Arsenal's Stan Kroenke very keen for Arsene Wenger to stay on as their manager
Arsenal's Stan Kroenke very keen for Arsene Wenger to stay on as their manager
Gunners' boss is out of contract in the summer but often-criticised owner makes it plain how highly he values the Frenchman
French resolution: Kroenke admires Wenger's gumption
Arsenal chief Stan Kroenke paid tribute to Arsene Wenger and wants to keep him beyond this summer when his contract expires because they are “totally aligned”.
US tycoon Kroenke, the Gunners’ majority shareholder, gave his impassioned backing to the manager when he spoke to the Daily Mirror.
Kroenke
said: “He knows how we feel, what our philosophy is, what we want to do
and I feel like we are totally aligned. I think he wants to do it the
exact same way as we do.
“I don’t want to say something about
Arsene that is not the way he feels but, to me, he seems to love what he
does. But that’s Arsene’s decision.”
Wenger is the Premier
League’s longest-serving manager after 17 years in charge but there was
speculation over his future last season and the pressure has never been
greater on him.
“He knows he has our support, there’s no one I
feel more strongly about and I think he is doing a great job. Arsene is
his own man, he will make up his own mind,” said Kroenke.
“There
is a lot of pressure in the job, he has handled it very well but at some
point we all make up our minds whether we continue in our careers.
That’s obviously his decision.
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Arsene Wenger's Arsenal career in pictures
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“We have been very supportive, we have never wavered, we are
proud of him, proud of the club, the way the club is run and how it
holds itself out to the world.
“Right now, we’ve had a club for 126 years. We’ve just set a new record of 10 consecutive away wins.
“Now,
I’ve been around a lot of clubs as a fan and an owner, and there’s been
some special teams, but it’s hard to win 10 games in a row away from
home. It’s really hard in a professional league.
“There is, again, an example of some of the good stuff that is going on at Arsenal.
“I
know that I say how much I’d like to win. But I know for the players,
for the coaches and the manager, everyone around the club who is there
every day, I can’t imagine the level of excitement they would have.
“The idea that no one cares or is passionate about that sort of thing is just beyond the realms of imagination.”
Kroenke
spoke for nearly an hour in a quiet corner of one of London’s smartest
hotels, and nothing during that time got him as excited, passionate and
defensive in equal measure as when he talked about Wenger.
It is
clear that their relationship goes beyond a professional level - they
have a mutual respect and understanding - and there is also a clear
message that he would never interfere with the way his manager operates.
Kroenke spends between 30 and 40 days in London on Arsenal
business each year, is in daily contact with Wenger and the board - and
his son Josh is also a huge Gooner.
Even when talk of the difficult transfer window crops up, Kroenke insists Wenger will be left in complete control.
“I
really enjoy Arsene,” he said. “Very smart, very intelligent man, as we
all know. He is fun to talk to about a variety of subjects. I think our
backgrounds... He was trained in economics, my undergraduate study was
in economics.
“I enjoy talking with him, he is a very interesting
guy. He has an absolute view on how he runs that team and the club. He
has earned that right.
“Don’t look for me to interfere with that. I have learnt over the years that sometimes owners try do that and it is not so good.
“Guys
who try to say that we should push Arsene harder to spend and so on,
that’s fair enough, there’s always lots of opinions, but Arsene is an
independent thinker, planner, works very hard at it, has a wonderful
record and history.
“If you go to his practices - I had my son and
a bunch of his friends at the training ground last year - a couple of
them are NBA players and were over here with us for the Olympics.
We
were standing out in the rain, watching. Arsene is out there all the
time. This was going on for several hours. It rained like hell.
Lightning.
“I was getting worried about players getting hit by
lightning and Arsene was out in the middle of it. He’s up there,
coaching them every day.
“You’ve got to love that or you can’t do it. That’s a passion.”
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