We have a VERY special podcast to share with you. We were lucky enough to have the LEGENDARY David Dein on our latest podcast. He is currently promoting a book named CALLING THE SHOTS – How to Win in Football and in Life.
I want to win in both areas, so we had a lovely chat with one of the most iconic football execs EVER to have graced a boardroom. The man that pioneered the Premier League, the guy that plucked Wenger out of Japan, one of the most successful transfer brokers we’ve ever seen, and an extremely trophied man.
The podcast is wide-ranging, but we talk about all the good bits. How he worked his ideas into the club early on, meeting Wenger, selling the club on him, how he chased down Sol Campbell, and some great bits on the Super League. There are also lots of great threads about being good at business. I loved it. What an absolute gentleman he is.
If you love Arsenal, you will love this podcast.
It is also worth noting that by purchasing the book here, you’ll be giving to charity because all the proceeds are going to causes like the Twinning Project, which connects prisons and football clubs.
ENJOY THE WORK. Buy his book here. It really is a great read.
Fish for the win
Arsenal
Second
CL place used to get them under DD!
Top Arsenal man.
Third
Top 10. . Where Liverpool aim to finish this season
Trophy???
Actually got the trophy at my fist attempt.
Time to read the Post
The timing of this book though… I used to care not anymore
Maybe I’ll just listen to the podcast
We miss Dein. He and A Wenger a dynamite partnership and the main reasons Arsenal became a global super club. If it were not for these two titans- Arsenal could have easily become Everton or Nottingham Forest. (Incredible to think the inept Edu now does his job.Whilst Dein was selling our garbage for fortunes , Edu now pays millions for other clubs to take them off us) And Dein unlike the Kronks attended all the matches and wanted the club to win trophies every season and not just accumulate more wealth and join closed shop super leagues, And what a… Read more »
Klopp on Arsenal: On Arsenal being a ‘different proposition’ this season… All my respect, wow. Really, really good job. When you need some time nobody wants to give you time and maybe not all of us deserve time, because you still have to be good to use the time – and that’s what Mikel obviously did. I have to say, really lots of respect for it. They had a lot of talent already in the last few years. Martinelli, I was very early excited about him and he became exactly the player I expected he will be. Martin Odegaard, I… Read more »
Great podcast Pedro, kudos on getting Dein to come on it.
Gentleman and a proper club legend.
David Dein is one of our living legends. His influence and contribution to one of the best Arsenal periods in the history is incredible. Imagine having a chat with this fella. Top stuff!
Fantastic podcast, Pedro.
For many of us Arsenal fans, David Dein is ‘Mr Arsenal’.
He has been sorely missed.
Great stuff Pedro.
David Dein had the instinct & bravery to bring Arsene Wenger to the club. It was a major turning point in the history of our great club. It’s a shame how both of them were treated by the club, they are both gentlemen.
Dean is a true arsenal legend Very few people have such a visible and obviously major impact on something so big as the trajectory of a football club, but he did. The vision to bring in wenger and the talent to get the best out of him is era defining for our club Wenger understandably gets the plaudits and that’s fair enough, but dein was the guy behind the curtain. The enabler of greatness Thanks David. What a pity you couldn’t stay in the club longer. Absolutely zero doubt wenger would’ve returned to winning ways with his help behind the… Read more »
Klopp isn’t wrong and he was early in spotting Martinelli’s talent in his first season here back when Emery was gaffer.
This is the first time in about 5 years that I like our chances vs this Liverpool side. Jesus and Martinelli are both in top form and can really hurt them, Saka is also fresh off the back of playing his best game of the season vs Spurs imo.
Klopp is a washed up manager now to be frank…Pools failure to win the league or CL has derailed their motivation altogether. That was his last chance. But they will still get a result against us i feel. But their time is well and truly gone.
Xhakalson will get a red card vs Liverpool
You can take this to the bank!
And to know Arsenal FC board refused to sell Mr Dein nook in The Arsenal shop really saddens me.
DD is a true Arsenal legend.
No matter how much you earn a week, I wouldn’t want to be in TAA shoes on Saturday night thinking on Sunday afternoon I’m going to mark Martinelli.
Pedro and the gang
Really fine work with the David Dein interview. Thanks v much
Especially enjoyed his take on a Super League, and the power the english clubs, fans, media and even Boris had on killing it off
As for Vieira, love the weight he puts on the ball behind the pass. That skill you can’t teach, you born with. Platini, Cesc, KDB and Ozil among few have that skill.
