Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal can win the title despite letting a two-goal lead slip in the draw at Tottenham.
The Gunners were held 3-3, missing out on the chance to close within four points of leaders Manchester United.
But Wenger backed their mentality - and also said that a recent interview from captain Cesc Fabregas, which seemed to undermine his boss, had been twisted.
"They have an outstanding attitude," said manager Wenger. "We'll fight like mad for the next game. We can do it."
Of suggestions that his team - who were leapfrogged by Chelsea on goal difference on Wednesday and now sit third in the table - lacked the capability to secure an important win from a commanding position, the Frenchmen added: "It is very unfair.
"We're on a 15-game unbeaten run, and no-one else has done that.
"Chelsea are now back in the race. Chelsea play Manchester United and Tottenham, but it's down to us. We have to keep our faith and keep battling."
In an interview with Spanish magazine Don Balon earlier this week, Fabregas appeared to suggest that Wenger would have been sacked if he was managing a similar-sized club in Spain - given that Arsenal have not won a trophy since 2005.
"It's clear that if you come to Spain and say to [Unai] Emery, [Pep] Guardiola or [Jose] Mourinho that they'll win nothing in the next three years, it's obvious they wouldn't continue [in their jobs]," Fabregas is quoted as saying.
"But here it's different. The boss is an intelligent person and the club values other things: that the team is always in the Champions League, that it fights until the end, that it brings young players through, the economic stablity."
Yet Fabregas himself said that his words had been manipulated, and Wenger echoed those sentiments after the thrilling encounter at White Hart Lane.
"The article bothers me," Wenger said. "This was an article organised by the club with a check viewing of the article. Not only did the author not respect the agreement, but also he did twist completely the article and we are really upset about it.
"It was not an attack on my philosophy. That is not what he Fabregas said. He said completely the opposite."
Of the match, which leaves Arsenal with only five league games of the season left, Wenger felt his side struggled to maintain their intensity throughout, having come through a tough draw against Liverpool on Sunday.
"It was a game with a frenetic tempo," he said. "Of course we have regrets, because we were 3-1 up. But the second was an outstanding goal and then we conceded a penalty.
"We had a fantastic attitude in the first half but dropped in the second half because it is a massive advantage playing two games of such stature in a matter of days.
"It is too short to maintain that pace for 90 minutes."
Redknapp pleased to match ArsenalSpurs quickly recovered from going 1-0 down to Theo Walcott's opening goal to level through Rafael van der Vaart.
Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie then made it 3-1 to the visitors before Tom Huddlestone completed a remarkable first half of scoring to reduce the deficit.
Van der Vaart's penalty made it 3-3 and Tottenham could have even taken all three points had Luka Modric not seen a shot well smothered by Gunners keeper Wojciech Szczesny.
"It was a great game to be involved in," said Spurs manager Harry Redknapp.
"We had two teams playing unbelievable football. We couldn't live with them early on with their passing ability, which was breathtaking, but we stuck in there and stayed with them and got an equaliser.
"It looked over at 3-1 - I spoke to [Arsenal keeper] Jens Lehmann and he said we looked dead and buried - but it was an amazing performance from us. We have both got attacking flair and go for it. We swarm forward in numbers and so do they.
"It's what football is all about - you don't want to see teams sit back and play for 0-0."
0 comments:
Post a Comment