The Psychology of Arsene Wenger

There a number of good reasons that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been in charge of the Premier League club for nearly 20 years now. Apart from the great support he has from both the club, its members and of course its fans, Arsene is one of those rare managers who consistently employs a number of various techniques in order to ensure that his intentions and emotions cannot be easily read by his peers. These psychological and emotionless mind games, even to this day, help the 65-year old frustrate his competitors and make him one of the most restrained and phlegmatic managers in the league.

Arsene keeps his cards very close to his chest and more often than not gives very little away both regarding his demeanour and his body language. He’s renowned for having a good 'poker face' especially when he faces some grilling questions during pre and post-match interviews. And it’s these psychological aspects used to accompany his professional prowess that has helped lead both him and his team to great success over the years. During his English managerial career he has bought 3 league titles and 5 FA Cup trophies to the club. Unfortunately he still finds himself chasing that elusive European trophy and is often hailed as arguably the greatest manager still never to win the top flight title.

It’s not just the gameplay itself where he utilises his skills. As we previously mentioned, he will often portray his characteristic deadpan poker face in post-match interviews. Even if the Gunner’s faced a heavy defeat or his team put in a less than impressive performance, his unemotional detachment leaves you wondering just what he’s thinking. He never shows his hand but often even the most hardened tacticians cannot conceal their true frustrations when they are sitting there at the side line. But even away from the games themselves you’ll often find Arsene fairly reserved even during the January transfer window.

Back in December, the Arsenal manager stated that “If everybody’s fit, we don’t need to go into the transfer market.” And in a season so far that has been far from satisfactory, this wasn’t exactly music to the ears of many a Arsenal supporter. With the club already carrying a far from enviable injury list and floundering just outside of the top 4 spot, the statement managed to earn Arsene continuing criticism and a backlash from football fans. Since then, however, they have signed up 17-year old Polish midfielder Krystian Bielik from Legia Warsaw for somewhere in the region of £2.5 million.

There is of course a chance that this recent criticism, or even added pressure from the boardroom, may have swung Arsene’s decision in a different direction. And the ever increasing strain from the aforementioned injury list could have had a huge bearing on the decision. But with an experienced manipulator such as Arsene, in all likelihood it was simply a piece of misdirection aimed at his opponents. Concealing true intentions and plans publicly during a press conference or interview is a particularly useful technique to employ. It helps mask his plans from his opponents as well as the media, whom will often misinterpret and over-analyse pretty much everything they see or hear. Of course this strategy may give him the edge over his rivals but it also means that the club’s fans are often left bemused and perturbed by his comments.

Sometimes Arsene’s ‘offish’ attitude can often be misconstrued as ignorance or simply disrespectful. "The only game for me where we were really beaten was at Liverpool," Wenger stated referring to last season’s 5-1 drubbing at Anfield. "The others were a bit more coincidences going negatively together.” Such comments once more raised a few eyebrows in the footballing world and again helped shine the spotlight on the manager’s mindset and his approach to tactics and strategy.

It’s these mind games, that mirror those of a poker player, that have been so successfully implemented by the Arsenal manager - but of course, this psychology to beat your opponent can be applied to a number of other competitive sports. So whilst Arsenal continue their 2015 campaign strategy we’re certain that we’ll continue to see a number of footballing scenarios operated by Wenger in order to help both gain advantage and to subtlety and psychologically intimidate opponents.

The transfer window remains open until 11pm on 2nd of February, and so there is still plenty of time for Arsene to continue his intentional mind games.