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Arsene Wenger today accused the media of misreporting his criticism of Chelsea and vowed that he would not change Arsenal's style of play.
Blues midfielder Michael Ballack insisted the predictable' Gunners were easy to beat after Wenger claimed that Carlo Ancelotti's side did not demonstrate football' in their 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.
But the Arsenal manager, showing the strain of his team's recent poor run which has seen them draw one and lose three of their last four matches, maintained today he was not being negative about Chelsea's display.
“I was full of compliments and praise for Chelsea after the game and I find it completely unfair that the media take one word of my press conference to turn it into a kind of probe every time,” said Wenger, whose team face a crucial clash with Liverpool tomorrow at Emirates Stadium.
“You did that at Aston Villa [after a 0-0 draw], you did that at Chelsea and every time if you look at the intent of my press conference it was positive towards the opponent.
“I have been in England long enough to know that the team who win can say what they want. They are right. It is my job to take a distance from that and analyse the game in a calm way with a clear head and to analyse what is right.”
Wenger told Arsenal's AGM in October that the club would win a trophy this season, their first since the FA Cup triumph of 2005.
Although hopes of fulfilling that prediction now seem to rest on the Champions League, Wenger insists he will remain steadfast to his beliefs.
“There is only one way to play football and that is to win games and be efficient,” he said.
“The best way to win the games is most adapted to the qualities of your players and the philosophy of your club. That is what we try to be faithful to. We still have to believe in the way we do things, in the way we play and to show that strength.”
Arsenal go into tomorrow's match five points ahead of a resurgent fourth-place Liverpool but nine behind leaders Chelsea.
Steven Gerrard believes defeat for the Gunners will cost them third spot. The Liverpool captain said: “I'm sure that Arsenal will be a bit of a wounded animal tomorrow.
“It's a massive game for us and the target is to try to get a result where we can push on and try to get third.”
Reader views (9)
Ballack didn't say 'Arsenal are easy to beat.'He said : 'If you get your tactics right like we did, I think you can beat them.'
- Ted, London, 09/02/2010 18:11
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i think the media drool in the fact that hes smarter than they are, i really do hope he stops talking to em but hes too much of a gentleman not to, he didnt need 200mil to win 3 prem leauge titles, 1 of which he went unbeaten, 4 f,a, cups and am sure if he had really wanted to also 3 to 4 leauge cups, come on you gunners keep the faith
- Harry., belfast, n,ireland, 09/02/2010 18:02
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Oh Dear the Gooners are out in force defending the old fool.
He is past it, and the Gooners are on the downward slope, live with it.
- Kerry, Purley, 09/02/2010 17:12
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Surprised he saw it !!!!!
Its a disgrace that teams dare to beat his side and don't role over and let them win 4-0 every week.
Funny how when arsenal play a "top" team they are shown up.
Whilst he is a great manager he is rapidly becoming a comedy parody of himself.
- As, London, 09/02/2010 16:08
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I am an Arsenal fan but Wengers press conference was somewhat deluded as he seemed to believe Arsenal played the better football.
Overall, Arsenal will never win anything as the defence is a shambles and give the top teams a 2 goal head start. In tight games you cant concede soft goals but we keep doing it.
An easy lesson to learn Arsene but the same mistakes keep happening.
- William Jenkins, london, 09/02/2010 15:23
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So what if he did? He's got a right to an opinion, its his to own right.
- Tony, Hove England, 09/02/2010 15:16
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I'm glad Wenger's finally spoken up about the media's selctive quotations. I like the fact that he's also said that he may stop speaking to the media if that's what they would prefer.
But, if that happened they'd have to go ahead and COMPLETELY fabricate their stories rather than doing their usual trick of selecting a few choice words from a full interview, taking them out of context and using them to manufacture a story out of nothing.
I hope Wenger does follow through with his threat and stops talking to these hacks, because then they might turn their attention towards twisting the words of some of the other managers in the league. Perhaps they'll go back to baiting Rafa Benitez about his "facts" or harangue Harry Redknapp over his tax problems. Or maybe... and here's a novel idea... they could just get on with reporting the matters at hand instead of trying to stir up stories of their own making.
At least if he did stop doing interviews all the fans of every other tin-pot team in the land would stop bleating on about how sick of Wenger they are. Once the media turn their attention towards continually misrepresenting their own manager, they might understand how the media have been manipulating their every thought and opinion from the get go.
It's a simple process: conduct interview, selectively quote the interviewee, then make a mountain out of a molehill. Repeat ad nauseam.
- Steven, London, 09/02/2010 14:31
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Bore off, Wenger. Start winning som stuff and then we'll start listening.
- Londoner, London, 09/02/2010 14:01
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Even when he's wrong, he's never wrong.
The man wants to meet my missus...
- Stu, Beckton, 09/02/2010 13:11
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