Arsenal manager Wenger: I miss title race mind-games

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes the press hype up mind-games too much, but admits he would have liked to have been involved as it would mean his side were title contenders this season.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has been trading verbal blows with his Manchester City counterpart Roberto Mancini as the race for the championship reaches a climax.

With his side now only chasing third spot, Wenger has admitted he misses being in the spotlight.

“We observe it from the outside and I would prefer to be in there, because what you want is to be involved in the title race and we were not. That is basically sad,” the Frenchman told the club’s official website.

“But I don’t think that until now, from the mind-games I have seen, it has had a direct influence on results.

“The newspapers always like that [mind-games] but we could never measure the influence of that on the players. 

“I was in that situation many times – when you lose they think you lost the mind games and when you win they say you won the mind-games. But I am not completely sure that it has a massive influence on the players. 

“What is important is the direct environment of the team. If it unsettles them then it can have an influence. One famous example that the press always gives is Kevin Keegan [when he was Newcastle manager in 1996], so it can sometimes make a manager nervous, but Roberto Mancini looks quite calm.”