Arsene Wenger reflects on first managerial title as he issues Mauricio Pochettino with some words of advice
Arsene Wenger still remembers winning his first trophy as a manger, Ligue 1 with Monaco in 1987-88, and knows how much patience but also conviction it required.
The Arsenal manager is facing Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, in the hotly-contest north London derby. His opponent Mauricio Pochettino, 23 years younger than him, is often cast as the manager of the future, with far more modern methods than Wenger has. But Pochettino has yet to win a major trophy, although he has come close, losing the 2015 League Cup final and challenging for the Premier League title in 2016 and 2017.
Wenger and Pochettino will be on opposite sides at the Emirates on Saturday lunch-time but Wenger had some friendly advice for Pochettino about what it takes to win your first trophy, the hardest one of all. Thinking back to that 1987-88 French title, Wenger said the key was to focus on the process, rather than the outcome, and then to conquer your fear at the crucial moment.
“By keeping your nerves, and getting the players to focus on what is important,” said Wenger, looking back. “And, at some stages, by fighting a little bit against your inhibitions, the fear that you won’t get over the line. Basically you need to focus on what is important and not focus on the trophy too much.”
Wenger admitted that he felt anxious before Monaco won that first title, because seeing a job like that through is the hardest thing to do. “You always do [feel anxiety],” Wenger said. “It is always difficult to finish a job as, it must be difficult to finish a book. It is difficult to finish any job.”
Wenger said that ultimately he was not especially fussed by the question of when and how Pochettino wins his first trophy. “Honestly it is not my main worry,” he said. “It is up to us to get over the line and win trophies and it is not easy. It is difficult in the game to win trophies.”
Pochettino spoke positively about Wenger, as he often does, of his “massive respect” for the Arsenal manager, who he placed on the same elite level as former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
“For me he deserves full credit,” Pochettino said. “For me, in football history he’s one of the great managers, at the same level as Ferguson, and in my opinion he deserves a lot of credit. For me he’s great. [It doesn’t matter] what happens today, yesterday or one year ago or in the future, he’ll always be a special manager. To stay 20 years in a club and stay always at the top, it’s not easy and that is why for me it’s a reason to admire him.”
Pochettino explained afterwards that it was a genuine expression of his respect for Saturday’s opponent. “I need to be honest and fair, he is my enemy because he is Arsenal manager but he is my colleague too,” he said. “What he is doing at Arsenal and as a manager, I would like to be like him one day; 20 years at Tottenham.”
