Saturday, 6th September, 2014
Charles Villeneuve, former sports chief at TF1, believes the French TV channel have made a mistake in letting Arsene Wenger go as their football analyst after ten years of service.
Wenger, a Frenchman, whose managerial career has spanned clubs in France, Japan and England, with Premier League side Arsenal, was given the boot yesterday with the French broadcaster refusing to renew his contract, citing the 64-year-old's "minimalist" commentary style as the reason.
Speaking to French sports paper L'Equipe yesterday, Villeneuve, who recruited Wenger as an analyst in 2004, was adamant that he did not approve of TF1's decision.
"It's purely financial", he said. "Even though Arsene Wenger had already made a substantial financial effort last year.
"The economic conditions have quite certainly forced them to take this kind of decision today."
And the 73-year-old believes the Arsenal manager is the ideal person for the job, explaining the reason behind his decision to take on the Alsatian in 2004.
"I needed an analyst who knew how to bring the debate back into focus every eight to ten minutes and who knew how to analyse the game we were watching. Who would have been better than a Frenchman who is successful in London with a big historic club, who knew the game and the players and had the brains to talk about management?
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"Arsene ticked all these boxes. In terms of quality, you couldn't have had anyone better in France! Separating from Wenger is the equivalent to separating from quality."
The news of his imminent departure at TF1 was said to have come as a shock to Wenger, who had been part of a two-man commentary team during the France national team's games over the past decade.
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