corners that he has now learned to accept everything that comes his way. Over the last few seasons, Arsenal has been accused of many shortcomings and the latest one that has been sent their way is that Arsenal has a soft belly. Wenger as usual has been trying his best to defend his players. There was more criticism to follow after the straight red card shown to Jack Wilshere for his reckless challenge against Nikola Zigic last weekend.Wenger seems fed up with all the critics, said that, no matter what his team does, people will continue to target them. He said that he has always told his team to play proper football and avoid unnecessary physical contact in the game, but the pundits see that as a soft belly for the team. He said that in his opinion his team is not soft by any means, and have what it takes to stand up against any team in every aspect of the game. Referring to the game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge Wenger said that his team was the one dominating most of the match, and despite the physical advantage of Chelsea, they never got to dominate his team in terms of physical side of the game. The Frenchman said that if he starts to pay attention to every word of criticism he would never be able to work and concentrate on his team. Wenger added that it is the job of press and media to point out flaws in every team and that is based on their own judgement and not on any facts.
While talking about the red card to Wilshere, Wenger said that, yes by no means it is something that can be defended. However he added that things like that often happen on the pitch that are beyond the control of anyone. He went on to say that Jack only went in hard to get the ball and he is 100% sure that there was no malicious intent.
“I don’t think Jack [Wilshere] saw the player he was tackling. He just thought ‘I lost the ball, there’s a minute to go, I must chase and win this ball back’, but he mistimed his tackle,” said the Frenchman.
“You have to make a difference between an accidental red card and a team who tries to kick you from the first to the last minute. There is no comparison”.
Wenger went on to say that Wilshere is a very talented player, and with time, he would learn to tackle the proper way. Wenger who is also known as ‘the Professor’ said that Jack is only 18 and it would be harsh to judge him by one incident. On a lighter note Wenger referred to Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes , and said that he has been playing for United for almost 2 decades and even till now he does not know how to make a proper tackle. Wenger added that this does not undermine Schole’s ability as a player. And he is a player who always plays with all his heart for the club but often does get booked here and there for a bad tackle.
The French manager also tried to direct the attention of the media towards the rash tackles his players have been getting over the last few seasons. Wenger said players like Eduardo de Silva, Samir Nasri and Aaron Ramsey have all suffered broken legs, but he never accused anyone of malicious intent as things like that happen when players play with passion. The manager ended by saying that his team should not be singled out, and there should be a balance all round when it comes to criticising the teams in terms of tackling and style of play.