubs.
Give RVP a fat new contract that make him best paid Arsenal player ever, and build the rest of the team based on that contract. We need to attract quality and unfortunately our current wage structure doesn’t allow for it. We’ve got money to spend on transfer fees, but if the wages are significantly way off like they were with Juan Mata, we don’t stand a chance of attracting real quality. How good would Mata look in an Arsenal kit?
The money for the world class fees and the money for the top class wages come from the same 100 million pound pot.(The wages will have to be 200,000 a week for RVP in order to match what Man City could offer, as he is acclaimed as the MVP in the Premier League, and they would happily go that high for him) You (the hypothetical you, who is nobody in reality, just like in the movies)spend 50 million buying a world class player, then pay him and RVP the same amount. You have spent almost 71 million. Your remaining 29… Read more »
Yes, lets make more money for the club. We should look for cheap players like Pascal the Great and develop them into outstanding flop. In the meantime Kroenke will be laughing all the way to the bank with the yearly profits with no trophies to show off. Trophies ? Who cares about trophies when we play beautiful football and still lose.
Wenger, wenger, wenger…weNGER, WERNGER WENGER! I do hope you(Wenger) come out of this shit soon and successfuly strong.
Worst set of postings for a a blog item ever? Ffs
Ah, you missed my pearls of wisdom then. No worries, I’ve seeded the blog item with little gems now. Glad to be of service.
No please don’t thank me or throw money, just cheer Arsenal tomorrow night, and say happy things in here on Thursday after our massive win in Marseille.
Pearls of wisdom they were indeed, replete with gobs of cow shit caking children’s bare feet.
Seriously, you put a lot of thought into those comments, nice.
[…] quite prepared to leave the past behind, having said quite enough about that period already, what he had to say was quite something: This summer was the most agitated I’ve ever known. I had half the players in the dressing room […]
Let’s keep winning!
th fact that they wanted to leave he should haev inflated their prices and should have started hunting for new players. fab- gotze like for like nasri- hazard like for like thnigs would have been different now. also he should have got rid of squillachi and got samba… actually i dont blame him for this one who knew dj would actually turn out to be this crappy. anywayz alls not over every year the season begins all over again. he can still go and get those 2 players yossi will go back next season. wishare will be fit again. coq… Read more »
I have no idea what this fellow is trying to communicate. Innit.
You do realize that neither Gotze nor Hazard were for sale this summer.
Details. Details.
He also tried to sell Squillaci to make funds but no one wanted him (no big surprise). Why do people always think that just throwing money at teams will make them go “sure, you can take our best players. We didn’t want to compete anyway”. Wenger tried to buy Cahill ( justnot for the usual over-inflated English player value) but Bolton didn’t want to sell and he tried to buy Samba but Blackburn didn’t want to sell. You can’t force teams to sell their players to you. I find it amusing that Cahill and Samba were the 2 defenders every… Read more »
Well, that answers a lot and puts this season into perspective. While I’m not so hopeful of any consistency before January, I think our season starts in the new year. And for once I really don’t see the this season’s Champions’ League as a priority. Our priority should be getting 3rd place in the league on the grounds that if we don’t we’ll be in the same position as we were this year (Udinese) or worse. If we don’t get 3rd place then getting anyone to sign is going to be really difficult. “To hell with everything else” … or… Read more »
I think we’re entitled to boo having spent a days wages or more to watch the shower of shite we have to at the moment.
No one forced you to spend that money. I don’t think you realise how many people would love to be able to watch The Arsenal every weekend but can’t for various reasons. So instead of acting all high and mighty how about you help the rest of the fans drag this team out of the mud.
It’s his money, he chooses what to do with it. If he wants’ to boo that is his prerogative. I neither agree nor disagree with it, but what I do agree is that it’s his right and whether other people want to watch Arsenal or not is completely irrelevant to this discussion. It appears you’re the one acting “high and mighty/holier than thou”….
No doubt the people who booed at half time on Sunday believe that they were the reason Arsenal scored and went on to win the game. They will be reluctant to give it up even when we start to win regularly. It’s so much easier than singing songs.
