Arsene Wenger maintains that he will return to the dugout one day but having discovered a world outside of football he’s been enjoying life away from the hassle of being a manager.
The Frenchman was linked with clubs all around the globe in the aftermath of his Arsenal departure last May and he was initially excited about a quick return to the dugout. After a short holiday that involved friends, family, books, the beach and food other than brocolli his tone changed.
He’s spent much of the time since flying between award ceremonies accepting life achievement gongs from close pal David Dein, playing in charity matches and doing a bit of punditry.
While it doesn’t sound like the novelty has worn off, even as he approaches his 70th birthday there’s still an ambition to get back to coaching.
“I rejected some nice offers because I did not feel ready,” he told beIN Sports FR [translated by Get France Football News].
“Maybe I realised how much I was in my own bubble alienating myself from the rest of the world when I was managing.
“Putting a bit of distance between myself and our world made me hesitate to jump back into the fire-pit so quickly.
“I did it for 35 years without any interruption. So I was able to leave the bubble and open my eyes and that took me time… you will see me in a dugout again, when I don’t know exactly.”
Wenger also revealed that he’s been in regular contact with former charges Patrick Vieira and Gilles Grimandi, who are turning heads with their project at Nice.
The duo are manager and technical director respectively at the Côte d’Azur outfit and are hoping to bag a Champions League spot off the back of a summer that saw them sign Kasper Dolberg from Ajax and Alex Claude-Maurice from Lorient.
“I think it is exciting,” Wenger said of Nice’s signings. “They have young players with talent who have not yet blown up.
“We could say that of the four they have taken, they will not all become big stars, but there are two or three there who have the potential to add something to Nice.
“And don’t forget that they are already well placed in the league Nice, even without having played the new signings.
“I speak with them (Patrick Vieira & Gilles Grimandi), they contacted me. For me it is a source of satisfaction to see players that I worked with become managers.”
Excited to see him again in the dugout. Will probably be the second team I follow.
I’ve struggled with this question in my heart for a while. i’ve been a gooner since 97, but ive come to a conclusion that Arsenal vs an Arsene team i’d root for the Arsene team.
It would only be a foreign team as he has made it clear he would never manage another English club
Well, I hate to break it to you, but whatever it is you’ve been since ’97 it ain’t a Gooner.
An Arsenist?
Well it looks like he’s burning a bridge here…!
Well said, Maulie P!
the only way i can think of you possibly not meaning what you said is if wenger creates his own club with arsenal legends and david dein and its opening fixture is an exibition vs arsenal after its announced stan kroenke took 100m out of the clubs profits.
If we come up against Arsene, I will be doubly passionate about winning that game.
If we lose I’d be angry like every defeat, but underneath I would also feel proud for him. It would be a strange feeling to be sure.
Absolute legend, but I don’t really know why he wants to do it to himself again. I’m sure there are so many avenues to pursue the game he loves and stay involved. But seriously Arsene, enjoy the rest of your life without the stress.
Wouldn’t he just be perfect for a kids team?
I don’t mean this to disrespect him, but I actually think he would not be a particularly great manager of a kids’ team (at least not compared to other professional managers). Kids need to learn fundamentals before they can start doing free form jazz.
Lol what a comment
“I mean no disrespect, but I will proceed to disresepect anyway.”
I can just see him down the rec on Sunday, flapping his arms in frustration as he tries, yet again, to get the little sods to maintain some sort of shape rather than all crowding round the ball in a big clump.
I hope Arsène finds the peace in him to step back and enjoy life.
A man who’s a true definition of honour and honesty in our tricky world of lies! Wenger, my man always!
I hope he can manage a Superclub.
Win the CL a couple of times and a few more League titles and get the respect he deserves.
He managed a super club for 20 years and couldn’t do it. And after his £10 million payoff to leave he has far more respect than he deserves
So between Barca, Madrid teams, Bayern, Juve, $ity or P$G.. which one?
The Arse of course.
I’m down the bookies placing a bet that his next dugout will be Arsenal’s 😉
Slow news day?
I think now that international management is for him. Being able to speak many languages can allow him to manage japan, france, england, spain, germany etc… The international pace should suit him well… Not against him going back to a club though.
As long as it’s not in England… Don’t think I could deal with that, much like seeing an ex with their new love.
He’s said that he would never manage another team in England. As a man of his word I truly believe him
It would make a lot of sense for him to manage a francophone African team. When he left Arsenal, he surely planned to return to the day-to-day season-long involvement of managing a club team, but maybe now he could accept the easier, intermittent pace of international football.
