Samir Nasri has given an interview in France in which he talks about Arsene Wenger.
A lot.
Understandable, I guess, given the mini-documentary was about the Arsenal boss.
The former player, who left for Manchester City when he had just one year left on his contract, has not been shy in speaking his mind since his departure, and while many of his comments have earned him the ire of the Arsenal fans, he has often been complimentary about the club and, in particular, the manager who brought him to England and allowed him to place himself in City’s sights.
Now, speaking to Sport Confidentiel, Nasri, along with William Gallas, and former scout Damien Comolli, have been giving their opinions on the Arsenal boss.
Nasri said
“He [Wenger] knows football so much, that it sometimes leads him to being too timid on the transfer market. He wants to be certain that he does not make a mistake.
“If you sit down with him and talk football, he knows what the weak spots in his team are, but it’s the aforementioned timidity that could explain why today, Arsenal are unable to compete with us (City) or Chelsea.
“When you look at Arsenal’s playing style, it has undoubtedly help me progress. When you look at the tactics, the training sessions; you arrive with square feet and you leave knowing how to play true football. The training sessions are magnificent.
“When I left Marseille, I had a lot of offers. But simply just meeting Wenger, speaking about Football with him, as he’s a true football fanatic, I mean a real real football freak, I told myself “Man, this is where you have to play.”
Meanwhile William Gallas said
“My time at Arsenal brought me great pleasure. When I had someone putting pressure on me, I had a lot of options in terms of passing the ball and starting off the attack, something crucial. This was extremely important in showing that our young players [Referencing to the era of Nasri, Fabregas, RvP; the whole youth policy basically] weren’t afraid of playing the game.”
And Damien Comolli
“He sees things that nobody else sees; he knows exactly where he wants to bring the player, and he transmits this vision to them. Hence, the player always has confidence in him, because when he says “In three months you’ll be doing this, in six months you’ll be doing this etc etc and in two years you’ll be here”, the player is so mesmerized that he adheres to what Wenger says.”
[translation and quote source]