A besieged Arsene Wenger faced the cameras after Arsenal’s latest abject defeat – this time a 3-0 crushing at the hands of Crystal Palace.
Here’s what he had to say to Sky Sports’ Geoff Shreeves
Was that a terrible performance and a terrible result for you tonight?
I felt that they won the decisive duels, we created quite dangerous situations but defensively we were exposed many times and offensively we couldn’t finish. I think in the first half it was quite level but after they came out in the second half stronger than us. We were a bit unfortunate on the second goal and the third it was a penalty that killed our game.
Were you also unable to handle Cristian Benteke this evening? He seemed to cause you all sorts of problems.
Yes, he [Benteke] was up for it. He is a handful for everybody when he is like that.
They were also winning all the second balls as well. Were they more committed, was there more desire from Crystal Palace tonight?
I think they were sharper than us in the duels, certainly in many decisive situations tonight, yes.
That must be deeply concerning to you, what do you put that down to?
Look it’s not the right moment to go into that. We need to analyse well the game. I think we had a lot of the ball, we had a lot of possession. If they [Palace] had won all the second balls we’d not have had so much possession. We won many second balls as well but they were, in the decisive duels, stronger and especially Benteke tonight.
What did you say at half time? It seemed to be more of the same in the second half.
What we say in the dressing room, stays in the dressing room.
But why do you think you were unable to change things?
I just told you, I felt they won more decisive duels than us.
How damaging is this in terms of your quest for top four tonight?
It’s damaging of course on that front. That is what is the most difficult thing tonight. It’s a difficult defeat but on top of that it has consequences on our chances to be in the top four.
When you hear the fans singing ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’, what do you make of that?
We understand that our fans are very unhappy. We came here with the hope we would win the game.
How worried are you personally by what you saw tonight?
Every defeat is a big worry. I’ve managed over 1,000 games for Arsenal Football Club and we are not used to losing like that. It is a big worry.
How concerned are you that this season is drifting away, just petering out?
Yeah, unfortunately, at the moment, it is like that. We have to respond very quickly and not accept it.
Do you think the situation involving yourself has any effect on what is happening?
Geoff, I don’t know but I can’t go on [talking] forever after a game like that. I’m disappointed and determined to put things right. The worry is not me, the worry is we lost a big game.
Is there any news on your situation?
No.
Yawn.
The Europa League spot fight is on!
It most certainly is.
Do you think we will finish in the top six??
“fight”
yeah sure
I love Arsenal and I love Arsene Wenger, but right now it’s not working and neither of them deserve this situation. It’s time to bring in someone to finish the season and start fresh in the summer.
ZZZzzzzzz
Whoops
He’s the same old story teller who cant blame his shambolic team performance
ZZZZzzzz
Just a total farce, top to bottom. 2 yards off any Palace player on the ball, and an attack that couldn’t penetrate hot butter. Walcott said they knew the Palace players wanted it more from before the kick-off, how does that even happen? How could we not want it? It has to come from the top you’d think, and it’s filtered down to players who it looks like to me, don’t want to play for this manager
Unbelievable! I know. How can you say that as a player. ” they wanted it more before the kickoff.” That is absolutely mind boggling. I mean what the fuck! This group is done. No champions league and I can’t see Europa league either at this rate. I just hope we don’t slip to mid table mediocrity. What is Wenger going to use for his next motivational speech. Let’s finish in the top ten.
Please go. What do you want from us?! Blood?
Just resign. Do us all a a favor. We’ll always remember the first 10 years. We’ll try to forget the last 10.
No Arsene, the worry IS you.
I used to love and admire wenger so much but he’s run out of ideas, he isnt getting the best out of the team or motivating them properly, tactically inflexible… all iron clad reasons why we need a nee manager with some new ideas
Wegner particularly deflated, tired and morose tonight. He can’t affect the performances.
“Every defeat is a big worry. I’ve managed over 1,000 games for Arsenal Football Club and we are not used to losing like that. It is a big worry.”
I can’t take him serious anymore..
How can he say this. Southampton Bayern Sheffield Wednesday every season I’ve been watching our arse kicked kicked by other teams.
At least he didn’t blame the referee and all that shit today.
“I’ve managed over 1,000 games for Arsenal Football Club.” Difficult to forget when his 1000th game in charge was so, so memorable.
