Arsenal legend Arsene Wenger and manager Mikel Arteta are two very different people.
Yes, both of them are geniuses when it comes to the game, but the way they approach many things couldn’t be more dissimilar.
Wenger was extremely calm on the touchline and in front of the media more often than not, while Arteta is far more hyper and wears his heart on his sleeve.
One thing that’s common about both Arteta and Wenger is that some sections of the media often take their words and twist them.
Arteta felt that was going to happen in his press conference ahead of Arsenal’s game against Newcastle United.
Mikel Arteta refuses to fall into the ‘trap’ that Arsene Wenger did at Arsenal
Arteta has had a long and hard season.
The Arsenal manager is feeling the pain of missing out on the Premier League and the Champions League titles, but he is very proud of everything the players have done despite all the problems.
The Gunners now need just a point to confirm Champions League qualification, and a win over Newcastle will seal second place as well.
Getting into Europe’s most prestigious club competition is always a huge positive – every manager in the world will agree with that.
But, for years, Wenger was ridiculed for aiming for a top-four finish.
In his press conference on Friday, Arteta was asked if he, like Wenger, thinks finishing in the top four is like winning a trophy this season.
The Arsenal manager realised where that was going and rightly said, as per HaytersTV: “I know how those words were used in the past. I’m not going to fall into that trap.”
What did Arsene Wenger actually say about the top four?
For years, people have credited Wenger with the phrase: ‘Top four is like winning a trophy’.
The legendary Frenchman is one of the greatest managers in the history of the game, but people tried to ruin his reputation by taking his words out of context.
What did Wenger actually say?
Well, back in February 2012, Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup after losing to Sunderland. The Premier League and the League Cup were already gone by that point, and everyone knew that they weren’t going to go all the way in the Champions League.
After the defeat in the FA Cup, Wenger’s focus was on finishing inside the top four to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
So, he said, as per The Guardian: “The first trophy is to finish in the top four. And that’s still possible. I believe finishing fourth is vital for us, so let’s focus on that.”
A fourth-place finish gave Arsenal the money they needed to pay off their stadium debt, so that was extremely important for the survival of the club.
That was what Wenger was alluding to, but some sections of the media blew things out of proportion.
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