'He made a mistake': Martin Keown says Arsene Wenger recently told him about one regret he has about Arsenal
12/13/2024 04:15 AM
Arsene Wenger's latter years at Arsenal weren't as trophy-laden as they perhaps should have been.
Indeed, Wenger didn't win a league title for over a decade from 2004, and Arsenal only won a handful of FA Cup trophies during that time.
Wenger made a few mistakes at Arsenal, that's for sure.
Selling Ashley Cole was a huge mistake according to the man himself, while Micah Richards says letting Robin van Persie go was a big mistake from Wenger.
Martin Keown recently caught up with his former manager to help write his new book, and he says that when chatting to Wenger, he told him that he made another big mistake at Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger's Arsenal mistake
Wenger told Keown that he made a mistake with his coaching staff at Arsenal.
Indeed, Keown tols the Seaman Says Podcast that Wenger feels that Keown himself should've been one of his assistants, and while Keown had to turn down that role due to personal reasons, Wenger says he made a mistake not getting the former centre-back on board.
"There are so many great players I could've sat down with. The boss and Tony were two that I wanted to speak to. I went to see Arsene Wenger. He spoke to me about saying I should've been one of his assistants and he felt he made a mistake there. He wanted me to do it. I had to explain that my father was the chief carer to my mother, and he was calling me home, so I couldn't give the time and I had to step back," Keown said.
Who was on Arsene Wenger's coaching staff?
Wenger felt that Keown would've been a key part of his coaching staff, and, interestingly, Wenger did eventually go and get some of his former players to help him on that front.
Indeed, Steve Bould was Wenger's assistant towards the end of his time at Arsenal, while Jens Lehmann came on board as a goalkeeping coach too.
Wenger's coaching staff was packed full of talented individuals.
| Arsene Wenger’s coaching staff | Role |
| Steve Bould | Assistant Manager |
| Boro Primorac | Assistant Manager |
| Jens Lehmann | Goalkeeping coach |
| Neil Banfield | First-team coach |
| Tony Colbert | Fitness coach |
| Gerry Payton | Goalkeeping specialist |
Of course, there perhaps wasn't enough representation there in terms of Arsenal legends beyond Bould and Lehmann.
Look at this current Arsenal set-up, and a lot of the backroom staff do have long-term ties to the club.
Mikel Arteta himself is a former Arsenal player, Edu was a part of The Invincibles team, Per Mertesacker was a former Arsenal captain, while Jack Wilshere recently left the club after a stint in a coaching role.
As Wenger himself admits, it was a bit of a mistake not to refresh the coaching staff and add someone like Keown into the mix.
