The Gunners surprisingly lost their first game of the
season yesterday, courtesy of a first half goal by Brede Hangeland
that had Wenger fuming on the touchline. He said: “It was not
excusable to concede a goal like that.”
Yet throughout the game Arsenal looked weak in midfield and with
Cesc Fabregas and Abou Diaby missing through injury and Matthieu
Flamini, Gilberto Silva and Alex Hleb having left the club in the
summer, they had relatively few options in the middle of the
park.
Wenger chose to partner Emmanuel Eboue with Denilson in the
centre of midfield with Theo Walcott and new signing Samir Nasri on
the flanks, but it failed to pay off and Fulham looked by far the
stronger side.
Speaking to the media, after the game, Wenger revealed that
although he was disappointed by the defeat, he did not feel it
meant he needed to sign new players. He explained: “Of course I am
frustrated but when you lose a game it is not always the solution
to buy.”
Arsenal have been linked with moves for both Gareth Barry and
Xabi Alonso in recent weeks, however Wenger appears to believe that
the reason for the defeat lies in the current squad and not in the
transfer market. Wenger insisted: “We did not create enough chances
and have to look at why and how we can do it better. I didn't feel
we were into the game right from the start and you can't be like
that.”
The Frenchman also pointed to the start of last season when
Arsenal also stuttered early on, but managed to snatch vital
victories.
“We had problems as well to win our (early) games last year but
we did win them and it made things easier. Now we have to respond,”
explained Wenger, “We had 60 minutes to respond after Fulham scored
but we did not create a lot and I don't know why.”
Despite losing several players in the summer and bringing in
Samir Nasri and Aaron Ramsey, Wenger emphasised that the current
team was not so different from last season’s which threatened
topped the Premier League for long periods of the season. He
concluded: “But let's not make comparisons with this team and last
season's team because it is not a lot different. If it is better
only the future will tell us that.”
