Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal Coach, is an impressive individual.
Once again, in one short interview you find a few gems that apply to any level of Football. What is a player worth, developing your own players, losing players to other clubs, building a team takes time, winning, pressure on coaches and so on.
All these things are going on right now in the Premier League pre- season. There is a couterie of players who are moving from one club's training to another, trying to work out which club will have a roster that is best placed to win. Makes you sick! Just join a club, buy into the season and get on with playing the beautiful game. Give your club a chance.
The worst of it is that soon (well already for some) the same behaviour (less the money) will appear in some form in the Junior Clubs as they recruit for their Div 1 teams.
Everyone likes to win. Not every one can win. Either way, we can still have a good or bad season. Up to you. Give your club a chance.
Hope you enjoy it.
Showing posts with label arson wenger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label arson wenger. Show all posts
Friday, February 18, 2011
Thursday, December 9, 2010
ARSENE WENGER INTERVIEW: Part II
Sourced from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1206363/ARSENE-WENGER-INTERVIEW-The-transcript-Martin-Samuels-fascinating-meeting-Arsenal-manager--II.html
This is the second part of the full transcript of the interview with Arsene Wenger conducted by Sportmail's Chief Sports Writer Martin Samuel at Great Ormond Street hospital on August 6, 2009. He spoke at length to two journalists, the other being Matthew Syed of The Times.
MS: You cannot be by nature an insecure person. One of the things you have done this summer, selling two of your players, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, to Manchester City, who are perceived as serious challengers to your place in the top four, strikes me as the action of a very confident man. Perhaps too much so.
AW: True, but in the end you come to the conclusion, can you stop Manchester City creating a big team? I don’t believe so, because if we do not sell Adebayor they will buy Samuel Eto’o or somebody else because they have the resources, they have so much money. My only question was whether we could afford to sell Adebayor; where he went was less important. To be scared of that would be the problem.
MS: You described yourself as an emotional person when responding to stress. Beyond football, are you emotional, do you watch films and find them moving?
AW: I am not extrovert. I do not like to show my emotions. In my job I learned very early on to dominate my emotions. You can cause a lot of damage if you express your feelings with the team. After a game you can do fantastic damage by going overboard and saying negative things you cannot repair. I learnt the final part of mastering your emotions in Japan. You have people there, a man loses his wife in the morning, he comes to work and does not speak about it. They do not wish to disturb others with their problems.
MS: Not always healthy though, is it?
AW: It is criminal for that person. Whenever there is trauma in the world, psychologists encourage people to talk about it, because it is important it comes out of you. I am sure I pay a price sometimes for holding it in.
MS: How is that manifested?
AW: I don’t know what it does to my health. I know it pays a price on my head, that is for sure.
MS: Are you including the times when you play down an incident or say you haven’t seen something bad involving one of your players, when we all know you have?
AW: Yes, because you are thinking, ‘Why has he done that?’ and you know you cannot explain it. But once you have this reputation for saying you did not see what happened, even when you genuinely did not see it, nobody believes you. But at other times, I saw it, and I said I didn’t see it to protect the player, because I could not find any rational explanation to defend him.
MS: You take on a lot for those players. You are very disciplined, you work very hard, you keep your emotions in check. How would you describe your relationship with the players: is it paternalistic or purely professional?
AW: Comprehensive. Professional. It is also a job where you have to have an optimistic view of human nature or you become paranoid. You always have to think that a guy wants to do well. I have known some very gifted coaches but they could not stand not being in control of what other people said and did. And it is a job where you cannot be suspicious. In every company, you have a boss who when he gets the job suddenly becomes suspicious of everybody. They finish mad. A coach is there to help, so he must be optimistic about human nature, he must think that if he helps in the correct way the players will respond.
MS: You cannot be by nature an insecure person. One of the things you have done this summer, selling two of your players, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, to Manchester City, who are perceived as serious challengers to your place in the top four, strikes me as the action of a very confident man. Perhaps too much so.
AW: True, but in the end you come to the conclusion, can you stop Manchester City creating a big team? I don’t believe so, because if we do not sell Adebayor they will buy Samuel Eto’o or somebody else because they have the resources, they have so much money. My only question was whether we could afford to sell Adebayor; where he went was less important. To be scared of that would be the problem.
MS: You described yourself as an emotional person when responding to stress. Beyond football, are you emotional, do you watch films and find them moving?
AW: I am not extrovert. I do not like to show my emotions. In my job I learned very early on to dominate my emotions. You can cause a lot of damage if you express your feelings with the team. After a game you can do fantastic damage by going overboard and saying negative things you cannot repair. I learnt the final part of mastering your emotions in Japan. You have people there, a man loses his wife in the morning, he comes to work and does not speak about it. They do not wish to disturb others with their problems.
