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Wenger launches verbal attack on own players

Comment: 0 September 20th, 2011 by: admin

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger fired a volley of stinging words at his squad, highlighting the unfavourable performance at the start of the season.

Coming just after a 4-3 defeat to Blackburn that featured 2 Gunner own goals, the usually tempered Wenger began spewing out a list of criticisms aimed at his players.

‘A lack of concentration, a lack of communication, a lack of coordination and individual urgency,’ were Wenger’s words.

‘When you score an own goal, you have to look at yourself, he continued.  ‘It is never completely out of your reach where you have no chance at all.’

The statements were in response to a question on factors responsible for the squad’s 14 conceded goals in their first 5 games.

‘That is terrible,’ said Wenger, speaking of the mere four points Arsenal tallied so far.  ‘There’s nothing more to say than that.  It’s just not good enough and of course we are very frustrated.

‘If you look at the number of goals we have conceded that is not good enough – you cannot come here and concede four goals the way we did.’

‘Once you’re up 2-1,’ he continued, ‘with the quality we have it is important that you don’t give cheap goals away like we did.’

The Gunners were holding a 2-1 lead by the start of the second half, when Alex Song struck the ball into the Arsenal net at the 50^th minute, equalising the game.

Blackburn’s Yakubu Aiyegbeni found the net 9 minutes later and, set up by Steven N’Zonzi, shoving the Rovers ahead of Arsenal.

The Gunners’ mad efforts to put things back in the right were only awarded with their Laurent Koscielny steering into the Arsenal net, handing Blackburn their 4^th goal in the 69^th minute.

An Arsenal goal by Marouane Chamakh in the 85^th minute was not enough to salvage what would end as a Blackburn victory with 2 Gunner own goals.

‘The Blackburn game is very disappointing and frustrating,’ Wenger mused.  ‘I must say that the disappointments and frustrations are huge.  We feel that we have given this game away, not that we have lost the game.’

The Gunners are set to battle Shrewsbury Town this Wednesday for the League Cup.

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