In the build up to the Premier League clash between Arsenal and Swansea City tomorrow, Arsene Wenger has been reflecting on what went wrong on Tuesday night at the Emirates, when Anderlecht shocked the home crowd and the Arsenal players with three late goals to rescue a point and stop us from booking our place in the Champions League knockout phase.
And while the Prof has pointed out in an Arsenal.com report a few key reasons for what happened, he has also played it down and suggested that it could actually help the team in the long term as it can serve as a lesson and should not end up changing too much as Arsenal looked set to come second in the group anyway.
THe lessons that Wenger really wants his players to learn from Tuesday night is to always remember that football is a team game and when players start thinking too much about scoring a goal or doing something individually, that is when problems can occur.
Wenger said, “It’s always good to watch a game again because our second-half performance was not that bad, but we lost urgency and maybe we moved a little bit from team targets to individual targets.
“We were winning 3-0 and maybe they thought ‘I want to score my goal’. A team is mature when, regardless of what the score is, they continue to respect the basics of the game, the love of the game and the urgency of defending together.
“As soon as you lose that, you can win sometimes and not be punished, but you can be punished. On that occasion we were punished.
“We are of course disappointed with the result because when you are at home, to [concede three goals] looks terrible. But I would like to highlight that we have a dynamic in the team that is very positive.”
THe boss also spoke about finding the perfect blend in his team selection, perhaps a little message to players like Lukas Podolski and Joel Campbell who are clearly frustrated at lack of game time.
He continued, “You’re considering the build-up, final-ball givers, runners and the finishers. [Things like] the pace, the penetration, and the guys who can finish.
“It all has to harmonise well from the build-up through the back, and after, getting you to find the players who have the quality to give a good ball. After that as well, the guys that can make the runs and finish.”
So the message is clear to the Arsenal team. You have the quality, as long as you approach the game in the right way. But will we see a proper team performance from them tomorrow?
Take note ramsey you was the main culprit you cared more about ursrlf than the team absolute disgrace. There was one moment when he even tackled welbeck to grt the bal lool
This arrogant clown of a manager will blame everything under the sun but never himself. Why didn’t he get his constipated a*s off the bench then and instruct the team etc!!?
Or is that too difficult for a highly paid manager to do?
A fool is certainly one who never learns from his mistakes. One fool sold Van Persie who won United the title. This time, he’s given Fabregas to Chelsea, and, guess what, he’s winning the title for them too. Meanwhile, we are languishing with such a miserable, injury-prone, inconsistent squad. How much of a fool can a manager be?
what if chelsea become the new invicibles???? 🙁 🙁 🙁
They won’t. I can see them losing
But Wenger helped them by not taking Fabregas.
same way he helped man u with van persie.
what-a-guy
Man City with Nasri…..
@haywill
Chelsea becoming the first london club to win UCL was hard to swallow, but this, I can’t even imagine.
On the bright side, it could be the last nail on wenger’s coffin.
Dont forget a DM and a CB is needed to strengthen the team in order to do this wenger!
Sorry to say but there are lots of delusional wenger supporters here on this site still agreeing with the nonsense he does!!!
Right now joel campbell is in dire need of game time, as well as prince podolski! Play them tomorrow wenger let them show their worth! Give them a chance especially campbell! Coyg!
@Greg …wanna bet he’ll start Wilshere over any of the above?
Few points to bear in mind:
The blame for Draw against Anderlecht should end with Wenger and here’s why, HE’S THE MANAGER. When it was evident that Anderlecht was getting back into the game instructions should have been given for us to focus on our defending, not so much on our attacking. If such an instruction was issued and not being followed then Wenger needed to show some spine and change the player who is/was ignoring his instruction.
I’m very concerned with the current state of our defense. BFG has not been up to it so far this season, addition to our defense was promised in the summer but not delivered, according to Wenger “He looked but none was available”, fast forward to AGM and Wenger says “we will purchase a defender in January”, well if we couldn’t find a defender in the summer will that defender miraculously become available in January when 1) his cost will be twice as expensive 2) could be cup tied and 3) with clubs fighting relegation or fighting for the title.
Everyone knows that a DM is a must but won’t hold breath. Our manager is wrapped tightly in his ideological sphere, he just doesn’t believe in a big strong battling CDM if he it we would have added numerous players to our ranks by then, but Wenger says Flamini is there along with Arteta and we all know that our captain will always be in the team when fit, and room will be made for Wilshire and Ramsey. So I don’t expect us to sign a robust CDM
I guarantee, we will get a reject on a free transfer with a broken back, mark my words.
Stop dissing Ramsey, Wenger. Where are your harsh words for Ozil, Giroud and Wilshere?
#EqualopportunitiesfortheWelsh
#Welshpride