Arsène Wenger: Player

“But there are not many players in the world who will make a real difference.”

Arsène Wenger

Joint Interview with The Times and Daily Mail (2009)
Context: OK, I’m not against that [spending £100m]. If you have the money and you find the one player who can make you win and make the difference, no matter how expensive he is you should do it. But there are not many players in the world who will make a real difference.

World

“You ask me: 'Was he a fair player?' I say: 'No, I'm sorry, for me he was not a fair player.' I just think I respect him highly as a quality player. I did not like some things he did on the football pitch and I have the right to say that. It's not because you are older, suddenly, that you are a saint.”

Arsène Wenger

On Paul Scholes, (August 2010) http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/21/paul-scholes-unfair-arsene-wenger

Thinking , Football

“He's like a PlayStation. I think he can take advantage of every mistake you make. Barcelona are a very good side but of course they have Messi who can make the difference at any moment in the game. He is very young but he can achieve a lot. There are not many players who can score four goals like he did. He has six or seven great years ahead of him and he can become unbelievable.”

Arsène Wenger

On Lionel Messi, (7 April 2010) http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/07/barcelona-arsenal-lionel-messi

Game , Thinking

“As a non-Arsenal player I would say Ryan Giggs is my Premier League player of the decade because he has combined style with winning. Also I feel sorry he could never attend the World Cup, somewhere where people get a lot of compliments when they do well.”

Arsène Wenger

On Ryan Giggs, (2009) http://www.insideworldsoccer.com/2009/12/ryan-giggs-player-of-decade.html

People , World , Feeling

“Spare me the articles about how nice Shawcross is because that was a horrendous tackle. People say we don’t fancy the physical side of it, but this is the result. If you see a player getting injured like that, it’s not acceptable.”

Arsène Wenger

Ryan Shawcross after injuring Aaron Ramsey. (28 February 2010) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article7043736.ece

People

“When you are a player, you think, 'Me! Me! Me!' When you are a manager, you think 'You! You! You!”

Arsène Wenger

8 February 2002
Quotations from the Public Comments of Arsene Wenger: Manager, Arsenal Football Club (2005)

Thinking

“We need a player who will be a fox in the box and on the pitch. We need a player like Owen is for Liverpool.”

Arsène Wenger

Thierry Henry, in an interview after the 2001 FA Cup final. (13 May 2001) http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/1329408.stm
Misattributed

Box