Arsene Wenger’s stamina, dedication, loyalty and values are all valid reasons why he’s on the cusp of matching Sir Alex Ferguson’s record of 810 games.
But the man himself has singled out a quality that rarely gets a mention - his faith in people.
“The most important thing that people never maybe talk about is to believe in human beings,” said Wenger, who is set to break Sir Alex’s mark at West Bromwich Albion on New Year’s Eve.
“Despite all that, when you're such a long time in the job, you’re not naive. You know all the strengths and the weaknesses and how sometimes people can be selfish or mean. But you still have to believe that there is a light in every human being that you can get out.
“Where that comes from, you don’t know, but you must have that strength of belief in human beings that always takes over at difficult moments. That is basically for me the most important quality in this job.
“I think you have that or you don’t have that. But if you are paranoid, don’t choose this job. You have every reason to become more paranoid.”
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