Do Not Sell My Personal Information
In the nineteen years Arsene Wenger has been in charge of Arsenal there have been plenty of highs, lows, transfer sagas, manager rivalries and incidents with the press that he has been asked to comment on.
Part and parcel of the life a football manager is to get microphones shoved in your face by the media for a quote before and a after a game when results are good or bad, referees have had a shocker, opposition managers have been having a pop – or worse of all when you get hammered and are asked about your future.
Arsene is one of the wisest and wittiest personalities in football and there are thousands of funny, inspirational or angry quotes he has given over the years.
Here I’ve had a look back over his time as manager to pick my top ten favourites! Let us know yours in the comments!
“If people come to your window and talk your wife every night, you can’t accept it without asking what’s happening”
This cracker came after the rumours over Chelsea’s tapping up of Ashley Cole in 2005 led Arsene to complain to the FA about their sneaky behaviour. The investigation saw Jose Mourinho, Chelsea, Ashley Cole and his agent all slapped with hefty fines.
“That’s a question you shouldn’t ask me, but the referees”
Arsene said this when he was asked how he felt about the Alex Ferguson’s retirement. Another priceless quote that got a fair few laughs from Gooners.
“I’d like to be here forever and to be immortal”
I love this one. Football these days is about short-term glory and loyalty to the highest bidder. This quote sums up Arsene and his love for the club perfectly.
“No, no, I want to lose it and I want to lose the game tomorrow so you can all be happy”
This one was a great response to the idiotic question of “Do you want to win the Champions League?” It was cracking response from Arsene to put the media in their place.
“I have been accused of not taking the FA Cup seriously on Saturday. I have won the FA Cup four times. Who has won it more? Give me one name.”
Over the years Arsene has been forced to defend himself as the trophies dried up, but the facts still speak for themselves.
“I need to buy some Christmas presents and all these fines costs me, but the referee got some major decisions wrong.”
The FA have a tough stance on managers who criticise referees, but he couldn’t help himself with this one. As a manager with nearly 20 years of steady employment as Premier League manager, I’m sure he would have enough to cover the Christmas presents!
“I believe the target of anything in life should be to do it so well that it becomes an art.”
Another inspiring quote that perfectly sums up the way Arsenal play football.
“Young players need freedom of expression to develop as creative players… they should be encouraged to try skills without fear of failure.”
There’s few managers in the world that can nurture young talent like Arsene. He is responsible for consistently developing young talents into superstars throughout his whole career and this quote sums up his youth philosophy perfectly.
“There is no priority other than being at the top level in Football. When you look back, you’ll see that Arsenal has been consistently at the top level of European Football. You will find we have been consistently in the top three of four in England, some years we won and some years we didn’t win. Maybe one day people will realise that it’s not so easy to stay at the top, as well as facing financial compulsories that you face at that level.”
This one was a heartfelt message to the Arsenal fans and the football world at a time when he was under pressure for a lack of silverware.
“I tried to watch the Tottenham match on television in my hotel but I fell asleep”
My all-time favourite quote from Arsene was when he said he fell asleep watching Spurs. Priceless.
