Why Wenger is To Blame for Stoke Defeat! by AT
Following the 3-2 defeat to Stoke City at the Britannia stadium, the Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger once again blamed the defeat on the Gunners’ defensive frailties, whilst also pointing out the several casualties that were unable to start the game. Arsenal’s weakened defence conceded three goals in the first half and although there was a turnaround in the latter parts of the second half, it simply wasn’t enough to save Arsene Wenger’s side from defeat.
Speaking after the game, Wenger said: “Stoke started strong and we were not decisive enough in our defensive challenges. From then on we gave them an early present and after that put a lot of energy into the game. In the second half we had good opportunities to come back and we couldn’t. Overall we put a lot of energy into this game like we always have recently and unfortunately we missed our start.
The Frenchman continued: “We were slow at the back and when we started to respond it was too late in the game. They started strong, we have to give them credit for that. We were a bit inexperienced at the back – we couldn’t play Koscielny or Monreal and we had Debuchy out as well. We were altogether maybe a bit soft to cope with what they offered us.”
Well, this certainly isn’t the first time this season that Arsenal have had to hold the defence responsible for a defeat. But in this particular instance, I really think Arsene Wenger is to be blamed fully. The fact is we were playing Stoke at the Britannia, Wenger will know better than anybody else that the Potters tend to play even dirtier than their usual standards when the Gunners come visiting. Now while I understand that the Frenchman was short of defensive options as Koscielny was not fit enough to start, our backline, especially in the first half, was not at all set up to play ‘Stoke City’.
As the January transfer window looms closer, I really hope Wenger can finally stop complaining about his scarcity of defensive options and about how his defence was not solid enough and finally do something about it. Every man and his dog knows that we are in desperate need of a defensive midfielder and a central defender and considering that there are no shortage of those in the market, Le Prof should really land quality reinforcements and stop complaining about his backline being ‘bit soft’.
Anurag