Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the right time. He was 71, had just taken the Premier League title back from Manchester City and had already eclipsed Liverpool’s total of championships. There was nothing left to win or prove.
Arsene Wenger must be envious of that. In his revealing interview with Martin Samuel in these pages on Saturday, Wenger sounded like a man unfulfilled.
He twice could have joined Real Madrid — the club he idolised as a boy — but he didn’t. He could have managed England. He didn’t. Instead he stayed at Arsenal for year after year, citing loyalty and his responsibility to guide them through the financially challenging process of moving to a new stadium.