Football: 'I didn't expect to win the championship'

Adam Szreter listens to Arsene Wenger hold forth on the joys of winning the title

A JUBILANT Arsene Wenger, able to relax just a little for the first time in weeks, paid tribute to the fighting qualities of his Arsenal side after he had become the first overseas manager to win the League title in England.

"We had to battle very hard and it just shows you that if we hadn't won our ten games in a row we wouldn't be champions today. We went into every game knowing that not to win the game would mean losing the championship.

"I am very proud of my players because they were fantastic all season and I would say that team spirit was the real star of the season, because everybody contributed so well."

"A symbol of that is the goal of Tony Adams at the end because it was Steve Bould who put him through. I think Bould was an important player in our bad period, so I was very happy for him."

Wenger went on to reveal that he had good reasons for keeping his cards close to his chest as the Gunners moved closer to the title. "I've had to keep my emotions in check until now, because I knew that many people thought a foreign manager couldn't win the championship. If we hadn't won it, everybody would have come back with that story. I also thought for us to have come so far and lose it now would have been disastrous - so I tried to keep everybody calm.

"It's difficult to put my emotions into words, because I am not a writer, I'm just somebody who tries to do what he can do, and I'm not very good at speaking about what I feel."

Asked if he felt that the title had slipped beyond Arsenal's grasp at any stage, Wenger said: "I felt at one moment the championship was over. Of course, I couldn't say it. But it was when we were 13 points behind and knowing how strong Manchester United are. But the turning point maybe was the win at Manchester United and that brought us back in our minds to believe we could make it.

"I didn't expect to win the championship at the start of the season, because we had many new players - and that's always a risk because the stability in the team can be lost.

"Our defensive record at the beginning of the season was very bad, but it became good from January."

Arsenal, of course, still have the Cup Final to look forward to but for now Wenger revealed that he intends to take at least one night off. "Now I would like to relax tonight and have a good dinner with a good French wine," he said.

Nigel Winterburn was making his 500th appearance for the club and was one of the survivors from Arsenal's last championship winning side in 1991. "I don't like to make comparisons," he said. "But one difference with team to George Graham's team is that we play with a lot more flair and the manager encourages you to go out and play."

As to his own future Winterburn said: "When you get to a certain age you start to doubt if you'll ever win another title. People write you off, but it makes you stronger."

Emmanuel Petit, substituted at half time with a bad injury after an outstanding first half, said: "It was difficult for me on the pitch, but we enjoyed the game and we've done it. I won the championship with Monaco last year and I've won it now with Arsenal."

And two goal hero Marc Overmars added: "We know Everton needed the points, so 4-0 was a great result for us. This is why I came to another country to win another championship. It's been a great season. We've won the Premier league and now we play in the final, so it's looking good."