Source: Daily_Mail
Touchline meltdown: But Arsene Wenger and Gerard Houllier can handle the pressure
Arsene Wenger remembers one thing above all about Gerard Houllier's heart scare and the emergency surgery which saved his life.[LNB] 'One day later he is flying to Kiev,' says Wenger. 'That happens one day later and he is a dead man.'[LNB] As touchline strain goes, Houllier remains one of modern football's extreme examples. But the list has grown disturbingly long since Jock Stein died at a Wales v Scotland game 25 years ago. Joe Kinnear and Glenn Roeder were managers taken seriously ill at football grounds.[LNB] Too much: Arsene Wenger shows the strain during the 3-2 derby defeat by Tottenham[LNB] Sir Alex Ferguson, Sam Allardyce and Graeme Souness have had heart surgery. Macclesf ield manager Keith Alexander died earlier this year at the age of 53. Last weekend Wenger could be seen venting his rage by hurling a plastic water bottle to the ground in his technical area as Arsenal tossed away a two-goal lead to lose at home to Tottenham.[LNB] It was Spurs boss Harry Redknapp who branded Wenger one of the Premier League's 'key nutters' earlier this season in reference to his pitchside histrionics.[LNB] If the job doesn't mess with your body it messes with your mind. Cluj manager Sorin Cartu flipped in the Champions League and was sacked after kicking apart the Perspex side of a dugout as his team were beaten in Basle.[LNB] Houllier will be on the Villa Park touchline today alongside his fellow countryman, adversary and old friend.[LNB] 'We started at the same time,' recalls Wenger. 'He is two years older (at 63) and he started at Lens at the same time I started at Nancy. I was 33, he was 35. He took a few years off. I never took one year off. Never. But he always stayed in touch with the job.'[LNB] From unfashionable beginnings and despite neither being great players, they achieved success and moved to English football within a couple of years of each other. In June 2003, they received OBEs.[LNB] Back in the hot seat: Aston Villa's French manager Gerard Houllier[LNB] The connections continue with Robert Pires, who played for six years at Arsenal and spent two months training with his former club this season when without a club, now at Villa. Wenger gave him a sound reference when Houllier enquired about the 37-year-old's physical condition.[LNB] 'I am happy to help,' said the Arsenal manager. 'I am happy he has found a club.'[LNB] In October 2001, hours after Houllier had been struck with chest pains midway through Liverpool's 1-1 draw against Leeds, Pires was scoring in Arsenal's 2-0 win at Southampton.[LNB] The Ukraine trip Wenger remembers so clearly was a Champions League fixture at Dynamo Kiev.[LNB]'The big luck was that it happened one day before because he recovered well,' says Wenger. 'But, for a while, you are not the same person. That certainly damaged his potential to finish the job he started so well at Liverpool.'[LNB] Wenger was surprised when Houllier decided to quit what seemed to be a safe and cosy job at the French Football Federation to take over at Villa.[LNB] 'After Liverpool he went to Lyon and did well,' says the Arsenal boss. 'Then when he moved out of Lyon and into this kind of job, I thought it was because he did not want this kind of pressure.[LNB] 'I wasn't surprised when Aston Villa wanted him, but I was surprised he chose to take this job after what he has gone through.' Houllier admits the pressure on managers does not diminish as they get older.[LNB] He said: 'Sometimes you show it during a match. I don't know what the Cluj manager was doing, but I've felt like it at times! I think we all have. I've kicked a bottle in frustration. Arsene threw one last week. I can understand it.[LNB] 'Pressure has definitely increased on managers - very much so. When results are not there, the person you look to is the manager. That has not really changed. When you are older you handle it differently. You prioritise. You can work more quickly to come to the same decisions.[LNB] 'But at the same time, it's more difficult when you lose. Mentally and physically it takes more time to recover from defeats as you get older. The losses I've had so far are really hard to take.'[LNB] What is it then that tempts men into a world where your health is risked and your nerves frazzled? Premier League managers work an average of 90 hours a week.[LNB] 'Have you seen the guy from Rubin Kazan who prays?' asks Wenger. Kurban Berdyev, the ethnic Turkmen and devout Muslim, sits trancelike on his bench, fidgeting with prayer beads as the game unfolds and gives thanks to Allah for his victories. [LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People: Alex Ferguson, Robert Pires, Graeme Souness, Harry Redknapp, Joe Kinnear, Sam Allardyce, Arsene Wenger, Gerard Houllier Places: Leeds, Liverpool, Lyon, Scotland, Wales Organisations: French Football Federation