I’ll start him in home games in place of Xhaka against bottom team when they park the bus. With him in the starting line we’ll score lots of goals against those teams.
To beat Liverpool on Sunday we have to do one thing, match their work rate and we’ll win.
On form and player for player, we’re better than them in 7/8 positions.
Gk Pool
RB Arse
RCB Arse
LCB Pool
LB Arse
CDM Arse
LCM Arse
RCM Pool
LW Arse
RW Pool
CF Arse
David Dein having a chat with an 8 yo Pedro and his dad after an Arsenal loss is an example of how big of a human Dein is. Proper Arsenal legend.
Great interview class act!
*repost
Scholes ripping into Antony calling him a one trick pony. Was it “Leedsgunner” pontificating that Antony was better than Martinelli and was the business blah blah he was great in the Olympics blah blah. LOLI saw a clip from their last game he through on goal one on one with the keeper and he passes the ball back instead of shooting. Fucking wank player similar to Richarlson.
Man United fans are weeping with all their crap signings. You love to see it.
When David Dein sold his shares to Usmanov it was the start of the doldrums for us – we had a cold war in the boardroom, no football people in the boardroom to support Wenger, no investment from our new owners, Wenger was left to hold the club together on his own, we had an egocentic idiot as Chief Executive in Gazides, no direction. We were a divid club. Who benefitted from the sale of the shares. The club – no, The fans – no, Wenger – no, the only person to benefit from the £75m was Dein. I’m sorry… Read more »
About a quarter through his book (audio version) and it’s fascinating. Very insightful and well worth a listen. The chance meeting with Wenger just highlights how big moments sometimes happen through the smallest things.
Great Pod Pedro… ! and amazing get … to have Dein on for an interview. I listened while having breakfast and was thoroughly entertained. He is an interesting guy and an Arsenal legend, could have listened for another hour.
Keep up the good work. Some of the Pod gangs best so far.
You know how Sir Alex just before games…tends to windup Arsene and it eventually gets to the man? Me thinks Mr Kloops is taking lesson instructions from Sir Alex’s book. But the application is a bit different. I know y’all will see it as nothing, but mere compliments. Me thinks otherwise. When a successful manager like Kloop keeps flirting publicly with Martinelli, whose name is not Martina, and Arteta the ‘man’ in Martinelli’s life does not speak up like would any man do with her girlfriend, what do you think will eventually happen? Eeehh, your guess is as good as… Read more »
McBright, a bit paranoid there aren’t you.
Klopp also heaps praises on Arteta ( deservedly so)which I suppose means he wants him to take over at Liverpool …..oh wait.
McBright is Wright
Spot on assessment. Klopp has no right to talk about our players like that. This is one of the most important games we will play this season with respect to how we are viewed now versus how we want to be viewed going forward.
That podcast blew me away! You guys
just took it to another level. Great job.
Thanks Pedro!!
Just done listening to the podcast. My word! What an interview. What a man. What a story.
Welcome Pedro, Johnny and Matt that was so revealing and refreshing to say the least.
“Miracle worker” I loved that.
“Still speaks to him twice a week” Bossom friends.
“Let’s not get carried away…the league ends in May”. I needed to hear that, because I’ve been sleeping on clouds.
It’s obvious Mr DD had a personal relationship with Pedro. Maybe, with Johnny and Matt as well. So that tells me people at the helm at Arsenal read Le grove.
Tom
Complimenting your fellow manager is within the scope of respect if it’s mutual and genuine. They are collogues in the same field of endeavour. So it’s pretty normal to acknowledged the other respectfully.
But persistently singling out a player that is under contract with us isn’t praising, its calles “tapping up”.
Imagine if someone in your field constantly talking about your beautiful personal Secretary. Paranoid is when you think is ok because you are married.
* colleagues *
Cannot wait to listen to this tomo on my commute into London
Lol you’re dense if you think Martinelli is going to Liverpool or anywhere else in the PL. Klopp can say whatever he likes and it won’t mean jack shit. Can we stop with all the pathetic fear. No single player currently at Arsenal wants to leave. Why would they and where to to do what? They’re well paid happy and top of the league. Shut the fuck up already!
Un
You’ll love it.
No podcast it ever.
Like Pedro said, any true Arsenal supporter can’t, but listen to the Big interview with DD.
David Dein, Arsenal man…who’s son Darren engineered moves away from Arsenal for his clients Thierry Henry , Cesc Fabregas, Adebayor, Gael Clichy. Also Robin Van Persie to Man United. Even Alex Songs move to Barca. Just doing a great job for his clients, must’ve been painful for him. I guess the cash helped.