MS: Not always healthy though, is it?
AW: It is criminal for that person. Whenever there is trauma in the world, psychologists encourage people to talk about it, because it is important it comes out of you. I am sure I pay a price sometimes for holding it in.
MS: How is that manifested?
AW: I don’t know what it does to my health. I know it pays a price on my head, that is for sure.
MS: Are you including the times when you play down an incident or say you haven’t seen something bad involving one of your players, when we all know you have?
AW: Yes, because you are thinking, ‘Why has he done that?’ and you know you cannot explain it. But once you have this reputation for saying you did not see what happened, even when you genuinely did not see it, nobody believes you. But at other times, I saw it, and I said I didn’t see it to protect the player, because I could not find any rational explanation to defend him.
MS: You take on a lot for those players. You are very disciplined, you work very hard, you keep your emotions in check. How would you describe your relationship with the players: is it paternalistic or purely professional?
AW: Comprehensive. Professional. It is also a job where you have to have an optimistic view of human nature or you become paranoid. You always have to think that a guy wants to do well. I have known some very gifted coaches but they could not stand not being in control of what other people said and did. And it is a job where you cannot be suspicious. In every company, you have a boss who when he gets the job suddenly becomes suspicious of everybody. They finish mad. A coach is there to help, so he must be optimistic about human nature, he must think that if he helps in the correct way the players will respond.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Arsene Wenger Interview: Part 1
Sourced from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1206377/ARSENE-WENGER-INTERVIEW-The-transcript-Martin-Samuels-fascinating-meeting-Arsenal-manager--I.html
I have posted a two part interview with the Arsenal Coach Arsene Wenger. They don't get much better than this bloke, he is held high esteem all over the world. There is a lot in this interview for us all, proving once again, that the game is the same in so many respects, no matter where or at what level you play or how much cash your club has in the bank or how big or small your sponsors may be. Hope you enjoy.
This is the first part of the full transcript of the interview with Arsene Wenger conducted by Sportmail's Chief Sports Writer Martin Samuel at Great Ormond Street hospital on August 6, 2009.
He spoke at length to two journalists, the other being Matthew Syed of The Times. Before the tapes were switched on, considering the nature of the surroundings, we were talking politics, which is one of Wenger’s interests. It seemed as good as any place to start...
MS:It is interesting that we should be talking about politics, what are your politics, what do you believe?
AW: Politically, I am for efficiency. Economically first. Until the 1980s the world was divided into two, people were either communist or capitalist. The communist model does not work economically, we all realised that, but the capitalist model in the modern world also looks to be unsustainable. You cannot ignore individual interests, but I believe the world evolves slowly. The last 30 years have brought a minimum amount of money for everybody in the west, the next step, politically, would be a maximum amount of money earned by everybody.
MS: That would have to be enforced globally, though, because if one country had a maximum wage, a lot of people might leave and go to a country where it did not exist.
AW: Exactly. But if you look at the world and what is happening at the moment, the biggest issue is the need for a world government. There is no other way out. It will happen, in 50 years maybe, but it will happen. Otherwise you just transfer the problem from one country to the next. It is not the case any more that you are isolated as an employee, that if it does not go well in the other country you are unaffected and continue to live well. Everywhere is inter-connected.
MS: That is logical, the inter-dependence requires a unifying authority to make sure the rules are enforced.
AW: Yes, we are all trying to live now as if that will not happen but in 50 years time Europe will be four per cent of the world’s population. Do you really think you can leave England isolated, France isolated? That’s impossible.
MS: Applied to football, though, what you are saying suggests there should be global rules that are consistent. For example, you could have a maximum wage in football.
AW: It does not look like that at the moment at all. But people continue to accept that 50 people in the world own 40 per cent of the wealth. Is that defendable humanly? Can you accept that when two billion people have two dollars to live per day? I don’t believe that will be accepted for much longer.
MS: So how do you square these beliefs which are quite egalitarian, socialist even, with your work in football which is a completely dog-eat-dog profession, which many think epitomises what is wrong with the capitalist system?
AW: I also think we live in a competitive world, and I love competition. People who are competitive should get rewarded. But the money I am talking about is nothing to do with football players. Football players are small earners compared to these people. They are not a world problem. The best football players in the world still earn very little money compared to people who really earn money.
What I mean is that we have seen the first signs in America during the economic crisis of people revolting against the bonuses, and Barrack Obama said it cannot be acceptable to pay such a huge amount of money anymore. It is the first sign. Even in America, a pure capitalistic country, it is not accepted. It is the first time I have heard a president of the United States say something like that. It will take ten, 20 years but there will be common sense. In a competitive world not everybody can follow the pace, you will leave people out. We now accept that we must take care of these people. You cannot let them die in the streets, people will not accept it. And that is right, too.
