SIR ALEX FERGUSON says the achievements of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal Invincibles ‘stand above everything else’ in football.
Fergie, 79, long ago buried the hatchet with his rival manager following 17 years in which the pair clashed in opposite Premier League dugouts.
In a rare public outing since his life-saving brain surgery more than three years ago, the former Manchester United manager will appear in the forthcoming Amazon Prime Video documentary about the ex-Arsenal boss.
Considering what he did in football at Old Trafford – two Champions League titles, 13 Premier League crowns, the historic 1998-99 Treble-winning season – it is a surprise to hear Fergie elevate Wenger’s feats above his own.
Yet in 2003-04 Arsenal did what no team in the top-flight had done since Preston in 1888-89 – survive an entire league season without losing.
Ferguson said: “The achievements stand above everything else.”
Elsewhere in the newly-released two-minute trailer for “Arsene Wenger – Invincible”, Ferguson is seen reflecting on the heated rivalry that took centre stage throughout the late 1990s and 2000s.
The Scot said: “I’m saying to myself: ‘Is he looking for a war?’”
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Wenger left Arsenal in 2018 after 22 years in charge, during which time he won three league titles, a record seven FA Cups and played a pivotal role in the club’s move from Highbury to the Emirates.
Asked for his lifelong relationship with football, the Frenchman claims he has the “addiction gene” but “this desire of hating to lose makes you sometimes inhuman”.
The Frenchman, 71, added: “You want to discover something more. What football can give you. You transform it into art.”
The documentary does not shy away from recalling the final days of Wenger’s tenure in North London.
In that last season, there was a toxic atmosphere surrounding the club with many Gunners fans protesting and calling for a change.
Wenger lamented: “You realise that the end of something it’s like a funeral.”
Former Holland playmaker Dennis Bergkamp, ranked among the best stars in Premier League history, added: “It would have been easier if he would have made the decision.”
The doc includes contributions from Arsenal legends Thierry Henry (“Arsene changed my life”), Patrick Vieira (“When the manager is defending you, you will die for him”), Robert Pires, Ian Wright and Emmanuel Petit.
Devised and directed by the same people who produced acclaimed documentaries on Jack Charlton and Bobby Robson, the Wenger film comes to cinemas on November 11 and then Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on November 22.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