Dence? Dence can make sense if only you can get off the fence and hence, don’t be condensed.
Maybe David Dein is not aware of the abuse given to Wenger for years by Pedro and his cronies(WOBS).
Maybe a few want to earn even more (City, PSG) or be top of the league in May instead of October, no?
IDIOT
Sambi Lokonga will suddenly elevate to a great player if he can do these three things ; put his hands down and sprint from time to time instead of the robotic jog, make or create space to receive passes especially from our defenders, tackle more.
Prediction for Sunday.
Arsenal 4 Liverpool 2.
Just got a feeling.
I swear the guy acts as though he’s been told never to sprint. He just jog, jog, jog with his hands up. The number of times I scream at the TV “Sprint Lokonga and put your goddamn hands down”.
Guy is taking laid-back to a whole nother level. Zero aggression in this man.
I hope that I’m wrong but I just don’t see it with Lokonga. Absolutely nothing special about his game for me.
He’s also turning 23 in a couple of weeks so he’s not exactly a green kid.
Great David Dein interview, Pedro!
Thé Dein-Wenger partnership is the best we ever had at the club.
WengerEagle
Hes a talented player but he lacks aggressiveness. People underrated the importance of that. Maradona as talented and skilful as he was was also very aggressive. That led to him imposing himself on games.
Lokonga may be a laid-back guy in real life thats fine, but he needs a switch when he’s playing. Look at Saliba, someone with a similar personality profile, as calm as composed as he his in games, he knows when to turn on the switch and bring the aggression. Sambi plays as though he doesn’t understand the seriousness of the occasion.
Sambi is just another Maitland-Niles. Same passive personality. I wouldn’t risk playing him against top 10 in the league games. Can’t wait for January when we can buy a player to compete with Partey because Sambi is not a DM and honestly we should look to sell in the summer because he’s going to fall further down the pecking order. We have Patino coming through next season. Its time also Matt Smith be given games in the EL. What’s the point of him sitting on the bench after going on multiple loans. We should have loaned Sambi the moment we… Read more »
I’m not sure what Lakonga has done wrong except looked cool and composed on the ball , staying on his feet and not diving into tackles and having an exquisite first touch which enables him to have nearly a 95% passing rate. Maybe he just makes the game look too easy… If he was player with a poor first touch, a poor passing technique, lacked composure on the ball , dived into tackles or a selfish player, then i could understand the criticism. I’m sure he is playing to the manager’s instructions and has been told to not take risks… Read more »
Graham62October 7, 2022 21:48:43
Prediction for Sunday.Arsenal 4 Liverpool 2.Just got a feeling.
agreed. looking forward to the touchline battle as well. klopp loves to talk
Pierre what everyone is saying is that there is a gulf in quality when he plays the Partey role. Its night and day. Nobody said anything about his passing ability. Literally almost every player on the team can pass. Who cares. DM role is important and the United game proved that. He either subs in for Xhaka at CM or stays on the bench. We are buying another DM and we aren’t surrendering our season should Partey get injured at crucial points to Lokonga for the sake of sentiment. If it was up to you Jesus would be on the… Read more »
Lokonga has been somewhere between decent to meh in his recent performances, he hasn’t really had any shockers and rarely loses the ball, pretty resourceful overall even if not someone that puts a lasting imprint on a match. But the recent over-criticism of Sambi has been a bit unfair, especially since expecting no difference in quality for when he subs in for Partey is just nonsense. He arrived for a fraction of the cost and as a project. If he doesn’t work out, that’s the cost of doing business sometimes. He’s not really played all that much if you think… Read more »
Izzo, “Lol you’re dense if you think Martinelli is going to Liverpool or anywhere else in the PL. Klopp can say whatever he likes and it won’t mean jack shit. Can we stop with all the pathetic fear. No single player currently at Arsenal wants to leave. Why would they and where to to do what? They’re well paid happy and top of the league. Shut the fuck up already!” Spot on. Then this moronic response from a pathetically negative poster who’s as bad as Marko and Mystic: “Maybe a few want to earn even more (City, PSG) or be… Read more »
Simpleway,
Slight disagreement on the best 11.
If you watch Alison this season, he’s been nothing special, nowhere near his reputation level. Nowhere near Ederson.
When he’s not in the dominant team, he looks ordinary.
Same thing 2 years ago. He was below average.. that was with VvD and other defenders out… but aren’t the great 80 million dollar keepers supposed to step up under adversity ?
