adminLondon. — Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said a Capital One Cup fourth-round defeat by Chelsea on Tuesday night will not hamper his side’s momentum ahead of a tough fixture list in November.
Cesar Azpilicueta and Juan Mata goals marked a second successive home defeat.
The Gunners lead the English Premier League and face Liverpool and Manchester United in their next two domestic fixtures.
Asked if his side’s confidence had been dented, Wenger said: “No. It’s a different competition.”
Wenger insists there is no reason to panic after Arsenal slumped to a lacklustre 2-0 defeat against Chelsea in the League Cup fourth round on Tuesday night.
Wenger’s side suffered a second successive home defeat as the Blues cruised into the last eight thanks to goals from Azpilicueta and Mata.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Wenger, who had seen his team defeated by Borussia Dortmund at the Emirates Stadium seven days previously in their Champions League group game.
Inevitably the two results will be seen as proof that Arsenal are still lacking the quality to end their eight-year trophy drought despite their impressive climb to the top of the English Premier League soccer table. But, given that both Arsenal and Chelsea made a host of changes for Tuesday night’s tie, Wenger has no intention of rushing to condemn his players as also-rans.
“Let’s not go too quick to a conclusion. If you take the points we have made since January we have got more than anybody else,” Wenger said.
“After losing the first game of the season against Aston Villa people said we were relegated and there would be a revolution, but now we are in a strong position in the league.
“It’s true that it is difficult to swallow what has happened in the last two weeks, but the mistakes are so obvious that they can be corrected and we have to do that.”
Since losing to Aston Villa in their first game of the season, Arsenal recorded 11 wins in 12 matches before losing to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League a week ago. They recovered by beating Crystal Palace on Saturday but the defeat to Chelsea was the first time they have lost two consecutive games at the Emirates since February. Having only faced one team from last season’s top seven — Tottenham — they now host Liverpool before trips to Dortmund and Old Trafford. They then host fifth-placed Southampton, who have beaten Liverpool and drawn with Manchester United recently.
Wenger, who made eight changes to the side that beat Palace 2-0 at Selhurst Park, said Chelsea punished a mistake for Azpilicueta’s opener. Chelsea broke forward after an Arsenal corner with Carl Jenkinson’s header failing to reach Lukasz Fabianski. But he said it was too early to say that Arsenal could not perform against the stronger teams.
“Let’s not reach a conclusion too quickly,” he said. “If you take the points we have made since 1 January, it’s more than everybody else. Over a longer distance, you’ll see more of the quality of the team than in the last two games.
“It is true that it is difficult to swallow what happened to us in the last week, but the mistakes are so big that they can be corrected.
“After the first game against Aston Villa, we were relegated. Today we are in a strong position in the league.
“It is down to how we get rid ourselves of these mistakes without losing the belief in our qualities. That is what is at stake.”
With Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud only introduced in the second half, Arsenal sorely lacked a cutting edge, especially with Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner delivering a poor performance in a rare start.
Nn Bendtner’s poor performance Wenger said: “I do not want to go into the individual assessment of the players in the press conference. I leave that between the player and myself.”
Yet Wenger maintained he was right to rotate his team to keep the key players fresh for the weekend’s league clash against Liverpool.
“It was a very tight game that was decided on one or two mistakes,” he said. “You can’t play always with the same players, you have to rotate at some stage. We have to respond well on Saturday against Liverpool. They are in a good position in the league, but we have to turn this around. You know it is vital to win the big games.”
While Wenger looks for an immediate response from his team, Chelsea are riding the crest of a wave at present. Just two days after defeating title rivals Manchester City, Jose Mourinho’s men inflicted another psychological blow on one of their main rivals. Mourinho made 10 changes to the team that beat City, but was still able to name a strong starting line-up featuring the likes of Mata, Samuel Eto’o, David Luiz and Willian and the gulf in class between Chelsea’s stand-ins and Arsenal’s shadow squad was clear to see.
Mata was the catalyst as he pulled in the strings in midfield with his clever passing before clinching the win with a superb 66th minute strike from the edge of the penalty area. The Spaniard has struggled to break into Mourinho’s team, but Blues assistant boss Steve Holland made it clear Mata will get his share of game time if he keeps performing like that.
“We have seen that before from Mata, so it’s not a surprise. It was another fantastic moment for him,” Holland said.
“If you look back at the fixtures he started more than his fair share of the big games. Jose, when he addressed the team before kick-off, asked to be given selection problems for the weekend.
“He wants headaches and wants everyone playing well when they get a chance. You have to say they responded.”
Holland believes Chelsea are gradually improving after a slow start to Mourinho’s second spell in charge and he added: “The bottom line is two results like this give you confidence.
“It’s taken a bit of time in the early weeks but Jose’s principles of play have been hammered home in training and there’s been signs in the last few weeks that it’s coming through.” — AFP.
Online Reporter