Wenger hoping to leave lasting legacy

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hopes to leave a lasting legacy behind him as he prepares to take charge of his 1,000th game at the club.

Wenger reaches the milestone when his side travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Premier League leaders Chelsea on Saturday.

While he has no plans to call time on his Arsenal career, the Frenchman wants to be remembered for taking the club forward when he does eventually step aside.

“Time will tell if I managed to make this club bigger than it was when I arrived but I hope so,” said Wenger, who arrived at Arsenal in 1996.

“It’s a privilege and an honour to manage 1,000 games at this club. The club has always supported me.

“This club has given me a chance and I’ve turned many things down and shown my loyalty.

“I’m extremely motivated to stay as long as possible, but I accept that the next 1,000 will be difficult.

“(On Saturday) I represent my club, I don’t represent myself and I keep my personal feelings away from that.

“The most important thing for the quality of the club is the consistency of its achievement.”

After a trophy-laden first nine years of Wenger’s reign, Arsenal have gone without silverware since 2005 and Wenger knows that must change, with Saturday’s game offering a chance to take a significant step towards ending the long drought.
Arsenal are third, four points behind Chelsea, but do have a game in hand on Jose Mourinho’s men.

He added: “It’s the game of the season for us because it will be against a direct opponent.

“We have great players so I’m confident we can win trophies. The result (on Saturday) will be linked with the performance on the day. We are on a good run.

“The next period for us is to deliver trophies and compete with everyone at the top level.”