Looks great when Liverpool are steamrolling teams. Overrated.
Rewatching the game and was really impressed with Reiss Nelson.
In his 10 minutes he looked much better than Marquinhos and Saka.
I hope he can get more minutes next week, probably not up to a start, but 30 minutes would be nice.
There’s an outside chance Arteta can do the same as he did with Nketiah last season and turn him into an asset.
Izzo “Who cares. DM role is important and the United game proved that. ” I presume you are talking about the united game that we dominated for 65 minutes, a match that we dominated the midfied area in fact…….with lakonga. A match that we were denied a Martinelli goal through a VAR decision that should never have been overturned Lakonga wasn’t on the pitch for our worst period of the game , the last 20 minutes., when Arteta panicked and took lakonga off and destroyed the balance of the team. What the “united game proved” is that with Lakonga on… Read more »
Nige l
“There’s an outside chance Arteta can do the same as he did with Nketiah last season and turn him into an asset.”
Are you suggesting that lakonga should be left to rot on the bench for 2 years like Eddie was.
Arteta himself admitted his mistakes with not playing Eddie , so I’m not sure he deserves a lot of credit for the improvement in Eddie’s game..
“Nelson” not lakonga..
If you indeed like him enough, you’d at least spell his name correctly; dunce!
Pierre I know you won’t want to let Arteta (and his staff) receive any credit from taking a box poacher and turning him into an aggressive, all around striker who can drop deep and come from wider positions into the box. This was before the Jesus arrival and his influence. We’ve all seen the improvement.. and Eddie was a very good instinctual scorer before, who I always backed, like you. But it’s night and day now. Clear change. Since Man City players gave Arteta lots of credit for specific coaching that made them better, you can’t really dismiss the probability… Read more »
The problem with Nelson is his decision making and his mentality. If he can work that out finally he can become a valuable player for us.
He has always been good in preseason and low profile games, but as soon as it’s on a bigger stage he freezes up and becomes next to useless.
He’s also trying too hard to do it all by himself and neglects team play.
Time will tell but not sure he has it in him.
Pierre
It’s Lokonga not Lakonga ffs. Get it right.
DD is a legend. Watched his interview with AFTV’s Robbie and it was fantastic. Great that pedro has got him in to do a longer podcast. He is very intelligent and calm. I will read his book too eventually. Anyway, back to Arsenal. Sambi lacks the agression and the positional awareness to be a top player at #6. But he has everything else to become a good 8. Positional awareness can be coached. Agression is a football personality trait. He has to find it with in himself to get better. Because he isn’t weak physically and has a good stature.… Read more »
Nelson did look good for the last ten minutes. But then he reminded me of Iwobi. He would also look good when he came off the bench, but never replicated it when starting.
I am excited to see us test our selves against Liverpool. They are fragile at the moment but might come and decide to turn up. We need to be at our best regardless of their form. Smash them and we will put day lights between us and them in the race for Top 4. I don’t think we can realistically win the league with Haaland being unstoppable. I am hoping for a point tally of high 80s.
https://fbref.com/en/players/1b4f1169/scout/365_euro/Albert-Sambi-Lokonga-Scouting-Report
These stats paint a picture that I have been seeing. Sambi has very good stats when it comest to passing, progressive passing, progressive carrying and everything related to having an impact of getting the ball to good positions. And that is from a deeper position where it is harder to do. What the stats say he lacks is tackling, pressures and intercepting. These are agression related and positional awareness related. Some of those can be coached. And some can be masked with a positional change to 8. I believe he just needs time.
I can’t remember who it was on the podcast but somebody just stopped the conversation to thank David for getting Sol Campbell and making that lot miserable. LOL – had me in stitches
Great interview Pedro/Matt/Johnny – congrats
League table for the last year (focused on Newcastle takeover) which shows us in 3rd place with 80 points although admittedly 39 games. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63159987
Both Lokonga and Nelson will prove to be valuable squad players this season with more game time. Lokonga hasn’t set the world alight but is learning to do his job in a calm and no nonsense way and in that respect is learning from the master TP who does exactly that on the field, albeit with more dominance. But I think it is very much a step in the right direction
We shouldn’t forget that Nelson was a top youth prospect, and worked really well with Nketiah in fact.
What I liked on Thursday was his hustle and work rate. Thats the Arteta influence.
That’s something new. In the past he tried to get by on talent alone. If he’s sincere in trying to grab an opportunity, it will show in performances.