Funny you should say an African team. In the last year or so I’ve been thinking to myself that Wenger could do an amazing job heading up an African football league. There are obviously pockets of professionalism across the continent but, he’d easily revolutionize players, coaches, teams, leagues… Many of the top footballers across the globe are of African decent (just look at the French national team), heck a huge percentage of top athletes in various sporting codes are African. There’s a lot of scouting that happens in South America but, the population dynamics of Africa are crazy; 1.2bil people… Read more »
Yes France so that Laca has the chance to play for his country. Deschamps can go coach Roma, Napoli etc.
I feel like Wenger taking over as the coach of the USWNT now that Jill Ellis is retiring could be pretty entertaining, at least for those of us in the U.S.
Look, erhhh……
??
Legend for the club, no doubt, but does anyone else thinks he should have come atleast once at the Emirates, would have lived to see him in the crowd like SAF at manu.
Dunno. I kinda think SAF hanging about at Man U like a bad smell made it hard for his successors, particularly Moyes. Personally I think it wise that he stayed away for a while
Good luck, Arsene… about time!!
He has been job hunting a little bit with the handbrake on… excited to see what comes next!
I can’t wait to read your book, Arsene. Cannot imagine the back room politics and decisions you had to act as a shield for. I already have the utmost respect for you – an intellectual in a world of narcissists and thugs – but I’m convinced there’s so much more that you took the fire for, instead of hanging those above you out to dry. A true gentleman, and worthy of the highest praise. Faultless? No. Who is. But a legend that redefines the word legend. The last of an era, who watched football turn crazy around him, and tried… Read more »
Dream on, Arsene! You’re yesterday’s man. You might get a job at some small desperate French club, but your glory days are well and truly gone.
The owners of the big clubs can now see what an awful job you did in your final 5 years at Arsenal and so won’t touch you with a barge-pole. Stick to being an expert punter on French TV.
Oh, and please take Ozil and Mustafi with you.
Yawn…….
Nothing but the truth, Fats. What top club would want Wenger… I mean, he rated Xhaka highly.
All of Xhaka’s managers have rated him highly over the course of his career. Hardly a Wenger thing.
But who was the mug that paid £30m ?
that’ll be ship jumper Ivan g over at AC. he owned statDNA iirc.
which told the clib to buy both mustafi and xhaka as their profile fit that of a player about to hit top top quality.
you’re an idiot if you cant see how they got that impression, but by watching them even once you can see they arent going to get any better.
Alex, he rated Ozil highly as well.
As a world class player and one of the most creative players Arsenal has ever had it would be a surprise if He didn’t
well done, you got attention for your stinkin inhumaniteeh
I agree with Fatgooner 100%. He is the only reason we were the top loosers in whole Europe that last 5 years thanks to him and useless tactics and arrogancy. Thank God they sacked him
So many disgusting fatty wart babies of Fats in this post.
What are the chances of Patrick Vieira being our next manager? (Whenever that might be.)
Historically, these things have always been a matter of timing. Which is why Klopp is at Liverpool instead of the Emirates.
I sincerely doubt if the AFC hierarchy know this too.
I reckon Ljungberg is closer to the job than Vieira.. Maybe take over from Emery in a few years
I’ll be honest and say I don’t want to see him in the dugout; due to a combination of not wanting to see him anywhere else outside of arsenal, and the potential to tarnish his legacy, as I do think modern football has changed a fair bit, as seen in the last fears of his time here, in terms of tactics. I think he would make a great Technical Director. But in all honesty, I think it diminishes his potential, as I think what he can do for football is now far greater as just someone connected to the pitch.… Read more »
I’m not sure how much of tactics Zidane prepares and implements, that Wenger can’t manage.
However your suggestion of FIFA role, that’s something the whole football world can benefit from. Only problem is the men who are leaching of it wouldn’t let Wenger in!
Definitely don’t wont him at Madrid, that’s a poisoned chalice role, right there, destined not to end well, particularly with this somewhat sub-par and transitioning Madrid team.
When Emery is gone, Arteta has got to be our next man. He will bring the Guardiola stuff with him, having worked with him for a while now. We need to become a technical, and possession based style again. And now that we have money, it will actually work unlike post 2005 sterile possession football that Arsenal played.
We played some great football 2005 to 2015 arguably some of our most entertaining stuff. It was against the ‘lesser’ teams that stuck 12 men behind the ball that made it seem sterile, we couldn’t always pick the lock.
I seriously don’t understand this Arteta talk in any way shape or form. Until he’s actually gone and coached away from City, it’s a pipe dream. Meanwhile in the real world there are interesting coaches doing their thing all over Europe, Christophe Galtier, Lucien Favre, Erik ten Hag to Gian Piero Gasperini. Actual ex-Arsenal players Vieira & Sylvinho included. Thank god we have smart people at the club now. They’ll give the job to someone who’s gone out on their own and worked for it, instead of someone at City where all coaching flaws are covered up by buying 50m… Read more »
Heck I’d rather take Freddie then Arterta. The former is already within the club and got great reviews as the u23 coach, and he uses similar 4-3-3 pressing tactics.
