WENGER NOT SHOCKED

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson recently announced his retirement after more than 26 years at the helm of Manchester United. This left many shocked because there were no signs of retirement only a few weeks ago. Rumours about the same started a couple of days ago only to be confirmed by Manchester United. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is not one of those shocked after the Frenchman has revealed at he knew about such a decision from the several signs he has seen this season.

Ferguson revealed that he held negotiations with Wenger for several months for the transfer of Robin van Persie. Wenger has revealed that Ferguson hinted on several occasions that this may be his last season at Old Trafford. Ferguson leaves the club as one of the greatest managers in the world, while also leaving a lasting legacy as well. Ferguson has won 38 trophies during his time at Manchester United including the latest Premier league trophy. He has been a major adversary to Wenger over the years and the Frenchman has stated that the game will definitely miss him.

Wenger has said that it will be difficult for Manchester United to find a replacement for Ferguson, but the club has been linked with a move for David Moyes.

“I was not surprised and I told my staff a long time ago that I think it will be Alex Ferguson’s last year. I detected a few signs through the season – there was already one of them before the season started, that it could be his final year. There is a double challenge now. The first is for Manchester United to replace a guy of that stature, and the second challenge for Alex Ferguson is to have a life as passionate and as interesting as the life he had until now,” said Wenger.

TOO PHYSICAL

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has criticised the physical approach taken by Everton in the recent 0-0 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates stadium. Arsenal and Everton came into the encounter with the possibility of finishing in the top four. As a result, there was a lot at stake in the match. Wenger said after the match that he was not happy with some of the tackles made by Everton, while he also criticised referee Neil Swarbrick for not punishing Everton. Wenger especially singled out midfielder Darren Gibson for his tackle on winger Theo Walcott.

Wenger said that he was happy to see his team deal with the physical threat in the second half, but he is disappointed at not having taken all three points from the match. Everton manager David Moyes, though, defended the approach of his team saying that it is the norm of northern clubs to be tough in the tackles. Arsenal did not create a lot of opportunities in the first half, but Wenger felt that his team should have won all three points for their play in the second half. As a result of the dropped points, Wenger’s team have fallen behind Chelsea.

Chelsea managed to win the match against Fulham 3-0 on Wednesday night. “I felt that in the first half the referee didn’t deal at all well with the intimidating physical challenges, but that we responded well to the physicality. It was detrimental to the fluency of our game, but we kept going, had good concentration. But that is part of the game. We had to deal with that. You have to respect the effort Everton put in. I don’t blame Everton for that. ‘Protecting’ is a big word, but they (referees) have to make the right decisions,” said Wenger after the match against Everton.