When Arteta uses the phrase “humble and hungry” to describe his team, it really means something.
It’s exactly the right message to send to this young squad. We might really have a gem in this manager.
I have been trying to reserve judgment on players. But I don’t think Nelson will be the player he wants to be in the premier league. He is technical. But he is lacking in power and pace which is vital for a winger in the PL. I see Nelson as a very similar player to Sancho. I feel they are both not suited to the league. But I hope we use him because we are going to need him at least till January.
Pierre Eddie’s can now turn on the ball and hold it up. He can move with the ball at his feet. He never showed any aptitude for any of that until this season and it’s clearly something that’s been worked on with him on the training pitch. Give some credit where it’s due. Eddie deserves it but so too does arteta for the improvement in Eddie, the others and the team in general We are top of the league with 7 wins out of 8 and have an unstoppable looking man city trailing us. Allow yourself to feel the joy… Read more »
And we’re doing it with a “recycler” as captain.
Great interview/ discussions with David Dein, can’t wait to read his book
Just starting my 24 hour travel to Tokyo now.. first time there, it will be strange watching the Arsenal game starting just after midnight….
Pedro
On the DD podcast:
It’s wonderful to hear from someone who ran the club and was a genuine fan like all of us.
The stories are fascinating.
But one thing:
I’m not sure that Dein has any idea that this is/was a wenger out blog, and vehemently so.
You went a bit quiet when Dein was praising him.
Also, it was good to hear that yes, there was austerity before and after the stadium move no we didn’t have money to spend.
I remember the back and forth on here at the time was pretty intense on that issue.
Nketiah is intelligent, Reiss relies on pace, that wont get you far at the top level. The best he can be is RB.
Good post Alex
I found the early Wenger criticism quite shameful
And most of the true things leveled at him in the latter part too
Booing our greatest ever manager. The man sacrificed his place at the top of the game to make sure the club had the infrastructure to step into the new century and keep up
His hard work is now starting to pay off.
Un – nothing is as simple as that. Yes he was our greatest ever manager but the club were in decline for at least the last 3 years of his reign. That was down to the fact that Wenger had surrounded himself with yes-man and no longer had that X factor to spot and nurture talent. In fact his self belief was a problem as he really thought he could polish turds like Sanogo. When you listen to his interviews now you can detect he was aware of some of this but unfortunately didn’t resign when he should have done.… Read more »
Un “Allow yourself to feel the joy in that” Sorry mate but you have lowered yourself to the level of nigel tufnell,and a few others,, you’ll be calling me a hater next.. Eddie should have been in the side last season , Arteta admitted .that himself .. As far as I was concerned he always knew how to play the game, , meaning score, hold the ball and link the , play , for me his ability was never in question , others failed to notice his qualities and now heap praise on Arteta for somethong that was already there.… Read more »
Testing
I tend to agree somewhat with Paul Mac above. For all the accolades that he gets, he in some ways was responsible for the beginning of the downturn of the club. His thinking and vision were correct. But his methods – maybe not. When he realised the need to bring in big buck investors, he should have built consensus amongst all the co-owners. Maybe it would have taken some time. Maybe it would have extended the frustration at incidents like losing Cole for a mere 5k a week. But it would have been the right thing for the club in… Read more »
Wenger’s early history is also a difficult analysis. Yes he breathed new life into 1996 Arsenal which desperately needed a lift. He came in with ideas that were then innovative and had a proper Rolodex of promising stars, including the command to buy Vieira before he had even turned up himself. BUT would his early AFC history been the same without that highly drilled defence. His own laiisez-faire view of coaching could actually have been disastrous without that legacy. That probably saw him through to 2004 with the old hands taking the newbies like Cole, Silvinho Toure and Lauren in… Read more »
Pierre – whilst I agree with some of your comments, you undermine yourself by your constant refusal to give Arteta any credit at all in a player’s development. Nketiah did not progress as a player by coincidence or by pure self-awareness (yes there was some of that) and nor did he sign on for 5 years just for money. He has been coached by Arteta and like so many other players at the Emirates, values really highly his methods. That is what is making this whole team click as a unit – the bond that has been created and the… Read more »
There are a few ways to trigger people on here without trying. 1) praise another playmaker for making an assist with a perfectly weighted ball. For some reason this always brings out the worse in the ” Odegaard is a creative genius” crowd. 2) refuse to give Arteta credit for every positive that’s happening at Arsenal at present….apparently it makes you a hater who takes no joy in watching Arsenal. 3) mention the collapse at the end of last season and the fact we have had a couple of 8th place finishes ….it’s like they have to defend the indefensible.… Read more »
Northbanker “Your constant sniping of the man does you no credit at all as you are missing the bigger picture and instead coming up with micro-based theories.” I think you’ll find i always give credit where it’s due , i also think you’ll find that i have been totally positive about Arteta this season and how he has the team is playing. You’re are more than welcome to look back at my comments on Arteta for the last 4 months, so where you get “constant sniping” from god only knows, probably believing everything nigel says about me. I am well… Read more »
I have no interest in looking back Pierre at your comments or anyone else’s for that matter. Those who do must lead very sad lives.
