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Premier League title race is like facing Usain Bolt, says Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
So competitive has the Premier League title race become, that Arsene Wenger has compared it to taking on Usain Bolt over 100 metres.
By Duncan White
Last Updated: 8:22PM BST 25 Oct 2008
Lights out: is Arsenal's season over now the League is more competitive? Photo: GETTY IMAGES
"We live in a competitive world, with competitors of an extremely high level," Wenger said. "You are very fast but if you run with Usain Bolt you can still lose the 100m. It is like that."
Wenger's Arsenal have been sensational at times this season but have also slipped to defeats against Fulham and Hull, slips akin to ceding valuable fractions of a second out of the block to Jamaica's celebrated Olympic champion. "We have Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, who are competitors of extreme talent," Wenger said. "And if you take all the talent in these teams you have 80 per cent of the best players in the world all grouped. The level of the competition is very high."
That competitive context means imperfections get magnified. Wenger wanted to sign a centre-half with aerial presence in the last transfer window and, having failed to find a face – or rather frame – that fit, Arsenal have duly looked vulnerable at set-pieces. Fulham and Hull scored their winning goals from corners.
The defensive fragility evident amid the impressive attacking flair of the 5-2 midweek win over Fenerbahce in Istanbul should be helped somewhat at West Ham today by the return to fitness of Kolo Toure and William Gallas. The number of times Daniel Guiza burst free through the middle for Fenerbahce would suggest that the return of Toure, who would give less ground to Bolt than most, is especially welcome.
The return of Gallas is more fraught, though, with Wenger disappointed to discover pictures in a tabloid newspaper of his captain smoking at the end of a night out. Speaking before the picture was published, Gallas admitted that his form had been patchy and that his leadership role put him under scrutiny.
"Sometimes it is not easy because if you have had a bad game, the next match you want to lift the level up as high as you can. I am the first man to judge myself when I have had a bad game.
"I am 31 years old now, so I do not mind what is written about me. I know myself when I have played badly or not. It is a big story when I don't play well, but I have learnt that is part of being the captain.
"There is a lot of pressure on your shoulders when you are a captain, but it is a good experience for me. When we lose or when we draw straight away people look at the captain, and to be honest that is something that surprised me when I first took the job. But I'm used to it now and I don't mind."
So competitive has the Premier League title race become, that Arsene Wenger has compared it to taking on Usain Bolt over 100 metres.
By Duncan White
Last Updated: 8:22PM BST 25 Oct 2008
Lights out: is Arsenal's season over now the League is more competitive? Photo: GETTY IMAGES "We live in a competitive world, with competitors of an extremely high level," Wenger said. "You are very fast but if you run with Usain Bolt you can still lose the 100m. It is like that."
Wenger's Arsenal have been sensational at times this season but have also slipped to defeats against Fulham and Hull, slips akin to ceding valuable fractions of a second out of the block to Jamaica's celebrated Olympic champion. "We have Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, who are competitors of extreme talent," Wenger said. "And if you take all the talent in these teams you have 80 per cent of the best players in the world all grouped. The level of the competition is very high."
That competitive context means imperfections get magnified. Wenger wanted to sign a centre-half with aerial presence in the last transfer window and, having failed to find a face – or rather frame – that fit, Arsenal have duly looked vulnerable at set-pieces. Fulham and Hull scored their winning goals from corners.
The defensive fragility evident amid the impressive attacking flair of the 5-2 midweek win over Fenerbahce in Istanbul should be helped somewhat at West Ham today by the return to fitness of Kolo Toure and William Gallas. The number of times Daniel Guiza burst free through the middle for Fenerbahce would suggest that the return of Toure, who would give less ground to Bolt than most, is especially welcome.
The return of Gallas is more fraught, though, with Wenger disappointed to discover pictures in a tabloid newspaper of his captain smoking at the end of a night out. Speaking before the picture was published, Gallas admitted that his form had been patchy and that his leadership role put him under scrutiny.
"Sometimes it is not easy because if you have had a bad game, the next match you want to lift the level up as high as you can. I am the first man to judge myself when I have had a bad game.
"I am 31 years old now, so I do not mind what is written about me. I know myself when I have played badly or not. It is a big story when I don't play well, but I have learnt that is part of being the captain.
"There is a lot of pressure on your shoulders when you are a captain, but it is a good experience for me. When we lose or when we draw straight away people look at the captain, and to be honest that is something that surprised me when I first took the job. But I'm used to it now and I don't mind."
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