MS: You are articulating what Blair would call the third way. Competition, an efficient economic system which creates wealth and the people who are very, very rich give up some of that wealth as a safety net for the people at the bottom.
AW: Maybe the wealth will be limited, yes. But you have to reward the people who make the world progress, the guys who invent vaccines, who invent new aeroplanes, because these are people who work day and night, not people who lie in bed waiting for the next day. People who work make the world live better and to reward these people well is normal. Yet they are not the people who are the wealthiest.
MS: So how do you rationalise that philosophy with the money in your sport? Not just player wages, but the cost of club ownership, of transfers?
AW: I accept that what I say is in contradiction with our football world because the money looks as if it has gone higher and higher since I have been in the job. You compare the average wage ten years ago with today and it has gone up. But we live in a competitive world and that is why I say some of what happens now is financial doping. At Arsenal, we live with the money we produce.
Other clubs have artificial income, from owners. They do not live with the money from the game. We have gates, merchandising, sponsorship, television money, but nothing beyond that. What I fight for it to live within the resources we produce and to pay the players according to our real potential, considering the size of the club. That, to me, is normal.
MS: But you still have massive debts.
AW: We have big debts because we have built the stadium.
MS: Yes, but debt is debt, according to Michel Platini [president of UEFA]. He does not differentiate between debt taken on to finance the transfer policy or debt that comes from building a stadium.
AW: Well, that is a mistake. They are completely different things. When the stadium has been paid for the club will be bigger than before, with greater active capital because of it. Platini talks but he does not know that in London to buy the site cost £125m. In France, they get it for one euro.
MS: Because everything is nationally or municipally funded.
AW: Exactly.
I have posted a two part interview with the Arsenal Coach Arsene Wenger. They don't get much better than this bloke, he is held high esteem all over the world. There is a lot in this interview for us all, proving once again, that the game is the same in so many respects, no matter where or at what level you play or how much cash your club has in the bank or how big or small your sponsors may be. Hope you enjoy.
He spoke at length to two journalists, the other being Matthew Syed of The Times. Before the tapes were switched on, considering the nature of the surroundings, we were talking politics, which is one of Wenger’s interests. It seemed as good as any place to start...
MS:It is interesting that we should be talking about politics, what are your politics, what do you believe?
AW: Politically, I am for efficiency. Economically first. Until the 1980s the world was divided into two, people were either communist or capitalist. The communist model does not work economically, we all realised that, but the capitalist model in the modern world also looks to be unsustainable. You cannot ignore individual interests, but I believe the world evolves slowly. The last 30 years have brought a minimum amount of money for everybody in the west, the next step, politically, would be a maximum amount of money earned by everybody.
MS: That would have to be enforced globally, though, because if one country had a maximum wage, a lot of people might leave and go to a country where it did not exist.
AW: Exactly. But if you look at the world and what is happening at the moment, the biggest issue is the need for a world government. There is no other way out. It will happen, in 50 years maybe, but it will happen. Otherwise you just transfer the problem from one country to the next. It is not the case any more that you are isolated as an employee, that if it does not go well in the other country you are unaffected and continue to live well. Everywhere is inter-connected.
MS: That is logical, the inter-dependence requires a unifying authority to make sure the rules are enforced.
AW: Yes, we are all trying to live now as if that will not happen but in 50 years time Europe will be four per cent of the world’s population. Do you really think you can leave England isolated, France isolated? That’s impossible.
MS: Applied to football, though, what you are saying suggests there should be global rules that are consistent. For example, you could have a maximum wage in football.
AW: It does not look like that at the moment at all. But people continue to accept that 50 people in the world own 40 per cent of the wealth. Is that defendable humanly? Can you accept that when two billion people have two dollars to live per day? I don’t believe that will be accepted for much longer.
MS: So how do you square these beliefs which are quite egalitarian, socialist even, with your work in football which is a completely dog-eat-dog profession, which many think epitomises what is wrong with the capitalist system?
AW: I also think we live in a competitive world, and I love competition. People who are competitive should get rewarded. But the money I am talking about is nothing to do with football players. Football players are small earners compared to these people. They are not a world problem. The best football players in the world still earn very little money compared to people who really earn money.
What I mean is that we have seen the first signs in America during the economic crisis of people revolting against the bonuses, and Barrack Obama said it cannot be acceptable to pay such a huge amount of money anymore. It is the first sign. Even in America, a pure capitalistic country, it is not accepted. It is the first time I have heard a president of the United States say something like that. It will take ten, 20 years but there will be common sense. In a competitive world not everybody can follow the pace, you will leave people out. We now accept that we must take care of these people. You cannot let them die in the streets, people will not accept it. And that is right, too.
