Arsène Wenger has launched a furious attack on "boring" journalists and "depressing" pundits who have continued to focus on David Ospina's calamitous own goal against Olympiakos in the Champions League, and who continue to question the Arsenal manager's decision to start that game with the Colombian in goal instead of Petr Cech, who was watching from the bench.
After the 3-2 home defeat to the Greek side on Tuesday, Wenger described the suggestion that Ospina was responsible for his team’s failure as a farce and, as attention turned to Sunday’s league game against Manchester United, he reacted furiously when the same theory was repeated.
“Do not come always back with that same story. I think you lack a bit creativity in the press, you all follow a bandwagon that is very, very, very, very boring,” he said. “I don’t go along with that. If you have any interesting question about Sunday’s game I will answer, but you cannot keep coming back to the same story. Come to the game on Sunday and you will see who’s in the goal.
“I think you have not watched well the game on Tuesday night. To come always with the same story. I have two world-class goalkeepers. It’s the easiest choice I have to make, to pick one of those two. A goalkeeper can make a mistake and you have to accept that. If you watched really the game and you come to the conclusion we lost because of Ospina I question your knowledge in football.”
It was one of several spiky moments in an awkward press briefing, which Wenger threatened to storm out of when it was suggested that his unwillingness to accept that his team selection contributed to the Olympiakos defeat, backed up José Mourinho’s recent allegation that the Frenchman is the “only manager not under pressure”. “Stop that story or we stop the press conference,” the Arsenal manager said.
Wenger was then asked what he thought of pundits who call his team "soft" and "weak", both words used by Roy Keane in his analysis of the Olympiakos game. "Why always questions of being weak? [IT'S]because they lack a bit creativity and they don't analyse well," he said. "One pundit says something on television and all behind that repeat the same thing. It's quite boring because nobody came with numbers [TO SHOW]why the game was won or lost. It's quite depressing to see that. They all come to the same conclusion – we lost because we didn't play well. Yes, the goalkeeper made a mistake but we could still have won the game despite that."
Laurent Koscielny, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini will all miss the United game with injury, but Wenger insisted Arsenal will go into the fixture in buoyant mood as a result of last weekend's 5-2 victory at Leicester City, with the results of European games irrelevant in the Premier League. "Usually Manchester United is always fighting at the top. It has an even bigger meaning now because there's three points between the teams, we play at home in a big game, we've just come from a win at Leicester and we want to continue our run."
Wenger celebrated the 19th anniversary of his appointment at Arsenal on Thursday but insists he is not yet ready to cast a wistful eye over his long spell at the club. “I’m more focused on our next game than looking back,” he said. “I didn’t realise it was such a long time, because when you’re in the job you’re always focused on what’s in front of you. One day I will look back but I don’t think it’s the best day today.”
(Guardian service)
