Wenger battles travel sickness
Friday 23 August 2002
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By Andrew Warshaw
It is one of those great footballing conundrums. How can a side be virtually invincible away from home in their own domestic league yet struggle so badly on the road when it comes to European competition?
Unresolved question
It is a question Arsenal FC manager Arsène Wenger has grappled with throughout not one but two summers and one which he is determined to resolve when the reigning English champions have another crack at the UEFA Champions League next month.
Premiership brilliance
Few people who watched Wenger's FA Premiership-winning team can fail to have been impressed with the way they performed away from their Highbury stadium last season. Usually, home matches are the barometer by which coaches judge their teams' aspirations, with any away successes treated as a welcome bonus but Wenger's side bucked that trend in 2001-2 with an astonishing away record that yielded not a single defeat and only five draws to go with 14 victories.
Unbeaten sequence
At home, just to put things into perspective, the Gunners lost a mere three league games but it was on the road where they won the title with a style based on mobility and quickness and an unbeaten sequence that had never been matched in the modern era of English football.
Misery in Turin
Yet in the Champions' League, it all once again went painfully awry. Two seasons ago it was Valencia CF who scuppered Arsenal's hopes but when they went to Juventus FC in 2001/02 with the Italians already eliminated, it seemed almost certain Wenger's side would march ever closer to a place in the final. Instead, Arsenal buckled, losing 1-0 in Turin while Bayer 04 Leverkusen pipped them to a place in the quarter-finals by triumphing at RC Deportivo La Coruña.
Trophy ambitions
The defeats against Valencia and Juventus still hurt Wenger, who has a burning ambition to win Europe's biggest prize and emulate Manchester United FC's achievement of three years ago.
'We want to be the best'
"The Champions League is very important because we want to be the best in Europe and to do that you have to win it," said Wenger. "I want so much to do it because the club never has."
Better than Bayer
He adds: "We feel we have twice got very close. We thought we were better than Valencia when they beat us and got to the final two seasons ago and also better than Bayer Leverkusen who of course also reached the final last season after playing us in the qualifying stage. We think we have a fair chance this time."
'We can beat that'
On the domestic front, Wenger genuinely believes his side can win a second straight league and cup double and their third in six years. "The attitude we showed last year was to win every game we played and we want to go on like that," he said. "Last season we got 87 points and I think we can beat that. I still think winning your domestic championship is the real sign of a top-level team. We have an in-built enthusiasm."
French offer
As his team began the defence of their English Premiership title, Wenger also revealed that he had turned down the chance to manage his country after the World Cup. He says he was approached by the French Football Federation (FFF) to take over from Roger Lemerre in the light of the outgoing world champions' disappointing display in Korea/Japan but preferred to remain with his club.
Momentous decision
"I was in touch with the president of the French Football Federation after what happened but I never considered taking the job," said Wenger. "I wanted to be successful again with Arsenal because I worked hard to put the team together." If his side can break their UEFA Champions League duck this year, it could turn out to be the greatest decision of Wenger's career.
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