Sir Alex Ferguson has defended Arsene Wenger and says the Frenchman is right to stick to his philosophy in the face of criticism.
The 66-year-old came under fierce criticism last season after his Arsenal side capitulated in the title run-in and were knocked out at the Champions League last-16 stage for the fifth season in a row.
There have been calls for Wenger to step down this summer but Ferguson has praised his former and says it takes great courage to stay principled in today’s game.He’s been fantastic,’ said Ferguson.
‘Now he gets a lot of criticism, but I admire that that you’re not going to bend to the will of the critics. He stays with what he believes in. And I think people who do that are outstanding coaches.
‘When you talk about consistency, Arsene’s never changed the way that his side has played. I think he inherited a team when he first came to Arsenal with Steve Bould and Martin Keown and Tony Adams – fantastic warriors – but his team evolved when they started getting players like Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Emmanuel Petit, Sylvain Wiltord. There was a change in the culture of the team.
‘They became a magnificent team and the particular experience that Arsene got with that team… he has never changed in the type of player he wants or the sort of play he wants. It’s always about penetration from runners off the ball, good passes into angles for the strikers.’
The 66-year-old came under fierce criticism last season after his Arsenal side capitulated in the title run-in and were knocked out at the Champions League last-16 stage for the fifth season in a row.
There have been calls for Wenger to step down this summer but Ferguson has praised his former and says it takes great courage to stay principled in today’s game.He’s been fantastic,’ said Ferguson.
‘Now he gets a lot of criticism, but I admire that that you’re not going to bend to the will of the critics. He stays with what he believes in. And I think people who do that are outstanding coaches.
‘When you talk about consistency, Arsene’s never changed the way that his side has played. I think he inherited a team when he first came to Arsenal with Steve Bould and Martin Keown and Tony Adams – fantastic warriors – but his team evolved when they started getting players like Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Emmanuel Petit, Sylvain Wiltord. There was a change in the culture of the team.
‘They became a magnificent team and the particular experience that Arsene got with that team… he has never changed in the type of player he wants or the sort of play he wants. It’s always about penetration from runners off the ball, good passes into angles for the strikers.’
No comments:
Post a Comment