Hargreaves pays tribute to Wenger
Owen Hargreaves has hailed the impact of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal as he prepares to face a potentially all-foreign Gunners line-up in the Champions League.
The England midfielder believes Wenger’s decision to name no British players in his squad to face Crystal Palace on Monday was a sign of the times, but he insists that to criticise the French manager would be wrong.
With Ashley Cole out through illness and Sol Campbell injured, the Arsenal foreign legion thrashed Palace 5-1.
Both Cole and Campbell would have been automatic choices, if fit, and Hargreaves feels Wenger has received undue criticism.
As a Bayern Munich player, Hargreaves will face the Gunners this Tuesday in the Champions League.
He told The Independent: “I think it is good for the fans to identify with players, to have English players, but football has changed so much. I think Arsenal have done so well in the past with foreign players.
“There are so many teams with foreign players, even ours. We have maybe three Germans who play every week and the rest are foreign.”
It remains to be seen whether Campbell and Cole recover in time to face Bayern, but Hargreaves is confident that, even if Wenger again chooses to sideline his remaining British players, the future remains bright for the Gunners.
“I think Wenger would be a fantastic manager to play for. All the players that I know who have played for him are big fans of his,” he said. "If you look at the team he has built there it doesn’t seem that those players want to leave because of Wenger and I think that speaks for itself.
“His players are loyal to him and he protects his players. He has done that very well in the past and the success he has brought to the team has been remarkable.”
