The pain was etched all over Arsène Wenger's features as he
conceded that Sir Alex Ferguson, his great rival at Manchester
United, was the "biggest winner" yesterday. As the Arsenal manager
assessed where it went wrong for his team here in the
helter-skelter final 20 minutes, his eyes narrowed and he laid the
blame squarely at his defenders for their lack of "authority".
Wenger argued that Arsenal were in control and were set fair to
add on the counter-attack to Bacary Sagna's first goal for the
club. But while his purist principles might have been offended by
Chelsea's route-one approach for their goals, he knew that William
Gallas and Kolo Touré, in particular, should have stood taller.
Following the chaos inside the Arsenal penalty area before
Didier Drogba's first goal, Touré completely lost his Ivory Coast
team-mate on the second, after Gallas had been outjumped by the
substitute Nicolas Anelka.
"It's a game we should have won but we have shown some lapses in
concentration that we have paid for, which is difficult to
swallow," said Wenger. "We played quite well and were in control,
all that was left to Chelsea was to play long ball.
"I just feel we have some defensive problems that we need to
sort out. We gave an easy goal away against Aston Villa and
Middlesbrough and, defensively, we lost control of this game.
"We got caught when Anelka came on and by the long balls and the
physical battle. We have to be stronger defensively because we were
suddenly vulnerable on the long balls. It was in our hands but we
needed more defensive authority. We were not serene enough
defensively. I don't want to single anyone out. As a unit we need
to show more authority."
Wenger complained that three Chelsea players were in offside
positions on the long ball forward which preceded Drogba's first:
"We have been very badly done [on decisions] recently," he said.
But after four successive Premier League draws he admitted this
loss was a "big setback".
Wenger's frustration was compounded in injury-time when the
Chelsea goalkeeping coach, Christophe Lollichon, delayed giving
Arsenal the ball back for a throw-in by the dug-outs. Wenger
gestured angrily at him before the referee, Mark Clattenburg, sent
Lollichon to the stands. At full-time Wenger shook Avram Grant's
hand and disappeared straight down the tunnel. He has repeatedly
praised the mental strength of his young team, and now they face
another test of it.
"We have to come back to win games before we can dream of the
title," said Wenger, who reported injuries to Sagna (ankle) and
Gaël Clichy (hamstring). "We need to show our strength and I
believe we have it. But we are six points back [from United] and we
first have to win our next game [at Bolton]. I don't believe,
though, that we have a confidence problem."
