Wenger praises old boy Upson

Fri Oct 23 2009 16:16:31

Arsene Wenger says he feels more than a tinge of regret that England defender Matthew Upson did not stay and fulfil his potential at Arsenal.

The 30-year-old centre-back, who joined the Gunners from Luton in 1997 in a £2 million deal, is set to face his old club at Upton Park on Sunday.

With the likes of then captain Tony Adams, Steve Bould, Martin Keown, Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure all ahead of him at Highbury, Upson found his chances limited and moved to Birmingham in January 2003.

Now settled at West Ham, after a £6 million switch two-and-a-half years ago, Upson has become a regular in Fabio Capello's England squad and looks set to go to the World Cup next summer.

Wenger said: "I knew when he left that he would make a big career, but at that moment when Matthew was here, he was impatient.

"That I could understand as well because I bought him at Luton and after a few years he didn't play here. "I didn't stop him [going] because I knew he had qualities to play in the Premiership, but he had players in front of him that stopped him."

Wenger insisted: "I knew he would make it. He had Premiership quality and had the potential to be international quality.

"He is there now because he is at the right age for a central defender and for a few years now he has not been stopped by injury which was his problem for a while."

Wenger turned 60 on Thursday, but the burning desire to succeed shows no signs of fading.

"Am I happy with all that I have achieved? Certainly not. I expect always more and you can never be completely happy with what you do," he said.

"I have helped to develop the club and gave some great moments of happiness to people who love football and to our fans as well.

"I have had a positive influence on the career of the players and have respected my duties of this club."

Wenger added: "The only credit that I give to myself is that I work very hard my whole career and always try to improve.

"You always think you could have achieved more and make better decisions."

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