This is my personal thought. You may not agree with it. That is your right.
The fans are the 12th player-an essential part of the team each match. How many times have we seen teams turn around games solely on the strength of their fans shouting their support and encouraging them? Fans justify boos because they feel the players failed in their duties. Ironically, by booing, the fans fail the team.
So I say, ‘Boo the booers!’
Somebody with a lyrical bent should write a nice crowd chant to use on the booers. “You only boo when you’re drawing” or some such thing.
This is my personal thought. You may not agree with it. That is your right.
I’m not saying you’re not entitled to boo. I’m saying it won’t get you your desired result. Boo by all means. But if you actually want things to get better, and not just vent something for the sake of it, try cheering. You’re smart. You have a choice. (a) Contribute positively to change or … (b) contribute negatively. “(a)” gets you what you want, while … “(b)” does the exact opposite. What’s more by choosing “(b)” you stop being smart. Which you probably were all along. But, as I say, boo by all means. Just don’t expect everyone to follow… Read more »
[…] an interview, Arsene has revealed the not-so-astonishing news that half the squad wanted to leave in the summer. Arsene […]
It’s nothing to do with being high and mighty? Why are our team in the mud? There is no need to be? One of the richest clubs in the world? The cost to follow The Arsenal keeps getting higher and higher and the football we watch worse and worse? Why can’t I voice an opinion? I’m still a fan, I guess the difference is that winning means more to me, if that’s not possible at least a bit of desire?
Of course you are allowed to voice your opinion. The way I see it is this:
Teams plays bad and fans boo them. Teams plays worse. Team loses more. More booing. Cycle repeats.
So my question is this; why by part of the problem? What good is it doing anyone?
If you are somehow trying to direct your boos towards the board then go right ahead, but back the team. Always back the team.
Other teams don’t fear us at home any more. Of course they don’t. All they have to do is make it into half time on even terms and our booing fans will pile the pressure onto our team. Is it any wonder we play like England when we get the same treatment they do at home? It makes it so much easier to go around an Arsenal defender who has part of his mind wondering how the hell he is going to regain any respect from his own fans. This is my personal thought. You may not agree with it.… Read more »
Voicing your opinion is not only your right, but an obligation, in my opinion. But there is a time and a place for voicing any opinion. If you think Obama is a socialist, you don’t shout that out in the chamber of congress. If you think our team sucks, you don’t shout at the players and demoralize them. Instead, you form a petition and submit it to the club. You write letters to the club, and have your friends write letters, explaining your discontent. You go to the AGM and voice your discontent in an orderly but firm way. Booing… Read more »
Repentant frog?
No. I always reply fairly to comments directed at me. You antagonize me, I’ll call you a name. You make an intelligent rebuttal, I shall as well. Now piss off, I’ve no need to explain myself to you.
I am so looking forward to be being alive and with available cash in hand to buy Arsene Wenger Book… when he writes it about this past summer. I’m sure ccertain individuals will be amazed and dazed. Arsene can I came to the South Sea Islands with you… I could feed you grapes… but first lets win our next game and the next and the next. Keep chewing that toothpick… but not the gum. It will help the stress. TV5 have signed his contract…. I guess his house is not up for sale or maybe it is…. he has more… Read more »
I don’t buy this contract loyalty after all if it is okay for the club to sell the player mid contract then equally the player must have the same right to move to another club mid contract. It has to work both ways.
Yeah the booing is not good, the other month whilst playing up north somewhere the travelling supporters sang ‘we love you Arsenal’ for about three days whilst watching the team get absolutely annihilated, the only thing that made that day more bearable for me. Fast forward a month or two and the team are getting booed when drawing at half time, a bit of consistency would be nice. I think we should just keep up the ‘we love you Arsenal’ and help lift the team. Also whoever said Mata would look good in an Arsenal shirt, I personally think he… Read more »
I would imagine that the fans who go to the away matches are consistently not booing our team home or away.
It’s their money, they choose what to do with it. If they want to cheer and sing non-stop that is their prerogative. I thoroughly agree with it.
