Arsene Wenger has admitted that he’s hungrier now than he was when he took the Arsenal job 20 years ago.
Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-0 on Saturday in what was one of the best performances we’ve seen from our team in recent years. We played how we want to play but did it while exploiting Chelsea’s weaknesses, which resulted in a comfortable three points against one of our title rivals.
Speaking after the match, Wenger was asked whether he was as hungry as he was back in 1996 when he first became manager of the club.
“I’m hungrier,” he said.
“Because I know I have not 20 years in front of me. As well because I feel more the responsibility, you’re not 20 years somewhere and you don’t care about things. I’m more conscious of what Arsenal is all about, so I think the weight of keeping people happy and making people happy is heavier than when I arrived.”
Although they say that players and managers aren’t bigger than a football club, which I agree with, Wenger comes pretty close to being on par with it. After two decades – a fifth of a century – at our club, he’s become a part of it. It’s why I don’t understand how people can claim he doesn’t care; he cares a lot more than most.