Untold at the AGM; what Mr Wenger really said « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade

Arsene’s Speech at the AGM

After hearing Arsene’s speech at the AGM in full, I decided that it should be transcribed and submitted (slightly edited) as a full article. Overall, Arsene touched on many relevant issues that are discussed regularly on this blog, and I thought that we could all benefit from hearing his comments largely unedited. But even more importantly, I thought this speech included a good message to Arsenal fans, and I wanted to do my part to ensure that his words reached as many fans as possible. The speech follows.  -Anne

“Good afternoon, I’m happy to have the opportunity to speak to you. Usually I speak to you through the medias, and they don’t always reflect what I say…

I hope…that in many, many years, people will look at this period and think that we have put the club on the right track. That we have defended the right values, and that they will think that together we were not too stupid. I believe that the values we defend are highly defendable, because we want to do things with class. We want, of course, to be very ambitious.

We want as well to be very brave, because I believe that this club has always been very brave in its decisions. Courage is a quality that I admire because it’s a very needed quality in the modern world. I feel I can see a lot of fear, even discontentment amongst you, and I can understand that, because we live in a world where we fight with people who have extremely high resources. The way we can compete is to try to be intelligent, but as well is to be united.

Because football is difficult, very difficult, to be consistent, and as Ivan said, we have been more consistent than anybody else in the world in the last 15 years, and to stay at the top, top level, we have to be united.And that does not mean that I am not to be criticized. I accept that, but towards the outside we have to show that we are united, because that’s the only way that you can survive at the top. It’s difficult enough if you are united. If you’re not united, that’s it. You have no chance.

We defend as well values that, at the moment, at the time, are questioned, but a self-sufficient model. Do we want to change that, or not? I believe, and I take full responsibility for that, we can be competitive the way we run the club. The players… we lost two world class players, but do not judge too quickly the players we bought, because I think they are top, top level. And I would remind you that some world class players have arrived here in August and not played before September, November, some of them, and became after world class players.

We had a very difficult start. We had a very difficult environment at the start of the season, and we were under tremendous pressure. I would just like to come back on last season. Because last season was the season, I must tell you, maybe the most difficult to accept with its end result. Somewhere, some days, I thought maybe it was completely my fault that I convinced the players that you could go for all four competitions, and that you can win every single trophy.

Because I believe, overall, we had a very good season, performance-wise. It finished very badly, but we were competitive in all the competitions.We lost, unfortunately, at the last minute in the Carling cup. We went out in the last minute against Barcelona…and against Liverpool in the championship, and of course everything after was judged in a negative way. But the overall performance that the team has put in last year was much better than the credit we got in the end…

I think we have a very good basic situation. For example, I was a lot under pressure to buy a goalkeeper, and we were faithful to the goalkeepers we have, and I think everybody would agree today that we have sorted the problems out, and that we have good goalkeepers, world class goalkeepers, and that the basics of our team, of our potential, is right….

In the media, of course, we don’t get any credit at the moment.. Because I think the team is on the right way, the team has a fantastic attitude and spirit, and we are capable to compete. Because we will compete. Where will we finish at the end of the season? Frankly, I don’t know. I know just one thing, that these players that we have at the moment, they are ready for a fight. Because I see them behave every day, and they are ready to have a go.

Not many people at the moment are behind us, but I believe that we can be a surprise, and a positive surprise. So let’s, what I would like to invite you to do… Let’s stand behind this team. And I believe that we started, at the Emirates, with a very different environment, because people were very skeptical. But people understood two things:

First of all, if you do not get behind the team, we have no chance.

Secondly, I think as well that people realized that this team has the right attitude and the right spirit, and that, even during the difficult periods in the last two home games, the fans were absolutely fantastic, behind the team.

What we had not seen at the end of the season, and it’s time to realize: Yes, times are more difficult. But yes, we can still be successful on the one condition that we all stand behind the team and are united, and at the end of the season, we’ll see where we stand. Then, if we gain absolutely everything, and do fight together for every single game, for every single competition, we can be..proud.. of what we have achieved.

I am personally convinced that we have a chance to qualify again, and I know as well that in the modern world that ticket pricing is a problem. We spoke about that a lot at the board before that decision has been made, but just to keep the players, we have to put our wages up so high that the financial situation becomes more difficult for us. That’s why I can understand that you feel punished by that, but it’s a decision that…gives us a chance to keep our players, and unfortunately it’s the real situation we face at the moment.

So, I know I’ve been talking too much already, and I would just like personally to turn around the skepticism that is surrounding this club at the moment. For me, it’s too high. And if I would just like to achieve one thing today, it’s trust us. This team has qualities. This team will fight, and if you help us to do that, I think we have a chance to have a successful season.

Thank you very much.

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