Arsene Wenger says age and experience have allowed him to change the way he expresses himself on the touchline.

The Arsenal manager admits that during his time at Monaco, between 1987 and 1994, he found it hard to control his emotions at times.

Now renowned for his calm authority, Wenger says he had to change his approach to achieve greater success.

"I was an absolute firebomb, I was absolutely mad!" Arsene Wenger

“I was an absolute firebomb, I was absolutely mad!” he told Arsenal Player. “You learn to express your ideas better with time, to anticipate problems better that you [used to], so you are not so surprised as when you are young.

“You take a bit more distance with what is happening. At a club like Arsenal you could not exactly behave like I behaved at the start!

“I have learnt to dominate my devils. I am not sure I have mellowed in my resolute attitude, but in the way I express my feelings and beliefs, certainly I have changed.”

Wenger’s assistant at Monaco, Jean Petit, says that while he may have mellowed in some regards, he remains a highly-competitive character.

“He does not like wrong decisions,” Petit said. “He just does not like losing, but he has calmed down with age.

“At the start of his career in France, when things were not going well he tended to shout and get a bit too angry. But he was always measured.

“When we used to come into the office, we were always looking for things to move football forward. We didn’t do anything crazy. That said, we liked to have a laugh and Arsene is a very nice and fun guy.”