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Wenger in racism row
Arsene Wenger last night lambasted Alan Pardew, the West Ham manager, for observing that multi-national sides like Arsenal were "losing the soul of British football". "Racism starts there," Wenger retorted.
Following Arsenal's Champions League success over Real Madrid, which has brought a quarter-final against Patrick Vieira's Juventus, Pardew commented that Arsenal's progress was not necessarily a triumph for British football. In the absence of Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole, Wenger's side did not contain any British players against Real on Wednesday.
Pardew's sentiments were echoed yesterday by David O'Leary, the Aston Villa manager, who observed that his former club's stance was "not good for the national team".
Wenger was upset. "It's really disappointing for two reasons," said the Frenchman. "First, we kick racism out of football and racism starts there, and, second, when you're a manager you want to accept a technical opinion but not that kind of remark. It's very, very disappointing to hear that because it's a regressive way of thinking.
"I would never like to say to a player you are better but you do not play because you don't have the right passport. When Alan Pardew calls me at the beginning of the season and asks for Jeremie Aliadiere [the French forward] on loan, he doesn't check if he's English or not - he just checks if he's good or not. It's just painful.
"When you represent a club it's about values and qualities, not about passports. But do we not respect the rules that exist at the moment? I try to choose the best player and my pride in my career is not to choose somebody because of his passport. I rate Theo Walcott [the English teenager] and I think he will be a great player, but I took him because he is a great player."
Uefa, the governing body of European football, want all squads to employ a number of home-grown players. "I find silly this rule of six," Wenger responded. "It's more to protect the national teams than to make football progress. If it makes the national team progress I don't care because international football is low, not the best quality.
"We'll have to adapt to respect this rule even though I fought as hard as I could against it. It's sad for the game."
The Arsenal manager added: "Who minds on Wednesday night if Roberto Carlos is Spanish or not? You paid £50 to watch a football game, you want to see quality. We're not in 1950. People can see the best football when they like, just switch on the button. Real Madrid against Arsenal has been seen by more than 100 countries in the world - they don't care where people come from."
Arsenal will play the first leg against Juventus at Highbury on March 28, with the second leg in Turin on April 5. If Arsenal beat Juventus they will play the winners of the Ajax or Inter Milan versus Villarreal quarter-final.