INTERVIEW
Arsène Wenger keeps a sharp eye on the world of football. The former Arsenal coach, now responsible for the development of world football at Fifa, gave his point of view on French football, Sunday on Europe 1 at the microphone of Charles Villeneuve. If he is full of praise for the Blues, "a very strong national team", and on the French formation, which according to him has the "best tank in the world", he is however much more circumspect on the level of Ligue 1.
"France has very good players. On the other hand, the French championship has weakened, since we cannot keep our best players," lamented Arsène Wenger.
"We are seeing the results at European level"
The Alsatian then explained the reasons for this weakening. "When players mature at 23-24 years old, they go abroad. Those who come back are often those who do not fully succeed abroad, but that is not enough," pointed out Arsene Wenger. "We see the results at European level, with the exception of PSG, which has the means of the big English clubs with a budget above 500 million euros. With this budget, you have access to the big players", analysis he does.
If Lyon managed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League this season, the European results of French clubs (excluding PSG) have been generally disappointing in recent years, apart from the beautiful course of Monaco (semi-final of the League Champions 2017) and OM (Europa League final in 2018).
"When next season starts, we'll all be wondering who's going to finish second"
Arsène Wenger also refuted the argument, often used in France, of Ligue 1's lack of competitiveness to explain PSG's difficulties in the Champions League. "You shouldn't find false reasons why Paris Saint-Germain haven't won the Champions League yet. Even Real Madrid haven't won it sometimes for 10-15 years, then suddenly they won it three times in a row, ”he said.
The Arsenal icon, however, admitted that a "lack of interest" in Ligue 1, due to the gap between PSG and the other teams. "The lack of competition is in my opinion for the sake of the national championship, because when the next season starts, we will all be wondering who will finish second. And that is not normal. Not necessarily for the League of champions, but for the sake of the national championship, "argued Arsène Wenger.