Interview

'When we lose, I’m in disastrous shape'

Arsene Wenger during our defeat to Brighton
Arsene Wenger during our defeat to Brighton

Arsene Wenger has revealed the very personal cost to him when his side go through a difficult patch - admitting that he is often in "disastrous shape".

The Arsenal manager discussed how hard he finds it, how it causes him to lose sleep and how he works through it. This is what he said:

 

on how it has been for him personally…

Difficult because I want to do well for the club. I want to do well for the fans and want them to go home happy and when I can’t give them that satisfaction I’m unhappy of course. First of all, I dedicated my whole life to winning football matches so when I lose I’m in disastrous shape.

 

on it causing a lack of sleep…

Every manager will tell you that. When you don't get the results, the first thing affected is the mood and the lack of sleep and the desire to find solutions. Overall it’s part of the job. When you’re a young manager, you dream of taking a job and winning every game but it’s not that. It is about surviving through disappointments, finding solutions and that’s interesting as well because it can make you a better manager to face a crisis.

        

on the human perspective…

Honestly I can take a distance with that because it’s not the person they hate, they hate the manager who doesn’t deliver performance. I can make the difference but I’m just unhappy that we lose games. I want to win. My whole life is guided towards that. I want to win with style, so it’s very ambitious and when we don’t do it I suffer like everyone else. But what is taken into account is Arsenal today is 30 million people – it’s not the suffering of one person. You want to make 30 million people happy and that’s what you care about.

 

on who helps pick him up from disappointments…

I have people around me – people should not think that Arsenal Football Club is just me – I have a huge staff around me.  The difference between when I arrived and today is that I now have a staff around me of maybe 20 people who I talk with, I ask their opinion and after I make the decision of course.  But I’m surrounded by very talented people who dedicate their life to Arsenal Football Club. But, at the end of the day, I have to stand up for what is important for the club and that mean the results and the way we play football.

 

on neutrals wanting him to succeed…

I’m very thankful for that – that I have some respect in the game!  I think that despite all that, football, the modern game has gone to money. But football for me is first about values so if I can leave behind me that fact that it's as well that. Maybe, somewhere, people who respect a little bit that Arsenal is about winning or losing of course, it’s vital – but it’s also about what’s important in the game, what is important in football. My regret personally is that, today, that has completely gone underwater. We don’t speak about that at all now. It’s all about only the side of the game that’s important but is not essential.

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