Arsene Wenger believes that Remi Garde has the “competence and intelligence” to succeed as Aston Villa manager.
The former Arsenal defender took over at the West Midlands club in November and has since led them to impressive draws against Manchester City and Southampton.
Despite that, Villa still lie at the bottom of the Premier League but Wenger is confident that Garde has all the right managerial qualities to keep them up.
"He has a good team around him, he is at a big club, so I let him work."
“I spoke with him before he took the job, now I let him work,” the manager said. “But he has the competence and intelligence. He has a good team around him, he is at a big club, so I let him work.
“I know a little bit of Aston Villa, we played them in the FA Cup final last year and they are a similar side. They added some French players, like Idrissa Gueye, Jordan Veretout, Jordan Ayew, Jordan Amavi so they are a bit more French.
“These French players didn’t play a lot until recently. Remi knows them well and started them recently at Southampton. I know a little bit of what is expected of us.
"The Premier League, we know by experience now, we have to focus on our performance to come out in a positive way with a strong result. It is very important that straight away after Wednesday night that we show we can focus on the Premier League.”
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