Arsène Wenger is set to reach 1,000 games as a manager of Arsenal Football Club on Sunday when his side take om Chelsea at Stamford Bridge The Frenchman's first match at the Club was at Blackburn Rovers on October 12, 1996 and he has gone on to oversee 998 more in his 17 years as manager
He will reach four figures in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off at Chelsea, and while he is aware of the landmark he insists his focus is on claiming the three points
[Wenger on Arsenal Player]
Interviewer: "Arsène, Chelsea is your thousandth game in charge, I'm sure you're aware - you're not a man that likes landmarks so much, but how does that make you feel - a thousand games in charge of Arsenal?"
Arsène: "It makes you feel 'where did the time go?' It looks to me like I started yesterday, I can't believe, basically that, it is such a long time. Why? Because you're always focused on looking forward to the next game and when you look back you think I made quite a distance there. Despite that, your only interest is the next game, our drug is the next game, the hope for the next game, the desire to win the next one.
“You go step by step and finally when you look back it's a long time. I would just like to say for me it's an honour to manage a club of this dimension for such a long time and I would like to thank everybody who is involved in the Club for giving me such a confidence for such a long time and I would like to thank everybody who's involved with the Club for giving me such a confidence for such a long time. I just will try to be at the level of expectations of this Club and try to win the next game"
Interviewer: "We all know the big games that you've played, the trophy winning games, but do you remember the games that you've learned the most from as a manager?"
Arsène: "You learn from every game, you learn more from the lost games than the games won. Certainly because you go into deeper an*lysis, you question yourself more, you question the players more and you learn basically when you are at Arsenal Football Club the most from the higher the level goes up, the more you see the limitations of your team and your players. You learn the most in the biggest games when the pressure is there, when the talent is against you and when the pace of the game is at the top, top level. This is where you learn the most."
Interviewer: "What did you learn about Arsenal Football Club, was there any game that brought home to you the size of the Club or the way the Club wanted you to act?"
Arsène: "No, I think the responsibility of a manager is as well to make sure during his time that his club becomes bigger and stronger as a unit, you know? I think we have achieved altogether at the Club is to transform this Club in a modern way, in a much bigger size and that this Club is today respected and loved all over the Club. I think everybody at the Club contributed to that. But as well what I like about this Club is that we have done that march forward without losing respect for the tradition and traditional values of the Club. That are based on respect, for respect on the achievements of people that have been at this Club and I'm very proud that this Club has managed to keep a good balance between respect of tradition and move forward.
Interviewer: "What game would you most like to replay?"
Arsène: "So many, I would say I would like to replay every defeat and the Champions League Final with eleven men in 2006 certainly, will be a regret forever, because it happened to us again against Bayern you know. And that game again I would love to see what would have happened if we stayed eleven against eleven against Bayern. Basically the games where there was a huge thing at stake and you come out with a feeling that you have not really played with all your cards
Interviewer: "And lastly, what's your favourite game of the 999?"
Arsène: "Maybe the Barcelona game on the Champions League night [in 2011] or the first winning title against Everton, it was so, so important. I hope that the next game will be my favourite game."
Source: Arsenal.com