Wenger Worry Over Arsenal’s Form Ahead Of Chelsea Clash
Arsene Wenger, Arsenal Manager[/caption]
Arsenal Manager, Arsene Wenger has expressed worry over his side’s performance in their 2-1 home loss against Watford in the English Premier League on Tuesday night.
The Gunner’s title hopes suffered a grievous blow after first-half goals from Younes Kaboul and Troy Deeney helped the Hornets earn their first ever Premier League win over the Arsenal in 29 years.
Younes Kaboul’s deflected free-kick gave Watford a 10th-minute lead and Watford added a second three minutes later when Troy Deeney tucked in the rebound from Etienne Capoue’s shot.
Advertisement
Alex Iwobi pulled one back for the home side in the second half but Arsenal could not recover from a poor first half which saw them fail to register a shot on target.
Wenger, who is serving the second of a four-match touchline ban, believes his side didn’t deserve to lose the game.
“It was not good in the first half, especially in the first 20 minutes. We were beaten in the duels and Watford were sharper than us,” the Frenchman said after the game.
“Did we think subconsciously that we just had to turn up? I don’t know. Honestly, we prepared well for the game. Looking at the preparation, I have no basic regret.
Advertisement
“We knew that Watford would make it very physical and we prepared for that.
“You do not make 47 points after 23 games in the Premier League if you don’t have physical power, but you have to switch it on 100 percent all of the time in the Premier League.
“We didn’t start the way we wanted, but in the second half it was all us and let’s be fair, we didn’t deserve to lose this game.
“We hit the bar and (Watford goalkeeper Heurelho) Gomes made fantastic saves as well, so I still think that if you look at the chances, we were unlucky to lose.
“On top of that we were a bit unlucky with the free-kick for the first goal and then a deflected shot on top of that.”
Advertisement
The Arsenal boss, who saw his side slip to third place and trail league leaders Chelsea by 9 points, vowed that the Gunners will respond positively against their London rivals when both sides face off this Weekend.
Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge to face the Premier League leaders in the early kick-off game this Saturday.
“We want to respond against Chelsea and win the game, of course. But we first have to analyse why we didn’t start well in this game.
“I’m responsible for the results of the team so I am very frustrated that we did not win the game. We are playing at home, we had a great opportunity and we had a start like we did.
“We have to learn from that and respond very quickly and in a very convincing way. What the other teams do doesn’t matter,” Wenger said.
