West Ham manager Avram Grant thinks he can emulate what Arsene
Wenger has done at Arsenal - if he is given the time.
Grant's side are bottom of the Barclays Premier League and he is
under increasing pressure after last week's 2-1 home defeat to
Newcastle.
Under pressure: Avram Grant
West Ham travel to the Emirates to face second-placed Arsenal,
and their Israeli boss, 55, will look toward the home dug-out for
motivation. Wenger has won three Premier League titles and four FA
Cups in his 14 years in England, with the Frenchman inspiring Grant
as he bids to succeed at Upton Park.
He said: 'I don't like to take examples from other teams but we
(Grant and Wenger) share the same ideas. On the football side,
building a team from the Academy, that will be the vision for West
Ham - the same as Arsenal, more or less.
'I spoke with Arsene about this and he told me a lot about his
first year at Arsenal, that it wasn't easy and he had many
difficulties. Of course, you need time. You don't just push a
button and everything becomes good. Any club need to have a vision,
a strategy, when things aren't going well and also when they are
going well. You always have to stick with the person that you
have.
'I speak to Arsene all the time, I have known him for more than
10 years. We have a good relationship. He is a great man and a
great manager and you have to respect him.
Inspiration: Grant looks up to Arsene
Wenger
'Also Sir Alex Ferguson struggled in his first year at
Manchester United. There is no other way when you want to build
something good and have the right foundations.
'Imagine if Arsene and Ferguson hadn't been allowed to carry on
after the first year, the history of Arsenal and United would be
different - and we wouldn't have such a difficult game
tomorrow.'
Grant is one of the favourites to lose his job with West Ham
struggling, but he insists he does not feel under pressure,
especially when he remembers what he had to put up with at
Portsmouth last season.
He said: 'I don't read these things. You can't control opinion,
you need to accept it. I'll always say to players, focus on your
jobs. I know what I need to do at West Ham.
'I don't think anybody in top-flight football has experienced
what I did last year at Portsmouth. It gave me experience, maybe
not positive experience. On the football side it was very
difficult.'
