The Frenchman agreed a three-year contract last week to commit
himself to Arsenal until 2011 and, after being hailed by Bob Wilson
as the club's greatest manager at the launch of the new Arsenal
Opus book, he said that he wanted to finish his career at the
Emirates Stadium.
"I am at a stage in my career now where I don't want to be
associated with anyone else," he said. "I met this club at the
right moment of my life. I was mature enough to give what I had
learnt. I had difficult times at the start, but the club was always
behind me."
Arsenal face Tottenham at White Hart Lane tomorrow and the
comparison between Wenger and Martin Jol, whose own relationship
with his club's directors has been the subject of intense
conjecture, is difficult to ignore.
"It is like a marriage," said Wenger. "You need clear rules at the
start - you have the freedom to accept them or not. I had the
freedom to work with my ideas. I had the support of the club and
the fans. That is the biggest luxury in the job."
Wenger also admitted that Jens Lehmann is no longer his automatic
first-choice goalkeeper. Lehmann played for Germany in their Euro
2008 qualifier against Wales on Saturday, but missed Wednesday's
friendly against Romania.
Wenger says that the German has an elbow injury and he will again
start with Manuel Almunia against Tottenham. "We'll see [who is
first choice] - it's down to them," said the Arsenal manager.
Jol's selection of Pascal Chimbonda, meanwhile, for tomorrow's
derby will be unaffected by the full-back's arrest on Monday by
police as part of their investigation into corruption in
football.
"Pascal has trained, so there is no issue. For me there's no
problem," said Jol.
Spurs will also have Michael Dawson, Darren Bent and Aaron Lennon
all available for selection tomorrow. "Aaron always gives us a lot
of width and speed," said Jol.