Gunners boss of 20 years remains a mystery to many but gives candid interview to NBC.
EVEN in the tricky times, Arsene Wenger always commanded respect in his 20 years at Arsenal.
The three Premier League titles, the 2004 Invincibles season and six FA Cups add to the aura around the club’s greatest manager.
But nobody can ever say they really KNOW him.
Now, in a rare one-on-one interview, journalist Roger Bennett has finally scratched beneath the surface.
This is Wenger raw and uncut, speaking frankly about his career in management in a one-off documentary with American broadcaster NBC.
It is here that he compares football to war.
The desolation, the feeling among the players inside the dressing room after a defeat.
There is only one man who can pick them up.
Wenger admitted: “It is like a lost war and everyone is on the floor when we lose.
“Everyone quickly forgets in life how quickly you can be good.
“You see my heart? Every defeat is a big scar in my heart.
“We love to win and we hate to lose. Football is spectacular because it is uncertain. When you lose one, you must be careful not to lose the game after.
“Everyone dreams you will lose the next game — and that is where the experience comes in.
“I have managed 2,000 games and I know there is a moment when I am destroyed. That state is bad enough — don’t make it worse.
“There is a state of emergency after a defeat but overnight you analyse the game and then you start to work.
“If you lose two, you then have the chance to lose three. And once you lose three, you are in a super-crisis.”
That is a rare feeling at Arsenal. Despite their failure to win the Premier League since 2004, Arsenal have always been a stylish unit.
Wenger, preparing for Sunday’s trip to Burnley after marking two decades as Gunners boss tomorrow, believes he owes entertainment to the working man.
He added: “Do you win ugly? You cannot be a big club and say, ‘Look, friends, buy a season ticket because we want to win ugly,’ that will not go far.
“The big clubs need to have the ambition to win with style. People want to see an experience that fulfils them.
“We live in a period where it is only about winning at any costs.
“The best way to win is to play where everybody expresses their talent. In a team sport, it’s about developing the qualities and getting them to play in harmony.”
Wenger has done that this season, with Arsenal on a run of six wins from their last seven games.
Already, inevitably, there is talk of the title.
But the stress and strains of the job Wenger became accustomed to over the years.
He accepts criticism, learning to live with it in a world where he knows he will be judged on every result.
Wenger added: “If I have survived for such a long time then I can make a distinction between hate, bad wishes, revenge, resentment and what is objective. I accept criticism.
“I suffer because I want to win — and nobody can guarantee that. But my optimistic personality always takes over.”
Inside the Mind of Arsene Wenger, with Roger Bennett. Tomorrow, NBC.
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