Arterta just gets the rub in the hopes that somehow Pep’s magic rubs on him, but that’s now how it works. We’ve seen time and time again how assistants to great coaches seldom make great coaches themselves (just have a look at Fergie’s assistant history).
Freddie would be f*cking excellent
If Valverde keeps up this bad form for Barça any chance yous can see him there? Think he’d fit their ethos and playing style quite well and regardless if you were a Wenger in or out fan we’d all love to see him win that elusive Champion’s League!
All the best to him anyway, nothing but respect for the absolute legend that is Arsene Wenger.
I don’t think he will take another club job.
He has nothing to prove and if he mucks up, he will sully his chances for the National job when Deschamp steps down.
I think he’s waiting for the National job.
Maybe if he takes something, it will be a lower expectation job for practise. He won’t want to book himself and be out of hustings for France when managerial change occurs after the european cup.
love the guy but i see him in France, maybe PSG but equally likely another CL challenging team
what are the odds of him going back to japan? not sure if he would go back to nagoya or possibly vissel kobe?
Part of me always wonders (and perhaps hopes?) that he is waiting to see how Emery gets on before returning to Arsenal. It’s nearly impossible, I know but a man can still dream. He is certainly no worse than Emery.
Actually, he is quiet a bit better then Emery. I’ve always thought it’s bizzare when proven successful managers are replaced with inferior ones. Mourinho replaced by Ole, Sarri with Frank and Wenger with Emery. Seems like we didn’t have much of a plan
*quite… The joys of auto correct
its a good point. but humans be humans, and if something isnt working then the motivation drops, personal relationships deteriorate etc.. and the success of the guys you mentioned relies on motivation and personal relationships as much as it does their head brains
…even if that not working is just bad luck to begin with
Who cares!! Greatest manager we ever HAD. Time to move on.
Sounds like something exciting is happening at Nice. Perhaps Arsene would fancy a technical advisor role there? I’d love to see him at a much bigger club though.
I don’t think he goes there because of their new owner who I believe is a Man U fan lol isn’t he the richest guy in England? Imagine him spending a lot to make Nice an eventual power
Thank you arseblog for a Wenger post. Please keep em coming
I miss Wengerball
oh, the goals we scored
I think he’s waiting for the National team after the European cup. It would have been a shoe in but for Deschamp being incredibly successful at the world cup and extending to the next major competition. Its exciting times for France with strength in depth in terms of a non stop production line of young players. Wenger maybe the perfect manager to get the best out of these natural talents as he has shown slightly less inclination for formal tactics but when given natural talent, and ability to bring out the best qualities. Just looking at central defense alone, with… Read more »
…that’s not even mentioning Varane and Umtiti!
Arsene’s defensive issues sorted.
And when he’s done with management (I feel he has one more job the National one), would love to see him offered a role at Arsenal on the Board level.
He’s always had our best interest at heart.
This guy is too attack minded for any team. The first order for any new manager
is to make sure the defence is sound and hard to break down.Then the assessment of the md and attack.
Arsenal could have won at leas t 2 or even 3 epl trophies had he strengthened the defence.
If he were to become a coach again,he better reexamine he philosophy .
Sometimes, to think Arsene in the dugout managing a different team is awful. However, still wish him well to find a club that can let him win more tittles before he eventually retire. Additionally, for some perople leaving bad comments here especially people like Fatgonner, you should not consider yourself a gonner with your act of disrespect. No doubt he make mistakes, but who doesn’t. Arsene is the true legend of this club and he is the one who brought this club to its highest status in the club history. You can don’t like him but you can’t discredit his… Read more »
Too old and arrogant to continue with management! Arsene please retire and do something else, management is not for you at this age you are the worst manager I ever saw through the last 5 years at least. Thank God they sacked you and we started going to the correct path!
Maybe he’s waiting for the England managers job ?
Does anyone know if he has moved from England? Will he eventually need a VISA?
I’d have him back at Arsenal in a wink! With the squad we have currently, our real FBs coming back, and Don Raul adding a CB in the Jan TW, it’d be the next exciting Arsenal team to watch after the invincibles. I miss Wengerball!
i dont mind seeing him in the dugout but could he lose that weird sleeping bag coat first please.
well, if Iggy Pop is back in the studio doing an album at 72, then the Prof can get back in the dugout at the sprightly age of 70!
:¬)
Wenger In????