Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has realised that, unlike some, he cannot continue to coach indefinitely, saying he will retire within ten years.
The Gunners boss has hauled the north London club back to the summit of the English game since his arrival in 1996, and many have credited his European thinking and style of management with revolutionising football in England.
But the Frenchman knows he cannot continue forever, and at the age of 57, retirement is very much on his mind.
"I think that the club can go on very well for more than ten years, but not me," Wenger told French magazine So Foot.
"I have to accept the idea that in ten years, I will be 67, but this job requires physical and instinctive strength, animal strength to express the desire to win. It has to be part of you. But it can disappear with age."
Wenger has been in management for over 20 years, having taken charge of Nancy, Monaco and Grampus Eight in Japan before moving to Arsenal ten years ago.
With the north London club, the Alsatian tactician has won three Premiership titles and four FA Cups, as well having taken the Gunners all the way to the Champions League final in 2006.
That level of success is borne out of Wenger's dedication to his job, although he believes that very commitment has made him lose track of time.
"I am obsessed with it," he said. "Maybe I have left it too long without being conscious of the time that passes by.
"At the age of 50, you start to see what there is at the summit of the mountain, and it is a painful discovery to understand that you don't live forever.
"At that moment, it is time to ask yourself how you will use the time left: to continue like you always did, or to give another orientation to your life.
"The real motto of my life is to tell myself that tomorrow, I will be better than today. I have never accepted people who say 'I am not good at it'.
"It even could have gone at the age of 45. Some guys are fed-up with coaching at 40.
"But then there is Bobby Robson or Giovanni Trapattoni who will die with that desire. I have to be reasonable."
Among Wenger's long list of honours are three European runners-up medals - the Cup Winners Cup in 1992 with Monaco, the UEFA Cup with Arsenal in 2000 and the Champions League last year.
For many to reach three such major finals would be classified as a success, but, rather typically, Wenger views it differently: "That is true that I have lost the three European Cups, I am not particularly proud of it, but neither I am traumatised," he continued.
"The hardest is to achieve consistency in your results. There are people who have won a European Cup ten years ago and who are nowhere today.
"In Japan, I have learned something capital: be humble in victory, and don't try to humiliate the loser."
The Gunners boss has hauled the north London club back to the summit of the English game since his arrival in 1996, and many have credited his European thinking and style of management with revolutionising football in England.
But the Frenchman knows he cannot continue forever, and at the age of 57, retirement is very much on his mind.
"I think that the club can go on very well for more than ten years, but not me," Wenger told French magazine So Foot.
"I have to accept the idea that in ten years, I will be 67, but this job requires physical and instinctive strength, animal strength to express the desire to win. It has to be part of you. But it can disappear with age."
Wenger has been in management for over 20 years, having taken charge of Nancy, Monaco and Grampus Eight in Japan before moving to Arsenal ten years ago.
With the north London club, the Alsatian tactician has won three Premiership titles and four FA Cups, as well having taken the Gunners all the way to the Champions League final in 2006.
That level of success is borne out of Wenger's dedication to his job, although he believes that very commitment has made him lose track of time.
"I am obsessed with it," he said. "Maybe I have left it too long without being conscious of the time that passes by.
"At the age of 50, you start to see what there is at the summit of the mountain, and it is a painful discovery to understand that you don't live forever.
"At that moment, it is time to ask yourself how you will use the time left: to continue like you always did, or to give another orientation to your life.
"The real motto of my life is to tell myself that tomorrow, I will be better than today. I have never accepted people who say 'I am not good at it'.
"It even could have gone at the age of 45. Some guys are fed-up with coaching at 40.
"But then there is Bobby Robson or Giovanni Trapattoni who will die with that desire. I have to be reasonable."
Among Wenger's long list of honours are three European runners-up medals - the Cup Winners Cup in 1992 with Monaco, the UEFA Cup with Arsenal in 2000 and the Champions League last year.
For many to reach three such major finals would be classified as a success, but, rather typically, Wenger views it differently: "That is true that I have lost the three European Cups, I am not particularly proud of it, but neither I am traumatised," he continued.
"The hardest is to achieve consistency in your results. There are people who have won a European Cup ten years ago and who are nowhere today.
"In Japan, I have learned something capital: be humble in victory, and don't try to humiliate the loser."
