Wenger: I didn’t see it… or actually maybe I did

LONDON – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confessed that he often pretended not to have seen conspicuous foul play by his players to protect them, the Frenchman told The Times on Friday.

“Sometimes I see it but I say that I didn’t see it to protect the players and because I could not find any rational explanation for what they did,” Wenger said.

But Wenger, who has coached Arsenal for close to 13 years, said he was not tempted by a recent offer to coach Spanish side Real Madrid.

“I knew what they wanted to do, but I didn’t want to leave Arsenal,” the 59-year-old Wenger said.

“I want to go to the end of my job here. I built this team, I want to deliver with this team and I feel that if I left I would in some way have betrayed my beliefs.”