Arsene Wenger : Oct 30, 2007

Arsène Wenger: Three more years

Wenger - I love the Club and I love the job

It was announced on Friday that Arsène Wenger had signed a new contract with Arsenal Football Club. His only interview in the wake of this news was conducted with the Club's official website. Arsenal TV Online subscribers can now see the video. Here's a tranion for the benefit of all supporters. Arsène you have some news to tell us. What's that? I've extended my contract with Arsenal Football Club. That is some good news for you, I hope [laugh]. It's good news for me and, I hope, for everybody who wants Arsenal to do well. So you've decided to stay. Can you tell us why you've extended your contract? Because I love the Club. I love the job I have at Arsenal Football Club, I love to win and I feel I can win with Arsenal. They're the main reasons. When did you first start talking to the board about staying on? It was always a subject, the extension of my contract. I had already started to say that I wanted to focus on the team to see how well we do and focus on preparing the team. The start [to the season] was very important for us because we lost Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg. I wanted to focus on the team but we were always talking. If you complete the contract it will mean you are the longest-serving manager in the history of the Club. What does that mean to you? Well, it's a great honour because Arsenal is a club with a big history. It will mean as well that I've done reasonably well for the Club. But my biggest pride will be that I've responded to the expectations that people have of this club. That will be the main satisfaction. You've said in the past that Arsenal is the club of your life. Does this extension prove that? Yes. I feel I met the Club at the right moment of my career. I was lucky to work with the right people to get confidence. I always feel in our job you are always tempted to have other experiences but, as well, I was mature enough to rate what I have, and I'm ambitious enough to know that I can push this club forward. Today my desperate ambition is again [to do that]. I want to achieve the maximum with this team and it is young and very ambitious as well, and I feel I share that ambition with my team. That is one of the reasons, as well, that I wanted to get a taste of how hungry this team is first before I definitely go for it. The career of a successful top coach could be something like 30 years. If you stay to the end of this contract you will have been 15 years at one club. That is very rare... It's very rare but I was lucky in my career because I beat the record in Monaco. At that time I was with the team seven years, so in two clubs I've made over 20 years - that's luck. Did you always want to see the Club firmly bedded in at Emirates Stadium? Yes. I feel the first season was difficult at the Emirates but from January onwards we felt really at home, and now you can see that there is no adaptation problem anymore. I feel that really we can push this club even higher now. Is one of the reasons you stayed the fact that the Club has made the move to Emirates successfully and appears to be very stable now? I feel the main reason is that I feel I share the ambition with everybody to make Arsenal the best club in the world and that everybody works to be successful in that. Of course therefore it all goes first with good results for the first team, and I am convinced we have enough quality to do that. Is Arsenal a special environment for you because you have complete control and complete freedom? Yes, it is a special environment for me. But as well you must be careful to respond to that kind of trust and confidence by achieving the results and, as well, by behaving like the Club wants you to behave. It's a club of values, traditions and you feel that you have to respond to that kind of responsibility. How do you keep yourself motivated after 11 years in charge? That's never been a problem because I feel I love to win and I hate to lose. That's just enough to keep the motivation very high. Every defeat in a career of somebody who wants to win is a really, really big bang in your head, you know. That will last as long as I live and, of course, you don't always have the strengths to do that and achieve that but that kind of motivation is stable within myself. When I've achieved something I forget about it and just focus on the future and how much I can do better. That's part of my personality. Will you look to stay beyond 2011? I don't know. I will see how I feel at that time. Three years more is a long period and you have to see if you can always feel the ambitions of the Club and respond to the expectations people have - results wise and in the way you play. Can this club make another step forward in the next years? If I can, why not? If I'm healthy enough, why not? There's been talk of going upstairs and becoming a Director of Football at some point. Would that appeal? I don't know. You adapt to your potential of the moment. At the moment I feel deeply unhappy to sit in an office. I live from grass, you know, and I'm happy when I'm on grass. So as long as I can do that, I will do that. What do you want to achieve now? I want to win the Championship, win the Champions League and be consistent. It's simple. How much does this young side energise you? I must say that it's a great pleasure to work with this team because we share the same hunger and desire to do well. I'm confident we can. We have great belief, we trust each other and so it's a good basis. I have enough belief in their quality but, of course, it's only the start of the season. It's better to have a good start than no start at all. You've built a couple of great Arsenal sides, the one in 1998, and the one which spanned 2002 to 2004. Does this squad have the ability to achieve what they did? Maybe even more? Yes, they have the ability. Don't forget this squad has been in the Champions League Final without losing a game. A big part of the squad has done remarkably well performance wise in the Carling Cup, and, of course, they are maturing very quickly. The first signs this season are that the team has really matured. There's a completely different attitude - a completely different attitude - towards the competition. They're more responsible, more disciplined and that can bring success.