Just saw some footage of the Burnley match lap of honor. There was a lovely bit where a kid hold up a sign that said "Arsene may I please have your tie?" And sure enough he took it off and gave it away!
If you don't smile or get a little tear in your eye when watching this, then I don't know what to tell you. https://www.arsenal.com/news/merci-arsene-wenger-behind-scenes Especially the 2nd video of the best Arsene banter & moments.
I won the Arsenal draft way back in the day, and I'm not kidding myself, I won simply because I got Wenger in the 3rd round as all us contestants collectively lost our minds and forgot that a manager was to be part of the draft. I have loved having Wenger represent Arsenal and be our manager. I always remember the highs far more than I ponder on the lows, and damn, Wenger and Arsenal at their best so overwhelm the last 6 years of mediocrity that I'm not sure I'll ever have another negative thought about his tenure at Arsenal. Bravo, Arsene, bravo. Plus, he just had the coolest name for a team manager ever....
In the last 24 hours I've seen Wenger linked to both Barca and USMNT. OK I know he came out recently and said he expected to have his next coaching job by January, but hello????
I suppose this is where this goes? https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1041279/Arsene-Wenger-Arsenal-boss-clos-to-AC-Milan-manager From hero to zero to San Siro?
Because he had to. It's not like managers get fired and never get good jobs again. His time was up at Arsenal.
Maybe the whole narrative is wrong? Maybe it was actually stan/josh (or Raul/Sven) that made gazidis fire Wenger against his wishes. We mostly thought there was a power struggle between the two, but maybe that wasn’t the case. Perhaps now they see Milan as a chance to prove their vision can work. I have to say that I’m intrigued and will be watching a bit to see how it pans out. I guess this is also fueling the rumors of Ramsey to Milan. Maybe they want mustafi, Elneny, kolasinac and chambers as well
No way. Gazidis tried to get rid of Wenger last year and Wenger won. Then Gazidis brought Raul and Sven in, and when the results got really bad finally got the backing of Stan to fire Wenger. The story doesn't make sense otherwise. Hope not - Paul Singer is a douchebag, and I hope Milan get relegated.
Give me Rico Rodriguez, Samu Castillejo plus cash (or Romagnoli/Calhanoglu) and I'd be happy to give Wenger those guys. That said, I don't see AW coming after Mustafi or Kolasinac and likely not Chambers. Ramsey & ElNeny are a possibility.
It's all but confirmed that Wenger is taking a job with FIFA as some sort of head technical director, whatever that means. Seems a funny appointment, but I guess Infantino is looking for more gravitas. I figure either it's a short-term action for Arsene while he's waiting for just the right coaching opportunity to materialize, or he's actually positioning himself to become the president of FIFA?? Part of me thinks this is an odd match because of FIFA's age-old corrupt business model, and my (misplaced?) belief that Wenger is a man of high integrity, ethics and morals. Anyway, here's the photo that ran with the NYTimes article about this appointment. It's from a charity match he played 4 months ago... whoa dude!!... he turned Zidane who then was forced to make a professional foul to slow him down? Somehow I missed this photo at the time. And look there are those black retro boots again.
Well it only took 2 months but it's finally official that Wenger has accepted the job of Chief of Global Football Development at FIFA. I guess (hope) that should largely quell the rumors of him being in for this or that Club managerial position.
Deserved. His view and vision of football is unparalleled honestly. He just loses his shit when asked about arsenal and why they couldn't win (Why long throws should be disbanded after stoke city beat us from delap's throws lool ). But in terms of general view of the sport he rarely for them wrong.
Yeah, but I'm left wondering whether this is a good move for him or not. And that's in large part related to FIFA's reputation for corruption. I've always thought of AW as being largely ethical and virtuous. If so, then he might be a force for positive change at FIFA. If not, then he's just going to reap some huge/illicit rewards while there. Or the in between view is that he goes as a positive force only to be corrupted by the monster.