Wenger Hails Depleted But Resilient Arsenal
Arsene Wenger was pleased with the resilience of his Arsenal side after they increased their lead at the top of the Premier League to three points by beating dogged Wigan Athletic with two late goals from William Gallas and Tomas Rosicky.
Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to 28 matches in all competitions, despite being without six regulars because of injury and suspension.
Their persistence underlined a determination to sustain their challenge for the title this season.
The win was all the more valuable for Arsenal because Manchester United were unexpectedly beaten 1-0 at the Reebok by Bolton Wanderers.
Wenger said afterwards: "Wigan played well defensively. We needed something special and some patience to find an opening, and Gallas found it.
"He is a forgotten centre-forward because he knows where to be in the box and he can always turn up with a goal when you need it.
"Once again we found the resources to win the game. It is not the first time, so I do not feel it is a coincidence."
Wenger was without Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb, Gilberto, Diaby and Van Persie, so gave starts to Diarra, Denilson and Walcott, although Walcott was carried off 11 minutes from time after a heavy challenge from behind by Emile Heskey.
Wenger revealed that the teenager had suffered no serious damage, and indeed was able to walk out of the stadium in no apparent discomfort later.
"Theo does not look bad," said the Arsenal boss. "The physio told me he had to come off straight away because he was numb as he had been kicked on the nerve."
"He twisted his ankle and we checked on an X-ray, and he looks all right."
Wenger admitted the enforced changes, as well as Wigan's determined approach, stemmed the flow of Arsenal's normal passing game,
He said: "You lose a bit of fluency but I do not feel it is due to a lack of quality in midfield, it is down to the fact they defended extremely well.
"I must say I was surprised how long they did last without giving us an inch and how tight they could mark for 90 minutes.
"It was amazing and the real opening came only once we had scored.
"Once again we kept patience and had to speed the game up."
Wenger added: "It [three point gap] is good for us because it strengthens our belief that we can compete at the top and we need that.
"We have a strong December and every point we can be ahead at the moment can be very good for us."
Meanwhile, Wenger will reportedly be approached by the Football Association's chief executive, Brian Barwick, for his advice on the selection process of the next England manager after the sacking of Steve McClaren.
Of course, Wenger has himself been wanted as England manager in the past, but has always felt that the role should be filled by an Englishman.
Wenger commented: "I felt he [McClaren] needed to qualify to get the country behind him because the country never was behind him.
"Once he did not qualify you knew he had no chance to survive because he did not have enough credit at the start in England."
And the Arsenal boss stressed a point of principle in which he believes.
"I think national football is for representing a country and the culture of a country and the way you see the game. Therefore the leader of your national team should be from England.
"The club football should be open to everybody, but the national team should be completely representative of a country."
goal.com