But your last post is instructive enough as to your views, whatever credit you misguidedly think you’re giving.
Pierre Well said. “””mention the collapse at the end of last season and the fact we have had a couple of 8th place finishes ….it’s like they have to defend the indefensible”””” That’s why Arteta does not deserve too much credit this season- as he should have been dismissed last season.( and the season before) Not acceptable, to have one good season in 3 or 4 you need to be good EVERY SEASON as the Arsenal manager. Fed up hearing about this rebuilding and cycles cobblers. (Like A. Wenger did with his X 20 successive Top 4s and x 7… Read more »
On the subject of buying a #6, I really hope we don’t do this just for the sake of it. Iadmired the club’s stance last January and not going for a plan B when there was little talent to take us to the next level. I just can’t see Douglas Luiz being a next level player for what I’ve seen of him at Villa. And that is what should now go into every transfer consideration and no longer should we just fill gaps. Luiz feels like an Elneny signing and we really don’t need another Elneny. The club will kick… Read more »
Pierre is often wrong but not on Eddie
He called Eddie right from the start
I had high hopes for him at the start but he struggled to kick on mainly due to his physical shortcomings in his first senior years with us
18 months ago he hit the gym and has been a completely different player ever since
Very very useful asset is Eddie. The only factor which will determine if he bangs in a lot of goals or not this season will be if he gets a good amount of minutes. If he does, he’ll score plenty
China – I agree and am aware that Pierre backed Eddie from a while ago (without the need to read all of his posts – yawn!). My point was on where the credit should be given. Eddie was not where he needed to be despite Pierre’s backing back then.
Un I’m not sure how true it is wenger sacrificed his place at the top of the game to help us He could’ve gone to Madrid for example, but all Madrid managers get sacked within a couple of years. The few clubs in the world bigger than arsenal at that time would not have had patience for him to slowly build up their teams or focus on youth policy over experienced stars etc It’s hard to predict if wenger would’ve really had such a legendary career overall if he left arsenal way in 2006. Arsenal gave him unlimited patience, time… Read more »
Luiz isn’t Elneny. He is a far superior midfielder. Xhaka has been on fire this season. But in the summer Inwould have said he would have been our 2nd best CM after partey. And we can’t have a superstar on the bench with a superstar starter. You can’t keep them both happy. You have a good player to backup a superstar. City have Rodri backed up by Kalvin Philips. Luiz would be our Philips. Elneny is average. Luiz is much better. We just need a competent good rotation option.
-Un I’m not sure how true it is wenger sacrificed his place at the top of the game to help us He could’ve gone to Madrid for example, but all Madrid managers get sacked within a couple of years. The few clubs in the world bigger than arsenal at that time would not have had patience for him to slowly build up their teams or focus on youth policy over experienced stars etc It’s hard to predict if wenger would’ve really had such a legendary career overall if he left arsenal way in 2006. Arsenal gave him unlimited patience, time… Read more »
A large fraction of wengers legendary status came from his longevity and stability at arsenal, two things he’d have not had if he’d left us He’d have been a legend regardless but more akin to someone like ancellotti – one of the great names of management but not put in the same breath as fergie for example. Wengers stability and longevity at arsenal and be so tightly coupled with the arsenal brand is a big part of his overall legend Anyway on the topic of wenger, I hope he comes back in an ambassadorial role. The dust has settled and… Read more »
Wengaball, I completely agree with your post about Dein. He was at the centre of things when he made his decision to sell to Kroenke and make a very, very handsome profit on the shares he bought for peanuts. He is too intelligent a man to not have anticipated the ‘land grab’ for the remaining shares and the resulting dysfunctional ownership which hampered Arsenal for many years afterwards. Just like Wenger, his most important years were from when he brought in Wenger to when he left Wenger in the lurch. Pierre, you are too intelligent to complain about people reacting… Read more »