Growing up in a pub taught me everything, says Arsenal boss Wenger

High-minded Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that his approach to football tactics and his ability to understand people is down to growing up in a pub.

Wenger spent his early years living above a bistro run by his parents - and said this had a major impact on his thinking.

"There is no better psychological education than growing up in a pub," said Wenger, who speaks five languages, has an economics degree and is an expert in sports science.

"Because when you are five or six years old, you meet all different people and hear how cruel they can be to each other.

"From an early age you get a practical, psychological education to get into the minds of people.

"It is not often that a boy of five or six is always living with adults in a little village. I learned about tactics and selection from the people talking about football in the pub - who plays on the left wing and who should be in the team."

Wenger was speaking to an audience of industry leaders at the annual management conference of the League Managers Association.

However Wenger appears to adopt a hardline approach to his players being tempted by the bottle. One of his main football philosophies is that "drink ought not to touch the lips of a player".

"The most important thing in our job is to understand what's important in life," the Frenchman said.

"If you don't understand how to live at 20, you are finished."