Wenger: The pitch was an insult to paying fans

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Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
09 Mar	4:00 PM	P	Wigan Athletic (A)	0	0	Draw

Manager Arsène Wenger refused to blame Arsenal's exploits in Milan for their poor performance against Wigan Athletic on Sunday.

The Gunners never looked like scoring against a dogged and determined Wigan side, and the manager attributed that to the poor state of the pitch during the match, a state which he says was not suitable for a professional football match.

And Wenger admits that the Gunners had prepared to play on a muddy surface, but it wasn't enough to earn all three points and their lead at the top of the table was cut further.

The Gunners have now drawn all of their last three games and could lose top spot if Manchester United win their game in hand, which is against Bolton.

Wenger said: "The pitch did not help Wigan or us. It is not a professional football pitch.

"We were focused and prepared to adapt. We knew the pitch was not that good. But it is still a handicap. If I give you a bike with one pedal you can still focus and prepare to adapt but you will still not be quicker than with two pedals. That is logic.

"If you asked me if I would like a better pitch then I say yes. Wigan fought very well and I don't want to take anything away from their performance. But frankly the pitch is a disaster. It is disrespectful for the fans who come and pay money to see the game.

"The excuse is they have a rugby team who play on the pitch. Unless the groundsman is sick, I don't know.

"I don't think the Champions League was a problem. We played a good Wigan side who are going through a good patch.

"It is an anti-climax when you go from Milan to Wigan. And we prepared for that. It is normal because there's the glamour of a Champions League game when you play against one of the biggest side in the world. Then five days later you play against a team who fights not to go down. It is normal.

"I don't think that is offending Wigan. It is just the normal life of the a team who are going for the Champions League and the Premier League. We have to deal with that, it is not an excuse. We did what we could. We just lacked the spark in the final third, Wigan defended well and Kirkland did the rest."

"Maybe it was a good point, maybe it was a bad point. We'll see that at the end of the season but now we want to come back to winning habits straight away."

User Comments

Alister

Posted on 12 Mar, 2008 at 01:13 AM - Reply

PItch was shit...Wigan needs a new pitch or get out

Phillip Three

Posted on 11 Mar, 2008 at 09:44 PM - Reply

I am pretty sure Groundskeeper Willie pissed all over the pitch the night before the match.

west oz gooner

Posted on 11 Mar, 2008 at 03:31 PM - Reply

Once again, all credit to wigan for closing us down quickly and the pitch not letting us play our style of game. However, we certainly had chances to score. We weren't our usual dominating selves, but to say, with 6 shots on goal, that we 'never looked like scoring', even with the 2 at the start and finish, tells me you weren't watching the same game I was.

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