Arsene Wenger has moved to blame his players for conceding the goals which resulted in a loss on Tuesday night.
The Gunners took a lead in the first-half thanks to an Alexis Sanchez goal, only to go into the break level thanks to a header by Seamus Coleman. Our side failed to to score another goal, and in the tense final minutes of the match, Ashley Williams added to our misery by snatching a winner.
Arsene Wenger has now claimed that his side should not have conceded the goals they did, having planned exactly against those situations only the night before with his players.
He said: “In football you have to defend well.
“We knew exactly what was happening and the first goal is exactly what we planned not to do.
“We have to look at ourselves tonight because we punished ourselves by not respecting completely the rules that we put out the night before we played.”
This is a rather direct criticism of his players, and is quite a risky choice of words from the French boss ahead of such a big game in Manchester this weekend.
If we lose this weekend we could drop down to fourth place in the table and possibly nine points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea, and if we really want to stamp our claim for this season’s big trophy, then we should be going all out for the win.
Jose Mourinho has had his Man United players faltering around him, and blaming the players has had a negative effect on his squad, but Wenger’s words should not be considered as critical, and hopefully our team can be fully ready for the crunch clash.
Will Arsene Wenger play it safe and try not to lose to City? Is Wenger right to be blunt in his assessment?
Pat J