www.live-football.biz

Posts Tagged ‘wenger’

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes the English Premier League title race is wide open again after seeing his side come from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 here at Anfield.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes the English Premier League title race is wide open again after seeing his side come from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 here at Anfield.

Related photos / videos

 

Sunday’s victory saw the Gunners regain third place and left them just six points behind leaders Chelsea, with a game in hand.

Arsenal fell behind to Dirk Kuyt’s goal four minutes before half-time but the visitors hit back early in the second half through Glen Johnson’s own-goal.

Andrey Arshavin’s sublime strike then sealed a victory which gave Arsenal, 11 points behind leaders Chelsea after the Blues won 3-0 at the Emirates last month, fresh hope of mounting a title challenge.

Wenger, who feels there is no outstanding team in English football’s top flight this term, said: “It gets us back into a good position. Mentally for us it was a massive game.

“We knew that with what happened on Saturday (Chelsea were held to a 3-3 draw by Everton and second-placed Manchester United, now only three points in front of Arsenal, were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa), we needed to win the game.”

The Frenchman added: “We knew that before the game started and we did it so that’s something positive but now it’s down to consistency.

“I’ve said for a long time now that the team that wins this league is the team that’s consistent and nobody has been yet.”

Wenger tore into his players at half-time at Anfield, with key midfielder Cesc Fabregas claiming he had never seen the manager so angry.

But the Gunners boss feels he got the right response after detecting a ‘fear factor’ amongst his players in matches against their ‘Big Four’ rivals – Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool.

“We played with the handbrake down through fear of not winning the big games because we lost against Chelsea and Man United and you could see that we brought that into the game.

“I never speak about what I say in the dressing room because I believe you respond to what you think your team needs and I always try to be composed. I was quite composed!,” Wenger joked.

“It is good because after 13 years I can still surprise the players.”

Defeat meant Liverpool had lost in the league six times already this season and left the Merseysiders, already out of this season’s Champions League, in seventh place and five points adrift of the top four finish they’ll need to qualify for next term’s premier European club competition.

But Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insisted a top four placing was still in his team’s sights.

“The people are disappointed and the players are disappointed and we have to start working with them and doing things the right way,” Benitez said.

“The only thing is to keep working.

He added: “The target is the same; the op four. We have to be realistic and our target is Wigan in the next game (on Wednesday) and nothing else.”

Meanwhile, Wenger confirmed he is considering taking legal action against the Netherlands Football Association over the ankle injury suffered by striker Robin van Persie on international duty.

The forward is set to miss several months after suffering the injury in last month’s friendly with Italy and Wenger wants clubs to have the same rights for friendlies as for competitive matches.

If a player gets injured in a competitive international, his club can receive compensation but that is not the case when it comes to friendlies.

“Our players go away for friendlies and they come back injured and nobody cares and we just have to accept the situation,” Wenger said.

“For me it’s surprising why there should be no compensation in a friendly game where players are less needed and they (the national teams) could leave the players out rather than in an official game.”

Chelsea were so physically and mentally strong in their 3-0 win at Arsenal, it must have been like playing a team of robots for Arsene Wenger's side. I was very impressed with Carlo Ancelotti's side, who executed their game to perfection, and accompanied the organisation you expect from them with some genuine flair. Small wonder they are now odds-on favourites for the title. Ancelotti has done a superb job in the sense that he has been content to take a back seat. We are used to Chelsea managers with big personalities trying to stamp their authority on the club, but Ancelotti has been happy to let an experienced side get on with the job in hand. He has made a few tweaks to the tactics to give the attacking players a bit more freedom, and crucially he has a happy and in-form Didier Drogba. He has said he will not make reinforcements in January and even though they have a transfer ban hanging over them I think that makes sense.

Why disrupt a harmonious squad when things are going smoothly? Sometimes over-management is the biggest threat to top teams, but Ancelotti has put his ego to one side and is reaping the rewards. I don't see January's African Cup of Nations as a big problem. They will be missing the likes of Drogba, Michael Essien and Salomon Kalou for three or four games, but the fixture list has been fairly kind to them and they have shown – for example in the 4-0 mauling of Wolves – that they have ample squad depth. Arsenal fans would have walked away from the game disappointed that their team were unable to compete on an even footing, and the cups now represent their best chance of silverware, as long as they don't meet Chelsea along the way! They were not physically up to the task, but seeing the way the modern game has gone I don't blame Arsene Wenger for moving away from big physical players like Patrick Vieira and Sol Campbell. Marouane Fellaini of Everton is a similar player to Vieira in that he is a big, leggy, physical box-to-box midfielder, yet it seems every time he makes a tackle he gets booked. They just lacked a bit of precision in their attacking play. Eduardo came in for the injured Robin van Persie but his touch was ragged and he just took a split-second too long on the ball. Chelsea don't need a second invitation to get a block in, and that's what they did time and again. Theo Walcott looked lively coming off the bench, but again his delivery was inaccurate. When you look at the way Aaron Lennon has improved his crossing this season, you can see Walcott has a long way to go. So Chelsea are the team to beat, and once again it looks like being a battle between them and Manchester United. I think Alex Ferguson will have to bring in one or two new faces in January, because at the moment the attacking phase of their play is just not clicking like it should. The 4-1 scoreline against Portsmouth flattered them, and it is increasingly obvious that if Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs are not on song, then there is no Plan B. It is hard to bring in a player who can make an immediate impact, but Fergie managed it with Henrik Larsson in 2008 and he will hope to pull off another masterstroke this winter. As for Portsmouth, you felt that Paul Hart had a knife sticking out of his back from the moment Avram Grant came in as director of football. Pompey are not a bad side, and I think there are at least three worse teams in the division. Hart has guided the team through a near-impossible situation, yet it is Grant who will take all the plaudits if they stay up