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Scouting, statistics and rice: the rise and fall of Arsène Wenger
伦敦《金融时报》中文版为测试英语阅读能力而提供的短文。挺不错，不过我成绩不好。还要接着练习啊。
In 1988 Arsene Wenger, then manager of Monaco, was tracking a young Liberian footballer who played in Cameroon. Each week the Frenchman received intriguing reports about George Weah. Finally Wenger sent a colleague to watch him, who phoned back after: “The bad news is, Weah broke an arm. The good news: he played anyway.”
Wenger liked it. Weah flew to Monaco, signed a contract, then sat back looking miserable: he still didn’t have a cent, he complained. Wenger pulled 500 French francs (then about £50) from his wallet and handed them to the player. A funny raconteur in private, Wenger likes to joke about Weah’s “signing bonus”. Weah, now a politician in Liberia, recently recalled what Wenger told him then: “If you work hard, you will be the best player in Europe.”
“Yeah, right,” he thought. But Wenger was right. In 1995 Weah was voted World Footballer of the Year. He gave the trophy to his mentor.
The story captures much of what made Wenger a great manager: his global eye, his sense for quality, and his knack for getting it cheap. Yet greatness has deserted him. His Arsenal have won no trophies since 2005, lost two star players to richer clubs last month, and on Sunday lost 8-2 to Manchester United. Most Arsenal fans appear tired of Wenger. His decline is a warning to brilliant pioneers in all fields.
When Wenger came to Arsenal from Japanese football in 1996, he brought knowledge that nobody else in insular British football had. Few British managers then even bothered going to world cups, but Wenger was monitoring talent everywhere. While working in Japan, he had contrived to be a regular spectator in Milan, where he befriended a shy young AC Milan reserve named Patrick Vieira – to become Arsenal’s legendary captain. Wenger told Thierry Henry, then a young winger on Juventus’ bench, that he was in fact a striker. “Coach, I don’t score goals,” protested Henry. He became the highest scorer in Arsenal’s history. Wenger discovered the unknown teenagers Nicolas Anelka and Cesc Fabregas. He showed British clubs the benefits of international scouting.
He was a pioneer in nutrition, too. He put Arsenal’s players on a very Japanese diet of fish and boiled vegetables. “We want our Mars bars!” they would chant on the team bus. And the economics graduate introduced statistics into English football. He would track numbers such as how many seconds each player kept the ball. Gilberto Silva was sold after his times inched up. Wenger aspired to a whirlwind passing game: football’s eternal ideal, occasionally achieved by his Arsenal teams, notably the “Invincibles” who won the league unbeaten in 2004.
Wenger was a pioneer but not a revolutionary. For instance, he kept Arsenal’s traditionally English rugged defence intact for years. “I brought my changes in slowly,” he recalled. His best quality, he once said, was listening to more experienced people.
2012年07月31日 01点07分
1
伦敦《金融时报》中文版为测试英语阅读能力而提供的短文。挺不错，不过我成绩不好。还要接着练习啊。
In 1988 Arsene Wenger, then manager of Monaco, was tracking a young Liberian footballer who played in Cameroon. Each week the Frenchman received intriguing reports about George Weah. Finally Wenger sent a colleague to watch him, who phoned back after: “The bad news is, Weah broke an arm. The good news: he played anyway.”
Wenger liked it. Weah flew to Monaco, signed a contract, then sat back looking miserable: he still didn’t have a cent, he complained. Wenger pulled 500 French francs (then about £50) from his wallet and handed them to the player. A funny raconteur in private, Wenger likes to joke about Weah’s “signing bonus”. Weah, now a politician in Liberia, recently recalled what Wenger told him then: “If you work hard, you will be the best player in Europe.”
“Yeah, right,” he thought. But Wenger was right. In 1995 Weah was voted World Footballer of the Year. He gave the trophy to his mentor.
The story captures much of what made Wenger a great manager: his global eye, his sense for quality, and his knack for getting it cheap. Yet greatness has deserted him. His Arsenal have won no trophies since 2005, lost two star players to richer clubs last month, and on Sunday lost 8-2 to Manchester United. Most Arsenal fans appear tired of Wenger. His decline is a warning to brilliant pioneers in all fields.
When Wenger came to Arsenal from Japanese football in 1996, he brought knowledge that nobody else in insular British football had. Few British managers then even bothered going to world cups, but Wenger was monitoring talent everywhere. While working in Japan, he had contrived to be a regular spectator in Milan, where he befriended a shy young AC Milan reserve named Patrick Vieira – to become Arsenal’s legendary captain. Wenger told Thierry Henry, then a young winger on Juventus’ bench, that he was in fact a striker. “Coach, I don’t score goals,” protested Henry. He became the highest scorer in Arsenal’s history. Wenger discovered the unknown teenagers Nicolas Anelka and Cesc Fabregas. He showed British clubs the benefits of international scouting.
He was a pioneer in nutrition, too. He put Arsenal’s players on a very Japanese diet of fish and boiled vegetables. “We want our Mars bars!” they would chant on the team bus. And the economics graduate introduced statistics into English football. He would track numbers such as how many seconds each player kept the ball. Gilberto Silva was sold after his times inched up. Wenger aspired to a whirlwind passing game: football’s eternal ideal, occasionally achieved by his Arsenal teams, notably the “Invincibles” who won the league unbeaten in 2004.
Wenger was a pioneer but not a revolutionary. For instance, he kept Arsenal’s traditionally English rugged defence intact for years. “I brought my changes in slowly,” he recalled. His best quality, he once said, was listening to more experienced people.