Wenger finds another excuse for poor form
Arsene Wenger has come up with yet another excuse to explain
Arsenals recent poor form, describing the Premiership fixture list
as a farce.
The Gunners saw their title hopes all but disappear following a
second straight away defeat on Wednesday night, when they went down
2-1 at Fulham and finished the match with 10 men.
Boss Wenger had suggested this next run of games - which also
includes a crunch Champions League trip to Porto next week before
the clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on December 10 - would
prove to be the "moment of truth" for his sides campaign.
While stopping short of conceding the Premiership crown, privately
the French coach will know it would take something of a minor
miracle for Arsenal to overhaul the 16-point deficit on leaders
Manchester United, even with a match in hand.
Spurs were one of the top-flight clubs not to be involved in
midweek action - a quirk of the fixture list which certainly did
not impress the Arsenal manager.
Wenger, though, insists his men will be more than ready for the
challenge which awaits them in the first north-London derby to be
played at the new 60,000-seater Emirates Stadium.
"We have a difficult game coming up against Tottenham, and I do not
agree at all with the way the fixtures have been organised - it is
a farce," bemoaned Wenger.
"I cannot understand how the Premier League can organise midweek
fixtures in between Champions League games. They are very creative
because to get that through anywhere else in Europe, you will have
big problems."
Wenger added: "We play now against opponents who did not play this
week - but we will beat them."
The Arsenal manager elected to rest several of his first-team
regulars against Fulham.
It proved to be a miscalculation, as the Cottagers put the reshaped
visitors on the back foot from kick-off before racing into a 2-0
lead inside 19 minutes.
Robin van Persie gave Arsenal hope when he smashed in a superb
30-yard free-kick to reduce the deficit - but even the introduction
of Cesc Fabregas at half-time and then England starlet Theo
Walcott, who hit the base of the post, could not rescue a point for
the Gunners.
Captain Thierry Henry returned to the starting XI following a neck
problem - but saw an evening of frustration capped when his
second-half strike was ruled out for a dubious offside flag.
Wenger insisted the number of matches Arsenal face between now and
the turn of the year left him with little choice but to rotate the
squad.
"I had to make changes because some players have played in every
game and we also had guys coming back from injury," said the
Gunners boss.
"We had to change the players or we will not get through to
January."
Central defender Philippe Senderos must serve an instant one-match
suspension on Saturday following his dismissal for a second yellow
card at Craven Cottage.
William Gallas is making good progress with his thigh injury, but
the Spurs game may come too soon for his return.