Football: Arsenal focus on European horizon

The title is history: As the Gunners celebrate their triumph, Arsene Wenger is thinking only of the future. Glenn Moore reports

ARSENE Wenger's face may have been uncommonly joyous as he strolled around Highbury on Sunday afternoon but behind the smile it was business as usual.

As he took in the delight from North Bank to Clock End he was thinking: "They are so happy. How can I keep them like that?" He said yesterday: "It was one of the first questions I had in my brain as I was walking around the field. That is why this is a crazy job, you always forget to enjoy the present. You are always planning for the future."

In football, as in business (if there is still a difference), to stand still is to be overtaken. Wenger's first task is to steer Arsenal to success in the FA Cup. Then it is to decide his own future. He has one year left on his contract and has spoken, in the past, of leaving a foundation at Arsenal but then moving on. Even in triumph there was a valedictory note about his comments, a sense of ticking another achievement off his list.

"I have an agreement to talk to the directors after the Cup final. We will sort out my future then. I have won other things but this success has the biggest meaning for me as it is the biggest football country I have worked in. I am proud to have won something here. It was always my dream to work in England."

Yet even if he wins the FA Cup and, consequently, the Double, he still has something to aim for at Highbury, something he has not achieved anywhere. The man who brought the ideas of the Continent to Arsenal now leads Arsenal into Europe's Champions' League.

Already the big players, and a few less noted names, are booking their place in the annual money-maker. Arsenal will join Ajax, Barcelona and, almost certainly, Juventus, in the group stages along with Porto, the unexpected German champions, Kaiserslauten, probably Lens and possibly Real Madrid.

If Real fail to beat Juventus in this season's final on 20 May they will need to win a tense race for second place in Spain to join Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Bobby Robson's PSV Eindhoven, Graeme Souness' Benfica, probably Internazionale, and others in the qualifying round.

It is an impressive array and Wenger reluctantly accepts that, as Manchester United have found, his team will need strengthening if they are to maintain a challenge at home and abroad.

"I am happy with the players I have and am more interested in keeping them than buying others. But you do need a big squad to do well in both competitions, the Champions' League takes a lot of energy."

Wenger said he believed Ian Wright would stay at the club and also expects more from his young players. "They will improve through the high level of competition," he said. "Nicholas Anelka, for example, is quick to learn. He will be a great player."

Arsenal have money but buying players will not be easy. The side is very well balanced and anyone good enough to strengthen it may disrupt both the pattern and the wage structure - which tends to affect team spirit, so vital a component in their success.

Wenger believes the defence can continue to defy the years but he is sure to look for more young players, like Matthew Upson, who can be slowly introduced into the side. More cover is required elsewhere but do not expect him to sign the unknown who becomes a star in France this summer.

"The World Cup is the worst place to buy players, the competition is so different. I prefer to see players at their clubs," he said. Several are already under consideration.

Although Arsenal won the European Cup-Winners' Cup under George Graham in 1994 and were runners-up the following year, they do not have a good record in the stronger Champions' and Uefa Cups.

The '89 champions did not enter due to the post-Heysel ban but the '91 vintage went out in the second round, comprehensively outplayed at home by Benfica.

Having gone out of last year's Uefa Cup in the first round, beaten home and away by Borussia Monchengladbach, they surprisingly fell at the same stage this season against PAOK Salonika.

The decisive factor in both these ties may have been the absence of Bergkamp from the away legs.

The Player of the Year is still to overcome his fear of flying and Arsenal's progress may depend on the draw. Ajax, Bruges, and Lens? No problem. Spartak Moscow, Olympiakos and Galatasaray? Oh dear.