Arsène Wenger is looking rather retro in the clip below, which I believe is from his early days at AS Nancy-Lorraine. From my basic French he seems to be age 35. That would date the video to 1984, his first season as a manager.
A French Arsespeak reader has kindly translated the interview, transcript below.
AW: “The mistake would be to stay in the same position, because we cannot stay eternally at the same level as the others progress, and that we are condemned a day or an other. So I think in this job we must have ambition and the desire to go the highest possible.”
Journalist: “So you are coming for 3 years in AS Nancy-Lorraine, do you think it’s enough time to leave a mark and have a real policy in the club?”
AW: “I don’t think that it will take 3 years for the way of playing. But for the policy of the club, yes i think that’s the time it’ll take.”
Journalist: “Compared to Cannes, what are you expecting from the 1st division?”
AW: “What i am expecting here is good work conditions, which i didn’t have in Cannes..”
Journalist: “Why?”
AW: “Because the facilities are not taken care of and the city doesn’t do much about it. What I am expecting as well is a stability in the club, above all on the human side, which I had in Cannes. But also I am waiting for a big battle in the 1st division, where there is a big difference with the 2nd division.”
Thanks to @timhi for the video link
Wenger’s managerial career is as follows:
- 1984–1987: AS Nancy
- 1987–1994: Monaco
- 1995–1996: Nagoya Grampus Eight
- 1996– Present: Arsenal
Nancy were relegated to Ligue 2 during his third season in charge, but on joining Monaco Wenger won Ligue 1 in his first season 1987/88. He was successful there, winning that first Ligue 1 title, the French Cup in 1991. He also signed up players such as Youri Djorkaeff, and a young Thierry Henry.
However, his time at Monaco was blighted by the match fixing scandal surrounding Marseilles in the early 90s, a case which Arsène will always remember bitterly, as it denied his side the League title, Monaco finished as runners-up in Ligue 1 three seasons running, 1990/91, 1991/92 and 1992/93, when Wenger was released.
We’ve talked before about Wenger’s managerial history at Monaco, discussing his European campaigns of the early 1990s.
In addition last summer I traveled to his hometown near Strasbourg, a village called Duttlenheim, and posted pictures on the Arsespeak Twitter of the restaurant he grew up in – La Croix D’Or – you can view them here.
Watch more in the Classic Video Archive or Read the series Wenger: The Beginnings
ArseSpeak 
i forwarded the video to Arsene for his comments, but all he could say about his own hair was ‘zat i did not see ze incident’………
he looks like collochini(spelling) from the bar codes
*swoon*
I CONCUR.
– “The mistake would be to stay in the same position because we cannot stay eternally at the same level because the others progress and that we are condemned a day or an other so i think in this job we must have ambition and the desire to go the highest possible.”
(journalist) – ” So you are coming for 3 years in AS nancy-lorraine, do you think it´s enough time to leave a mark and have a real policy in the club ? ”
– ” I don´t think that it take 3 years for the way of playing but for the policy of the club, yes i think that´s the time it´ll take.”
(journalist) – ” Comparing to Cannes, what are you expecting from the 1 st division? ”
– ” What i am expecting here is good work conditions, which i didn´t have in Cannes..”
(journalist) – ” Why? ”
– ” Because the facilities are not taken care of and the city doesn’t do much about it,
what i am expecting as well is a stability in the club, above all on the human side of it which i had in Cannes but also i am waiting for a big battle in the 1 st division where there is a big difference with the 2 nd division. ”
Hope it´ll help!
Thank you Johan, much appreciated.
There are some running themes in his management – sorting facilities – he has built Arsenal a new training ground and stadium.
He also mentions stability in the personnel – something he has strived for at Arsenal.
thanks johan, that’s great for us non french speakers.
I think he really really looks like lehmann. I mean go check out a pic of lehmann, esp from the same angle!
What’s really spooky about this is that the French abbreviation for Nancy is:
ASNL (Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine) … I did not know that.
Oh, and the Jens Lehmann thing … that’s spooky too.
lol -never imagined how he looked as a young guy with all that hair! I bet he had a lot of women supporters!
He is a lot better looking than any English manager. I would choose him above Harry, Big Sam, SAF and all of them any day…..
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