Just Arsenal News

The Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger thinks that the 3-0 scoreline against Man City was not a true reflection of the game, and thinks that it was a “tight game” for most of the match, until the younger legs got tired towards the end.

He did admit that his policy of playing youngsters contributed to the defeat: “They played their full side and we didn’t, that was the difference.” Wenger said.

“We play in the Champions League and they don’t so they use their full side in this competition. You cannot say we develop the players like Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Fran Merida and then never give them a game. Then you have to change our policy. It can work.

“I think if we had played at home tonight I think we could have won this game. The home crowd had a big impact on the motivation of City and of the players. I believe for long periods it was a very tight game.”

“They looked more dangerous than us in the final third and at the end of the day their quality offensively paid off, and we have to swallow a defeat, despite the fact that I believe in large patches of the game we played well.

“We lacked a little bit of pace and power to take advantage of the good movements we created. I believe as well our young players are not used to playing with such intensity and after an hour we dropped a little bit.

“But it’s a good experience and it was a difficult game and we were a bit unlucky as well with the goals they scored.”

That makes three games, three defeats, and no goals scored. Things will have to change against Stoke this weekend.