Allardyce mocks 'arrogant' Wenger, Benitez - Capital Sports
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

English Premiership

Allardyce mocks ‘arrogant’ Wenger, Benitez

Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger

LONDON, October 13- New Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has accused his Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger of “arrogance” and says he takes special pleasure in inflicting defeat upon the Frenchman.

Allardyce, 60, repeatedly gave Wenger problems during his time as Bolton Wanderers manager between 1999 and 2007 and they will cross swords again this season following Allardyce’s appointment at the Stadium of Light.

“I enjoyed beating Arsenal more than anyone when I was in charge at Bolton. We’d really got to them and Arsene Wenger hated us,” Allardyce writes in his autobiography, ‘Big Sam’, which is being serialised in The Sun.

“Of course, Arsenal beat us sometimes, but we drew with them or beat them more often than expected and Wenger couldn’t handle it.

“There was one time he wouldn’t shake hands with me at Highbury because we got a draw. I saw him ripping his tie off and throwing it on the floor in anger.

“He takes it all very personally and has an air of arrogance. He’s not one for inviting you into his office for a drink after games.

“He’s a fantastic manager, I cannot deny that. But the more I could wind him up, the more I liked it.”

Allardyce also takes a pop at the former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, now in charge at Real Madrid, who he clashed with during his time at Blackburn Rovers.

“Rafa Benitez was another one,” Allardyce says. “When we beat his Liverpool team he would complain, ‘They don’t play my type of football.’

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

“What was that, then? Winning football? He didn’t like me and he thought he was superior.”

Allardyce also plays down Benitez’s role in Liverpool’s famous comeback victory over AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final, arguing it had more to do with captain Steven Gerrard than the Spaniard.

“Of course he can say he won the Champions League with Liverpool, which is something I never did,” Allardyce says. “But it was nowt (nothing) to do with him.”

Allardyce, who has also managed Newcastle United and West Ham United, was appointed as Sunderland’s new manager on a two-year contract last Friday following the departure of Dick Advocaat.

Advertisement

More on Capital Sports

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 27 – DStv and GOtv subscribers are in for a treat of the world’s best football this week as the 2020-21...

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25 – There is light at the end of the tunnel. After failed promises over the last three years since its...

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 6 – Gentrix Shikangwa scored with two minutes left as Vihiga Queens sailed to the final of the CECAFA regional qualifiers...

NFL

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 13 – Kenya’s history making Daniel Adongo, the first Kenyan to play in America’s National Football League (NFL), is now living...

© 2024 Capital Digital Media. Capital Group Limited. All Rights Reserved