Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, lashed out at Gunners supporters demands for his job after the North Londoner’s recent struggles. Arsenal fans' screams for the sack after last weekends 3-2 loss to Stoke City were abated somewhat after the Gunners' impressive 4-1 win over Galatasaray in their last Champions League group match.
“Le Prof” pointedly noted:
“Since I arrived we have played over 180 Champions League games. You will see that before then they didn’t play so many”. While Wenger’s math was a little off--Arsenal has played 173 Champions League matches during his tenure—the point remains the same, Wenger has kept his club in the Champions League mix. The Gunners, however, have failed to advance past the Round of 16 in the last four campaigns.
Wenger argued that his side hasn’t had ample training time:
“We came back at 5am on Wednesday and we have just recovered, there are no sessions.
“We played eight Champions League games, we are exposed to the demands physically. We are working less than we want.”
Wenger finds support from unlikely source, this weekend’s foe-- Newcastle Manager, Alan Pardew
Alan Pardew, who survived numerous calls for his job before Newcastle’s recent run of excellence, came to Wenger’s defense stating:
“That stadium should be named after him. The job he did in that move across, when they had all that debt and he had to be very careful with the transfer budget — it was a miracle that he kept them in the Champions League.”
“I think everyone at Arsenal knows he’s done a magnificent job. For me, he’s the second best manager in Premier League history (behind Sir Alex Ferguson). Jose (Mourinho) hasn’t done enough yet.”
While both managers may share a warm pre-match handshake, it will be all business as Arsenal looks to build off the midweek momentum. They will need to do it without Aaron Ramsey, who picked up an injury after scoring a fantastic goal in Turkey.
Pardew looks to derail the Gunners and continue the Magpies' recent upswing that has seen them take full points in seven of their last nine league matches--including handing leaders, Chelsea, their first defeat last weekend at St. James’ Park.
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