This is my personal thought. You may not agree with it. That is your right. Or your left. I am not a handist.
yes they have every right to do whatever they want or even run around the pitch naked. but when it comes down to loving the club its horrible. why would u pay to go watch our beloved club play and then demoralise them. i dont mind chants/banners regarding buying players or dissing PHW just not booing our own team.
They are probably bored of hearing that and stand up if you hate Tottenham. Keep cheering it won’t help anymore than booing? At least booing might induce change, keep smiling and handing over your money and the board will keep smiling with you. I doubt the Arsenal greats would tollerate these displays? I’m there singing louder than you are but if there is no desire from the players who without doubt are not good enough then I will boo when the final whistle goes be it at the board, the manger, the players. You can claim to be a fan… Read more »
I think that there is way too much to understand behind the scenes here…(why the summer was so shitful and apparently chaotic) And i bet that come the January window we’ll have it sorted… We will be on a way to extending RVP and Wenger will use the transfers up his sleeves to do this. I am expecting at least one big name in January. Would not be surprised to see Hazard or Drogba, someone like that. We have had a lot of shit to deal with this season so far. Its time to get behind the team and Wenger… Read more »
My question is, if half the dressing room wanted to leave, why did they want to leave?
And to answer my own question, it’s because A) we unfortunately didn’t manage to continue our winning ways on a shoestring budget against debt, and because of the emergence of mega moneyed rivals.
Part of that is down to Wenger, part outside influences. But I still don’t think there’s a man in the world who could have got us this far. Nobody.
I wish Wenger would/could have convinced Cesc to stay. Think that would have been easier with a stronger team around him. I think Cesc knew that this team was not set up to win. He knew Wenger wouldn’t pull the trigger on big purchases (or the board) and therefore he was frustrated. Sucks for the fans.
Nasri bye the way is a cunt.
Where’s this 100mil warchest then? I think you’ll find the truer picture is that we’re sat on a dud of a property investment that, for reasons out of our control, hasn’t sold as planned. We’ve been shafted by comparatively poor sponsorship deals for both our stadium and our shirts. We invested into our revenue stream of the future, a new stadium, and we are having to pay this off. Wenger has made it very clear that we’re trying to win without breaking the bank, without spending more than we earn. When the new financial fair play rules come in we’ll… Read more »
Just like Glen Helder, you’re not very convincing. We have made a shit-load of money by selling a number of quality players in the last two seasons (Toure, Adebayor, Clichy, Fabregas and Nasri). We have failed to sign any class players to replace them. Even if you want to back Wenger over his signings (or lack of them) then he deserves a pile of shit for his refusal to bring in specialist coaches to address our hopeless defending. And for making Almunia our number one keeper last year he showed himself to be completely out of touch. The excuses don’t… Read more »
The Verminator has signed a new long term contract with us today, according Football365.com
Arsene Wenger decided not to use the tried and true LANS speech. Instead he said “Our plan is always to sign top quality players and with Thomas extending his contract, we have done just that.”
So this is not LANS this IS a New Signing.
Now all the doom mongers must eat their words!!!
We have signed a top class central defender in the middle of the season!!!!
This is my personal opinion. You may not agree with it. That is your right.
Which section of the stadium was the booing? I was at the Clock End and I did not hear anything, and I thought the North Bank were in excellent voice – I wish my season ticket was at that end.
Half the squad wanted to leave. Telling, very telling
Wish Wenger would stop fucking bleating all the time. He’s paid £6m a season do deal with this pressure – that’s his job. If he doesn’t like it he can move aside and allow one of the many other word class managers the privilege.
It makes me laugh when people say, “who could do better?” when we’ve won fuck all for going on seven years!!
Exactly, I was beginning to doubt there were any fans on here who cared about the winning. You’ll probably get too many negatives though and your comment will be hidden as well! He’s done well for us but he’s either lost the ability to win or he needs to be honest and say what the real reason is.
Wouldn’t mind getting paid 6m/year for a stressful job like his!!! FCOL…