Arsene Wenger says Arsenal’s initiative was rewarded as they overcame a stubborn Leicester City side 1-0 at the Emirates.
The Gunners dominated possession for large swathes of the game but having played extra time on Sunday in the FA Cup semi-final they looked tired in the final third and struggled to seriously trouble Kasper Schmeichel in the visitors’ goal. That was until Robert Huth deflected in a cross by Nacho Monreal that broke the deadlock with five minutes remaining.
“We took the initiative, we lacked a little bit of change of pace and penetration – you could see we had a few heavy legs,” said Wenger after the game.
“But you could see we were serious and didn’t give chances away. Maybe we lacked a little bit of speed in our game to get them out of position – but they defend well and are very difficult to get out of position.
“In the end, I think the win rewards the team who took the initiative in the game. Overall, we are very happy with that because we knew the three points would be very difficult tonight.
“Let’s not forget as well that we played on Sunday afternoon and Leicester did not play at all at the weekend. They had good preparation for the game and we knew we had a little handicap on that front.”
The Gunners next challenge is to down Sp*rs in the North London derby. It’s a game that neither side can afford to lose with Wenger stressing his squad will be motivated by a desire to achieve their own aims rather than derailing the title hopes of their neighbours.
“We play for ourselves, not others,” stressed the boss.
“In life, you work for your own achievements, not for others. What is important is that we go there, try to win the game and focus on our own performance.
“We do not want to go into any speculation on that. Sport is great but you’re never happy when others do badly and you do badly. You’re happy when you do well.”
Gooners, smash!
bin lardon
Arsene on the Sanchez throw in situation at the end :
“I didn’t see where Alexis had been hit. (It was the shoulder and not the face which Alexis then grabbed) Fuchs was lucky not to get a yellow card because he threw the ball at him on purpose.”
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
That wasn’t Arsene that was Craig Shakespeare who said that
What is this about talking about a handicap. Wenger changed a lot of the squad around so there were fresh legs.
I hope they can all be ready and up for the two big games ahead Spurs then United.
We need 6 points anything less and and we won’t be in the top 4.
Shake up boys and grow up and get ready for these games. Your athletes and get paid a hell of a lot of money to perform.
I’ve never understood this “they get paid a hell of a lot of money” argument. Money is in football, not for the effort they put in. There are other sports as physically demanding as football whose athletes get paid an average everyday salary or even lower. Money also can’t magically raise the limits of human capability. Even playing 50 odd games a season at this level pushes the limits of what humans are capable of
i thought sanchez idea was a good tactic i’ve seen it used before to stand in front of a long throw in puts off the thrower its like standing in front of the keeper on corners and set pieces where it went wrong Sanchez clearly got hit on the shoulder and fained injury if he had not Fuchs would have been booked for un-gentlemanly conduct the fat lip he got was from the foul from Huth later on, i understand Wenger backing his players but that was embarrasing
I thought Alexis was brilliant – clearly trying to wind up the Leicester team and waste time, which he very much achieved. I don’t see how anybody can believe it was a genuine dive since he waited for about 2 seconds after the ball hit him
Do you know if it is actually against the rules to stand that close to someone on a throw?
I didn’t think it was.
Yes, Law 15 (p. 49) says
“All opponents must stand no less than 2 m (2 yds) from the point at which the throw-in is taken.”
And on the next page is the sanction:
“If an opponent unfairly distracts or impedes the thrower:
• he is cautioned for unsporting behavior”
http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/footballdevelopment/refereeing/02/36/01/11/lawsofthegameweben_neutral.pdf
And for free kicks ? From what i’ve read from the link above, opposition players standing within 10 yards of a free kick cannot be cautioned. That’s so inconsistent…
In fact they can be :
“Cautionable offences :
A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he commits any of the following seven offences:
…
* failure to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner kick, free kick or throw-in”
so the fact that i’ve never seen a yellow card for this happening at free kicks proves yet again how rubbish the premier league refs are.
Dennis Bergkamp got a player booked for standing in front of the ball when he was trying to take a freekick, he ended up just kicking it against him and then held his arms up towards the ref and got him booked. Can’t remember the opposition or the player.
You can be cautioned if you don’t move back 10 yards after being asked to.
Bring on the dark arts I say! Need some wickedness in this side.
Dark arts yes. Pinching, treading on toes, shirt pulling on the blind side of the ref, scraping the achilles, sledging, kidney punches… absolutely. Rolling around pretending to be hurt? Fuck no. Never let them know you’re hurt. Have some fucking pride and show them how strong you are, rather than flailing about like a fucking twig in the wind.
In the Guardian there was a great quote:
“If you know Alexis you don’t worry about what happened there,” Wenger said. “He will be the same tomorrow and the same on Sunday.”
There is only one Wenger and only one Alexis. Gotta cherish them while we can.
Yeah, it’s really hard to play midweek after a tough weekend game. Fixtures eh Arsene? If only for once we could get a really good break before a big game (say Liverpool away maybe) I’m sure we’d be great & not put in a totally lifeless, limp performance. Wouldn’t we ?????
He reeks of hypocrisy, but doesn’t everybody?!
Very true Gargoyle !
It’s really hard to get behind the team eh Kwame? I guess it takes some special blend of hatred and self-destructiveness to keep picking on someone incessantly.
Yawn. What a bizarre comment. I’ll leave it with you to see if you can spot the irony.
I don’t think the lack of creativity was just down to personnel changes, but the type of personnel changes. 7 defensive-minded players, no creativity in midfield (outside of Xhaka from deep), Sanchez as a CF only works if he has no.10s like Ozil AND Iwobi behind him, otherwise he just drops deep and tries to be a no.10 (and subsequently loses the ball over and over). It’s quite nuts how our CM options are badly lacking in creativity outside of Santi. Ramsey for all his running into the box, isn’t one to give you passing and dribbling from central. Iwobi… Read more »
I’m happy when Spurs are unhappy. We need to win on Sunday because they need to wollow in unhappiness. I feel no shame in saying this. None at all.
I am looking forward to By The Numbers column, but what made me positive impression yesterday was that the team was quite effective in winning the first balls in the midfield. This is what gave us most of the possession, and this is what reduced their opportunities.
You need a character for that, and I liked what I saw yesterday.
Is it me or was the Emirates more empty than usual last night? Could it have been the midweek factor?
That, and there was a shed load of transport issues in North London yesterday
I had an issue where by we got 5 tickets when this was originally a Saturday fixture, then when it was shifted to midweek two people couldnt make it. We cancelled the two but head office, in all their wisdom, cancelled all 5 rather than just two of them. Not a huge deal as mid week is a struggle anyway but still, annoying!
I get the gist of the “handicap” comment, but…. Nacho played 120 minutes on Sunday – at wingback, which is hard work – but puts in a great performance again. Theo had no involvement on Sunday, so is totally fresh, is useless.
Tbf Theo is often useless and probably doesn’t suit the “new” formation at all, but still the contrast is stark.
Great result last night. I know it was a bit late in the day, but I dont think we played that badly really. Not that we played brilliantly either but we played like a team with our best player at the moment (Ox) rested, and Theo Walcott up front after 120 minutes against City in the FA Cup Semi. I think we were all a bit worried about how we would cope in this game, and given how few chances we gave a team that I read has scored 2 goals in their last however many prem games, I thought… Read more »
No St Totteringham’s day this year alas.
BUT we can still smash the Spurts.
Lets give them a heavy hiding and dash their title ‘hopes’.
They can finish second best of they like.
And we will still be going to Wembley.:D