Arsenal still feeling effects of loss to West Brom
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that he and his players are still feeling the effects of their English Premier League defeat at the hands of West Bromwich Albion.
The clash on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium ended 3-2 in favor of the Baggies and, with a tough match against Partizan Belgrade in the UEFA Champions League group stage imminent, Wenger has conceded that the Arsenal camp has struggled to get over the loss.
Arsenal found themselves three goals down after strikes by Peter Odemwingie, Gonzalo Reyes and Jerome Thomas, but Samir Nasri was able to spare their blushes. Despite that, there is a feeling at the club that Arsenal should have taken advantage of league
leaders Chelsea’s loss to Manchester City to make up some ground in the title race.
According to The Mirror, Wenger said that, “The mood is still very low, but it is difficult to compare it with other disappointments — we have not yet discovered the measurement of lowness for a football team.”
The Frenchman added that, although the physical effort of his players was admirable in the match, the quality of their football was not up to their usual high standards.
"Physically, what we did on Saturday was tremendous — the highest this season in sprints and the distance we ran. You cannot say the players lacked effort, but we lacked sharpness and the quality of work was not there. I cannot fault their fitness, and their
willingness, but we made defensive mistakes through lapses of concentration. We were in a rush to win the game and we neglected our defensive duties."
Tuesday’s match against Paritzan is not one that Wenger would have wanted after suffering such a defeat. Although Arsenal will be the strong favorites to pick up the three points, they have struggled against teams in Eastern Europe over recent years and
will have to contend with a hostile crowd.
"It will be a heated atmosphere, Partizan are a very good side technically, and they will use every break to counter-attack us. We will see a lot of the ball and it will be a frenetic game, but if you turn up with a good performance you can win anywhere
in the world, so let’s just do that."
Tags: