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Wenger - This job is always worth it

Arsène Wenger
Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger says that even when the Arsenal job has been at its most challenging he has “always felt it was worth it”.

Ian Holloway left Crystal Palace earlier this week and cited exhaustion in his decision to depart the south London club.

Wenger expressed sympathy for the 50-year-old, but insists he has never felt like walking away.

"I always think it’s worth it. I never lost so many games because I was lucky to be with stronger teams"

“I always think it’s worth it,” he said. “I never lost so many games because I was lucky to be with stronger teams.

“The problem for a manager is to feel ‘can I change things?’ When you get to a period [like what] Holloway reached, he feels he cannot change things.

“When I listen to his speech, basically he said he played his last card at half-time against Fulham because they came out and in the second half it didn’t change. Then he came to the conclusion that he was powerless and sometimes you have to get over that feeling.”

Sir Alex Ferguson stood down as Manchester United manager this summer after 27 years in charge, but Wenger says you dismiss talk of a possible comeback out of hand.

“I believe a life is made of how you feel about the situation,” he said. “You listen to your gut feeling.

“It looks like Ferguson has had all that prepared. He had prepared his book while he was managing. I suspect he had written some of it at home at night, remembering things and thinking: 'that goes into my book...'

“In six months we'll know more about [a comeback]. You cannot rule it out completely. It's difficult to take a drug for 30 years and suddenly get rid of it.”