MS: You are articulating what Blair would call the third way. Competition, an efficient economic system which creates wealth and the people who are very, very rich give up some of that wealth as a safety net for the people at the bottom.
AW: Maybe the wealth will be limited, yes. But you have to reward the people who make the world progress, the guys who invent vaccines, who invent new aeroplanes, because these are people who work day and night, not people who lie in bed waiting for the next day. People who work make the world live better and to reward these people well is normal. Yet they are not the people who are the wealthiest.
MS: So how do you rationalise that philosophy with the money in your sport? Not just player wages, but the cost of club ownership, of transfers?
AW: I accept that what I say is in contradiction with our football world because the money looks as if it has gone higher and higher since I have been in the job. You compare the average wage ten years ago with today and it has gone up. But we live in a competitive world and that is why I say some of what happens now is financial doping. At Arsenal, we live with the money we produce.
Other clubs have artificial income, from owners. They do not live with the money from the game. We have gates, merchandising, sponsorship, television money, but nothing beyond that. What I fight for it to live within the resources we produce and to pay the players according to our real potential, considering the size of the club. That, to me, is normal.
MS: But you still have massive debts.
AW: We have big debts because we have built the stadium.
MS: Yes, but debt is debt, according to Michel Platini [president of UEFA]. He does not differentiate between debt taken on to finance the transfer policy or debt that comes from building a stadium.
AW: Well, that is a mistake. They are completely different things. When the stadium has been paid for the club will be bigger than before, with greater active capital because of it. Platini talks but he does not know that in London to buy the site cost £125m. In France, they get it for one euro.
MS: Because everything is nationally or municipally funded.
AW: Exactly.
Monday, October 18, 2010
How to Build a Player, The Post Match Talk by a Junior Football Coach, Young Players Going Overseas, An Australian Football Story and What is a Loyal Club Supporter?
This program is broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) on the Australian Community Radio Network, Tuesday at 7:00PM.
This program is an interesting, informative and amusing mix of interviews.
First is Arson Wenger talking about how you build a football player. Now this short piece might stand as the most succinct and accurate description of player development ever made by a Coach. It's impossible to not to reflect on the age group that covers our Summer 20s (17 to 20 years), for it is an age group that is particularly important to Wenger.
Then we move on to three short extracts from the FA Respect campaign. In this section, a parent coach has just finished a blistering post match speech to his young players. You hear the observations of the young player (his son), an FA Coach education official and an FA Club Welfare officer. This is important stuff! Its hard to criticise parents and others who stump up for a junior coaching gig each season - but we really do have to get it right or we will kill off our children's enjoyment of the game.
It's timely to remind parents and young players that the FFA and FIFA have strict rules governing the transfer of players under the age of 18 years of age to play with overseas clubs. This ABC interview with the FFA CEO covers on off on the issue. If you are told otherwise, ring Capital Football (Technical Director or the FFA). Its a jungle out there - be very careful.
Finally, something that will definitely engage your interest in Football, taken from the book - "Why England Lose: And other curious phenomena explained" by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski. This is a terrific read and a good football reference book for the bookshelf "in the pool room'! I've selected two extracts that will tickle your fancy - An Account of the Socceroos under Gus Hiddick, and, an interesting piece of analysis on Football Spectator Loyalty (very topical in our A league). Its a first rate piece of work.
Download the Podcast here;
This program is an interesting, informative and amusing mix of interviews.
First is Arson Wenger talking about how you build a football player. Now this short piece might stand as the most succinct and accurate description of player development ever made by a Coach. It's impossible to not to reflect on the age group that covers our Summer 20s (17 to 20 years), for it is an age group that is particularly important to Wenger.
Then we move on to three short extracts from the FA Respect campaign. In this section, a parent coach has just finished a blistering post match speech to his young players. You hear the observations of the young player (his son), an FA Coach education official and an FA Club Welfare officer. This is important stuff! Its hard to criticise parents and others who stump up for a junior coaching gig each season - but we really do have to get it right or we will kill off our children's enjoyment of the game.
It's timely to remind parents and young players that the FFA and FIFA have strict rules governing the transfer of players under the age of 18 years of age to play with overseas clubs. This ABC interview with the FFA CEO covers on off on the issue. If you are told otherwise, ring Capital Football (Technical Director or the FFA). Its a jungle out there - be very careful.
Finally, something that will definitely engage your interest in Football, taken from the book - "Why England Lose: And other curious phenomena explained" by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski. This is a terrific read and a good football reference book for the bookshelf "in the pool room'! I've selected two extracts that will tickle your fancy - An Account of the Socceroos under Gus Hiddick, and, an interesting piece of analysis on Football Spectator Loyalty (very topical in our A league). Its a first rate piece of work.
Download the Podcast here;
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