Fuck years ago I loved the man. I really did, more than Henry or Campbell. I had a poster of him on my wall in highschool. Watching the interview I wondered as an already rich old man did he really think another couple of 8 millions per year was that necessary to lose that much love and respect or maybe he did really believed in his stubborn wrong ways.
Once upon a time there was a snail. Every evening the snail would come out from underneath an old upside down terracotta pot and munch on a leaf that had fallen from the sycamore tree above. At first he enjoyed this. The short journey meant he was reasonably safe from predation. He had enough to eat, he knew what to expect the next day. Now and again, the leaf that fell was diseased or rotten and tasted slightly bitter but on the whole he was quite successful in finding a succulent green one. It wasn’t spectacular. But he was content.… Read more »
Bet the snail is quicker then giroud
…and far less slimy than Özil
Great post thanks.
£8 million/year for this fucking fraud. Get the fuck out of our club!
Things aren’t going right and NOBODY is denying that anymore.. But cmon, the man is far from a fraud..
Wenger is going through a tough time no doubt. I think our style of football is harder to play, teams are better at defending than they were say 5 years ago. Wenger has been and probably is the most consistent manager. He could have left through the difficult financial period, but he stuck with us and I truly believe he deserves a chance like Ranieri did. If we don’t make championsl league it’s not a bad thing, if we don’t make Europa league it’s not a bad thing. This was going to happen one day and we all know it.… Read more »
You lost a lot of “out” votes do to the wankyness of your content.
You should run for political office with your thinking. I respect your opinion and you should learn to respect others’ opinions instead of resorting to stupid insults.
Leicester sacked the greatest manager in their history who led them to their first ever PL title and it has improved them greatly. Chelsea sacked their best ever manager (an insufferable road as he may be) twice and won titles as a result. Barcelona’s treble winning manager was forced to announce his imminent resignation after losing a first leg CL last 16 match. Why will nobody at our club take responsibility for our future and push Wenger out before he does too much damage?
Wenger has too much influence inside the bubble of the boardroom due to his lengthy tenure. Until we have a director of football, or someone to challenge Wenger on his ideas, it’s difficult to see a solution.
I liken this problem to what we have in the us government: these people live in their own little world and do little for regular folks because they rarely come into contact with us- they’re more likely to continue enriching themselves and their friends than provide something beneficial.
I always thought the comparison with ‘Clough at Forest’ was far fetched but man with this weak board, the Old Dictator may ruin Arsenal.
Nobody should challenge Wenger on his ideas. First off, he doesn’t seem to have any ideas and second, he’s not supposed to be at Arsenal. Not anymore.
It’s Clough all over again… 🙁
C’mon Boss, please step down!…
https://youtu.be/XHN0cnBTD5g
Fuck me! Just stop this shit! The car has already crashed and is written off. We need a new car.
Blah blah blah, let me know when he’s gone because I can’t watch anymore of this rot.
passing the ball a lot, but not using that possession to set up goals means jack shit in the end. obviously proven by palace tonight. time for a different game plan.
“we came here with the hope we would win the game” – meaning they came in thinking palace would be a pushover, and instead of fighting for the win they just expected it to happen.
Why are they winning second balls? Because the midfield is poor. Elneny is not the answer. He is a mediocre player at best and weak in the challenge. Ramsey is also insipid, certainly I would not have given him the Captain’s armband. Given recent form, he was a risk. Coquelin as I mentioned since last season cannot articulate anything unless next to Santi. We have yet to find a solution in midfield (which is the engine). The balance is wrong. Against West Ham its easy to sing the praises of Elneny (who frankly made a number of key errors which… Read more »
I really like wenger to stay but after las nite i think is time to sacck him
Fucking disgraceful performance. Did anyone count how many time granite and Alexis gave the ball away? I think we should play the youngsters at least the have heart for the game.
I love Aresene and love what he’s done for the club.
But……
Is Wenger like the poor guy on that United flight?
Will he have to be dragged out?
https://twitter.com/JayseDavid/status/851223662976004096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2017%2Fapr%2F10%2Funited-airlines-video-passenger-removed-overbooked-flight
This was supposed to be a period where the finances are no longer influenced by the Emirates stadium loans, the main excuse given for the last 10 years of failure. Arsenal was going to be the likes of great Invincibles. What are you doing, you silly old man?!?
Dead man walking…
Is it a coincidence that I keep seeing adverts for Giff Gaff on the Arseblog website with their tagine “Time for change “?