| Thursday, December 14, 2006 |
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Patience is a virtue, says Wenger |
Wigan Athletic v Arsenal
7.45pm, Sky Sports 1
Arsène Wenger has run the risk of reopening his rift with Chelsea by comparing Andriy Shevchenko to a broken Ferrari. In outlining his opposition to the notion of foreign owners demanding overnight success, the Arsenal manager jokingly likened Shevchenko to a “super machine that breaks in two”, somewhat ironic given he was essentially arguing that the forward should be given more time to adjust to the demands of the Barclays Premiership.
Although spoken in jest, Wenger’s comments will not go down well at Stamford Bridge, where there is much sensitivity to criticism of Shevchenko’s poor form and suggestions he is given special treatment as a result of his friendship with Roman Abramovich.
Some Chelsea fans will no doubt agree with Wenger’s description, however, as their £30 million signing has scored only three Premiership goals in 14 matches for the club.
“Sometimes you need to be patient and sometimes you don’t need to be,” Wenger said. “It’s not like a machine you buy. You can buy a super player and he can look disastrous for three, four, five months. If you buy a super machine, if you buy a Ferrari, from the first day it goes well — unless it’s a Russian who buys it and it breaks in two. But with a player it’s not the same. Sometimes you need to be patient.”
Wenger also hit back at José Mourinho’s criticism of Arsenal’s supposed negative tactics during Sunday’s 1-1 draw, insisting his complaints lacked substance.
“I am very surprised by that,” Wenger said. “Frankly those comments are not of any real interest to me. Chelsea usually put the result first. That is why this comment is of no real interest or of any substance because it is not linked with their ambition to play at all.”
Having seen his side hold the champions, Wenger called on his young players to show their maturity by getting a positive result away to Wigan Athletic tonight. Arsenal have struggled against the so-called lesser teams this season, losing away to Manchester City, West Ham United and Fulham, but Wenger insists that they are no longer a soft touch away from home.
“I feel we have got belief now from Chelsea that we can do very well,” he said. “We have shown we have the physical stamina to stand up in away games as we have matured.
We’re stronger physically and you saw that at Chelsea. You could see that with [Emmanuel] Adebayor, as he showed he could fight in areas where last year we were dominated. It’s maturity coming in to show that we can get results at places like Wigan.”
Arsenal’s cause will be helped by the availability of Kolo Touré after suspension, though the Ivory Coast defender’s return is tempered by the news that Thierry Henry will not be seen until the new year. The France striker has recovered from his neck problem but picked up a hamstring injury in training and has been given an extended period of rest.
Chris Kirkland, however, has made such an incredible recovery from the collision with his Wigan team-mate, David Wright, in the match away to Middlesbrough four days ago that he has been deemed fit to play. The goalkeeper suffered a fit and collapsed in the dressing-room during half-time and was detained in hospital overnight for brain scans.
It was feared that Kirkland would be out for several weeks, but after passing neurological tests and training yesterday he will start tonight. “Chris is OK,” Paul Jewell, the Wigan manager, said. “He has had all the brain scans and he has been given the all clear. He has trained and we would not ask him to play if he was not right. It was a delayed reaction and it was quite a scary sight, but he wants to put it all behind him .”
Wigan Athletic (probable; 4-4-2): C Kirkland — D Wright, E Boyce, F Hall, L Baines — D Cotterill, P Scharner, J Skoko, K Kilbane — H Camara, L McCulloch.
Arsenal (4-5-1): J Lehmann — E Eboué, K Touré, J Djourou, G Clichy — A Hleb, Gilberto Silva, F Fàbregas, M Flamini, R van Persie — E Adebayor.
Referee: R Styles.
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posted by Labanon @ 1:27 AM  |
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