Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal’s season is not over as they look to bounce back from Wednesday evening’s defeat to Monaco.
The Gunners face Premier League clashes with Everton and QPR in the next four days, opportunities to consolidate their top four credentials, then travel to Manchester United for a crunch FA Cup quarter-final on 9 March.
Emphasising the importance of responding to setbacks, Wenger touched on his overall record in Europe:
“We have massive games in front of us and we have played two times away from home more than at home so the way we play at home is vital.
“I want to win football games and it’s a huge disappointment not to win against Monaco but that’s part of it. I think the Champions League and Europa League are difficult. People underestimate teams like Besiktas.
“Only two teams have qualified 12 times for the last 16 and we played five quarter-finals, two semi-finals and one final. It’s true that in the last four years we haven’t progressed and that’s why this result on Wednesday is so disappointing.
“The reactions today are always very emotional but life is not always on a high. You have to go through lows and highs and it is about how consistent you are in response to disappointments that makes your life.”
Outlining where his side need to improve, the boss pinpointed finding a balance in the collective attitude of his squad:
“Offensively we have lots of solutions. We have to find a team balance. It is more about team balance than any individual.
“When you have the ball in the modern game you have to attack, when you don’t have the ball you have to defend. All the players who can’t do that, cannot play.”
Elsewhere, Hector Bellerin believes that the short gap between Wednesday’s defeat and this afternoon’s visit of Roberto Martinez’s Everton should help the Gunners get back on track.
“That’s the good thing about football, that straight away you get the chance to play again, show people it was an accident and bounce back,” the defender told Arsenal Player.
“I think we just need to focus on that game, play the best we can, be united and hopefully be on the same run we were on before.
“Everton have got a lot of good players, especially up front like Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas. They’re really good players with good technique and they’ll score goals so we need to be careful.
“It’s going to be a hard game because they need points that they’ve missed throughout the season. We know they’re going to go 100 per cent.”
Come on Arsenal!
Just play solidly at the back, we have plenty enough skill to win upfront.
I want to see possession stats with them having more of the ball (eg Palace, City), we seem to have a better chance of winning then, as we let in less.
Good that Hector’s expecting them to score!
Look at the past long enough to learn the lessons, then move on to the future where life, more often than not, gives you an opportunity to correct what needs to be corrected.
Come on Arsene; let’s rise from the dust of Monaco, learn the lessons and, starting from today, play the way we know we can.
“It is about how consistent you are in response to disappointments that makes your life.”
Wenger must be leading a frustrating life.
“Only two teams have qualified 12 times for the last 16 and we played five quarter-finals, two semi-finals and one final. Can you ever imagine Fergie, Mourinho or Guardiola boasting about stats like this? Boasting about 17 years of failure. Since Arsenal got to the European cup final they’ve won 4 ties in the knockout rounds of the cl. Zero since 2010. The 4 ties were scraping past Roma. Beating a good Milan side. Beating Porto and Villareal whilst being favourites. This is why Arsenal continue to be failures in Europe. We have a manager that defines success as qualifying… Read more »
Do I detect a tinge of entitlement or a huge streak of it? It could and will get better but it could also be far worse. In any event its the competition highs and lows that makes the games so compelling, although Wednesday’s defeat felt like a kick in the gut.
Onwards and upwards, come on you reds……..
Nothing you’ve posted makes any sense. Just a load of nonsense buzzwords you get from fans who try to shut down criticism by saying ‘just get behind the team.’
Just get behind the team.
There is something true about your comments, I must say. It seems negative as today is a match day but true. The so-called success in CL where we haven’t proved to be a european force at all is phony. I will take winning one CL trophy in the last 10 years and not qualifying most years like Liverpool, anytime.
When has he told the players their failures are really successes? Have you got the inside track on what is said behind closed doors you clown? He is purely stating facts on what has happened in Europe not clapping his hands boasting saying ‘look at how brilliant we are’. We haven’t done well in Europe and that has and continues to be hugely disappointing but it is what it is. Get over it and we’ll move on and get behind the team. Furthermore, no one aims to finish forth in the league the aim of any season is to finish… Read more »
Are you chelsea in disguise?
Today’s line up will be very interesting
Szcz?
Not playing, but Gabriel is. Dreams can come true…
And Lots of pace at the back. Would have preferred Monreal as a balance.
Took long to drop Mertsacker who has proved to be a liability in so many games. Good luck Gaby, take your chance before Debuchy comes back. He has proved a real alternative in your position.
“When you have the ball in the modern game you have to attack, when you don’t have the ball you have to defend. All the players who can’t do that, cannot play.” – That’s for you, Theo
Ozil?
Enough with the Ozil bashing, already.
Yeah because I really bashed him to death there.
Touché dobbi
I would take another fa cup over top four. History gentlemen.
Lots of accidents arsene. Guess the handbrake is down
Stadium has so many emPty seats..thats what happens when tickets dont go to the right people…ultimately atmosphere suffers..
Club seems only concerned with selling them but not filling them..
Most (not all) are there browsing phones not contributing to the atmosphere…very sad
The stadium is absolutely dead. No singing, no atmosphere. We lost to Monaco, yes. I understand people are disappointed and nervous but being a supporter is a long term commitment. You see your team through the difficulty times.
That tackle by Gabriel, though
NAAA NA NANANA NAAA GIROOOOOOOOOUUUDDDDDDDDDD
I have all along believed the German was aliability.Thankfully he has been dropped.
The gunners had less possession but won.Similarly teams that have less possession have beaten the gunners. Can you forget how Hull beat the gunners 2-1 despite being played off the park.
Rosicky scored a good goal. The gunners are still in the habit of passing around the box
despite the massed defenders.
I want Arsenal to have someone like Coutino.That’s the way to beat the massed defences..A sudden shot will give the goalie no time to react.,