ENGLISH FA CUP: PAUL DOYLE talks to Arsenal's Gael Clichy who believes sacking manager Arsene Wenger is unthinkable
GAEL CLICHY is the most intelligent footballer in England. At least that is the conclusion that could be drawn from statistics which show he has intercepted more passes than any other player in the Premier League – with 118 interceptions he has made nine more than his Arsenal team-mate Denilson, the only other player in triple figures.
“I didn’t know that, thank you for telling me,” chirps the 23-year-old Frenchman when these figures are put to him.
“I think that shows one of my qualities in the game,” he adds. “I’m small so I cannot compete with other players so I have to react quickly and see one second ahead of them.”
Clichy’s career got off to a similarly speedy start. Though he was deputy to Ashley Cole when he arrived at Arsenal before the 2003-04 season, the 12 appearances he made that term were enough to earn him a medal as Arsenal won the title without losing a match. “When you have such a reward in your first season you think it’s going to be success after success but unfortunately sport is not like that.”
Though he has made the left-back berth his own since Cole defected to Chelsea, the only silverware he has since got his hands on is the 2005 FA Cup, which Arsenal won on penalties after being outplayed by Manchester United.
With his club now 16 points behind United in the league, Clichy accepts his best chance of embellishing his trophy collection this season is in the FA Cup again, in which Arsenal face Burnley tomorrow, or the Champions League, where Roma await on Wednesday with designs on overturning the Londoners’ 1-0 first-leg lead. “They are two targets we can achieve if we perform really well and are without injuries,” he says.
Arsenal have beaten Manchester United and Chelsea in the league this season and Clichy believes they would have found a consistency that reflects those results if Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor, Theo Walcott, Eduardo and Tomas Rosicky had been available. “You can’t hide behind luck because it is part of the game but I guess that, if you take five main players out of Man U at the same time and keep them out for five months, things would be different.”
Arsenal fans have shown their contempt for such excuses in recent weeks by booing the team off the pitch after a series of scoreless home draws, and casting doubt on Arsene Wenger’s competence is no longer taboo.
Clichy supports the fans’ right to vent their spleen but maintains that ousting Wenger would be a blunder. “Arsenal want to be the best and fifth place is not enough. When we talk, all the players understand the fans are frustrated, just as we are frustrated, and they are right to express themselves. But I can’t say I agree with them.
“When I heard that Arsenal wanted to sign me six years ago the first thing I thought about was the fact that the boss is here and I knew he would be here for many years to come. As a footballer you just want to focus on football and when something happens to the coach it’s difficult to cope with. When you see a club like Chelsea, who have had a few managers in one year, that’s tough.
“All the success at this club over the years is down to him, so we have to give him time. This year it is a different team but we have to respect what he’s done for the club. Arsenal want to be the best, of course, so there is frustration when the results aren’t there. But it’s funny that when you don’t get results it’s always managers who get criticism. It’s up to them to make something happen, of course, but it’s also up to the players on the pitch. We’re going to fight to win something this year for him.”
If sacking Wenger is unthinkable, Clichy also reckons that anyone plotting to lure him away, as Manchester City owners are reported to be contemplating, is doomed to failure. “It’s not a concern. I truly feel he will stay here until the end of his contract. The boss has shown that he has more than a lot of commitment to his club.”
GuardianService
