Speaking to Get French Football News, former AS Monaco forward Mark Hateley, who won the Ligue 1 title during his time at the Principality club during the 1987/88 season, delved into his time with Les Monégasques and lifted the lid on Arsène Wenger’s early years in the dugout.
What is your overriding memory of your time at AS Monaco?
It was a breath of fresh air for me. I was coming from Milan where I couldn’t go out or do anything. I had young kids, and a young family, and it was completely the other side of the coin. You could just walk around the streets; it was just a breath of fresh air for me. It was a different way of life, a different type of football and with a young Arsène Wenger, a different type of coach. I asked Arsène, ‘How would you like me to play?’ He said, ‘Just like [how you played] in Milan.’ So that was it – straightforward.
How did you find Wenger’s management style?
Listen, he was young, I got that, inexperienced, inexperienced at dealing with big players too, probably, I got that. He is a super, intelligent man, super intelligent and a very strong personality. Energy coming through the ceiling. He always had a tracksuit on all the time, and was always travelling; if we had a day off, he’d be off to see a reserve team game in Belgium, Germany, or wherever. He was so completely focused on where he wanted to go and how to get there. As I said, the players were all there, the experience was there too. We had some great players and we brought in a young Youssouf Fofana. He was very fast. There were a couple of really good younger players in and around the squad but Arsène was always about fitness, bringing in a different methodology to training. When Glenn (Hoddle) joined, we stretched before training and after training and that was a whole new thing for Glenn Hoddle. He said he could make us as fit as we’ve ever been in our life and then that takes us to the next level in terms of performance. I think that was his speciality, as well as his knowledge of the game.
The word ‘aura’ is thrown around quite a lot nowadays. Did Wenger have that?
Definitely, without a shadow of a doubt. You could feel that energy coming from him. He used to take the runs before training. If we ran, he would run at the front and lead us all out. He was a fit boy. That is infectious when you see a manager like that. Then there was the experience of Patrick Battiston, Jean-Luc Ettori, Manuel Amaros, Luc Sonor, all these players that were French heroes basically. He had a lot to work with. When you’re a young manager, with not the greatest football career, it is a long way to go to engage or provide input into those established players, but he did it. He had a fiery temper too. He could let rip and he wouldn’t miss you, but he understood footballers, he listened to footballers. That is how he learnt.
Glenn and I, we’d fly on a private plane whenever we were going to a match in France. After every game, we’d sit at the back of the plane with a couple of beers each and we’d drink and talk about the game. All the French players would sit amongst it but wouldn’t drink, but they smoked a lot. He came back to us and said, ‘You British, you do drink a lot’. I said, ‘Not a lot but I drink after a game. It’s part of our culture to have a couple of beers and talk about the game, have a debrief’. It is what we used to game. We said ‘We’re not hurting anybody, you’re guys (French players) are smoking. Can you tell them to stop smoking? That’s damaging my health.’ He took that all in and we got the French boys to start coming to the back of the plane and it formed a unity. We’d all have a couple of drinks, nothing too excessive, and what it would have done, going to Arsenal, and going into British culture, it would have set him ready to deal with that. He is a great man, a smart chap.
In hindsight, do you think you were part of a golden age of French football, at least from an Anglo-centric point of view?
Without a shadow of a doubt. Marseille were a good side, PSG too, as well as Bordeaux. There were lots of good sides. In the recent past, PSG are cash-rich so nobody can make that league interesting. Five, six, seven years ago, Monaco tried to get on that level, get on a level footing with PSG, but it’s an uphill battle. I think if anyone takes that title off PSG, it will be a monumental effort.
Do you still follow AS Monaco?
I get Portsmouth’s results, AC Milan’s results, and AS Monaco’s results. They all flash up on my phone every week. Those are the teams that I watch. Every club helped me get to where I got to in the end. Coventry City and Portsmouth, they helped me tremendously to do what I achieved, which was a distant dream. They helped me achieve it way before I thought that I ever could. Milan at 22, then off to Monaco, winning a title at 26, and then back to Britain to play for Rangers. I thank everyone, and I always do.
Mark Hateley was speaking to Get French Football News exclusively on behalf of Online Slots Real Money.
