Nine things we learned from Arsene Wenger's Desert Island Discs
Arsene Wenger has spent much of his life in professional football first as a player and then as a manager known for his staying power and success. He led Arsenal for 22 years from 1996 to 2018 through 1235 matches, transforming the club and British football with his new methods to become the club’s longest-serving and most successful manager in its history. He is now FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development. Here's nine things we learned from his Desert Island Discs.
1. His first FA Cup final as a manager at Wembley took him back to boyhood
“It was because when I was a kid, in my village, we had no television,” explains Arsene. “The first television that we had in our home was when I was 14. So to watch a football game, we had to go to the school and watch in black and white. Bring one pound, and we could watch a football game... one per year. Can you believe that today? It was the FA Cup Final, so I was a little kid seven, eight or nine years old. Now imagine this little boy walks out at Wembley and leads his team to play an FA Cup final. So it was something exceptional for me. And, that I can never forget.”
2. Football was his job – and his after-work pleasure too
“I relax by watching other managers suffer. And think 'It's your turn my friend,’” jokes Arsene. “But by watching football as well, you know, I love it so much. And it's easier for me when I watch other games to take a distance. Why does this player make this decision? What are the major mistakes they make? And I enjoy it because football is always unpredictable. It's not like theatre - you go every night to the theatre - it starts the same and finishes the same. Go every night to a football game - it's always different.”
3. He thinks The Beatles are like a top footballer
“They make simple what looks very complicated, you know?” says Arsene. “And this was modern music when I was a child. Of course today people will laugh at me when I say that, but for me people with long hair, who played this kind of music was revolutionary. And smoked dope. It was inconceivable in my childhood. And that created a lot of interest for me.” For his desert island, he chooses a solo track by a Beatle - John Lennon’s Imagine.
4. He has long believed that footballers’ minds are as important as their bodies
“I felt that the mental aspect of a young player is very important, and I thought I can help them,” explains Arsene and that was why, when he started out as a youth coach, he brought in a psychiatrist to talk to the players individually each week. ”I wanted to understand better what is going on in the brain of a young boy. And I forced them every day to say, how did you feel today? Physically? How was your concentration? How do you feel that tactically we did? How did you think you did? So even when I meet them today, they still tell me that helped them a lot in their life to think about what they did and if I did well or not.”
5. He understands why his arrival at Arsenal in 1996 surprised fans and pundits
“I think the club was quite crazy to appoint a guy like me,” says Arsene, “because this was one of the most traditional clubs in England. And to take a completely unknown guy, I think they were crazy, these guys. But I had the advantage to benefit from it.”
6. His run of 49 games without defeat in 2003-4 was a particular pleasure
“I thought the perfection of my job would be one year not to lose a game,” says Arsene. “It was an exceptional experience to play 49 games, imagine one and a half years, without losing a game? Sometimes I thought 'Why am I well paid to do this job, it's so simple, so enjoyable?' You know, after you lose your first game, you know why you're well paid!”
7. The voice of Elvis brings back memories – good and bad
The Elvis Presley song The Wonder of You became an Arsenal pre-match anthem, and perhaps not surprisingly, Arsene has chosen it as one of his discs. So how many times has he heard it? “It's many games,” says Arsene, “many suffering, many sleepless nights, and many happy days as well I must say!”
I think the club was quite crazy to appoint a guy like me, because this was one of the most traditional clubs in England.
8. Leaving Arsenal was tough
“It was difficult because when you're 69 years of age, you don't imagine going somewhere else as a manager,” says Arsene. “I turned all the best clubs in the world down to go to the end of my contract, to the end of my mission with this club. So it was difficult, because your car that drove automatically to the training centre has to stay at home, and you with it. And to cut that link was very, very difficult, but on the other hand, I decided to change completely. And I'm very happy about that.”
9. He calls his choice of luxury item ‘a friend for life’
And after hearing about a life dedicated to football above all else, you might well guess Arsene’s choice – it’s a ball.
