Wenger knows title dream is fading fast

Steve Stammers13 April 2012
Charlton 1 Arsenal 0

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has virtually conceded the Premiership title to Manchester United after the New Year started with an 11-point gap at the top of the table.

Arsenal are ravaged by an injury crisis that has claimed several key players at a crucial stage of the season.

Tony Adams, Martin Keown, David Seaman, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Sylvain Wiltord and Lauren all missed the visit to Charlton and they are all expected to be out of the FA Cup third round tie at Carlisle on Saturday.

And there is a question mark against how many will be fit for the next Premiership game - the derby clash with Chelsea at Highbury on 13 January.

Wenger said: "It is not over but in football you must be realistic. You can dream how good you are but when you look at the table, it tells you how good you are.

"At the moment the table tells us that the teams behind us are much closer to us than they are to the team who is in front of us. That doesn't mean we have to give the dream up but first we have to look where there are dangers, not where the dream is."

It was a clear hint from Wenger that the immediate task is to clinch the second spot that will secure Champions League football next season as ever-improving Sunderland, who drew 2-2 at Highbury on Saturday, consistent Ipswich and the growing menace of Liverpool continue to make progress just behind Arsenal.

Asked about bringing in replacements, particularly for Adams, Wenger said: "I can accept every responsibility but I am not a magician. We are ready to spend money on people of the level of Tony Adams but if you find someone, please let me know.

"To go into a game of the importance of Charlton and have the lack of experience like we had is not easy. Players like Igor Stepanovs have potential and he has done well but it is easier when you have experience around them."

Confidence among the Arsenal players seems to evaporate and until that flaw is rectified, the New Year will bring as many frustrations as those in the one left behind at midnight on Sunday.

Never was that better illustrated than late in the second half when Arsenal were handed a lifeline after Lithuanian substitute Tomas Danilevicius was brought down by Mark Fish. While there was an immediate cluster of Arsenal players around the striker to congratulate him on earning the award, there was a distinct lack of volunteers anxious to take the kick.

Robert Pires was the nominated penalty taker but he had already been substituted so up stepped Argentinian Nelson Vivas to take it. He hit the ball hard and true but Dean Kiely was up to the task and tipped it away brilliantly.

Wenger said: "We had no specialist penalty taker on the pitch any more and Vivas had taken them well in training. But I don't think we we should hide the result behind that penalty. I think we have to be intelligent enough to think we have a real away problem. If you make a comparison between the chances created at home and away, it is significant. We need to be more audacious in the box.

"Also, you know that when you play for Arsenal every team plays against you with huge commitment. I don't think Charlton had the same motivation against us as they did at West Ham when they lost 5-0.

"I felt during the game there were great opportunities to put Charlton under pressure and at some stage you have to take responsibility and go into the box."

Wenger is a realist and not far behind him is Charlton's highly-impressive manager Alan Curbishley. He knew the inquest today would concern the demise of Arsenal rather than the elevation of Charlton. He said: "When we won 4-1 at Manchester City on Saturday it was how bad they had played, not how well we had done."

But well they did yesterday and, with huge irony, West Ham played their part in Arsenal's downfall. After the hammering at Upton Park before Christmas, Curbishley revamped his team. In particular, he gave opportunities to youngsters Scott Parker and Paul Konchesky and they have added a vibrance and hunger to the side.

"They were angry young men wanting their chance and they have taken it," said Curbishley, who can now rest a little easier after the debacle at Upton Park which he said acted as "a wake up call". Charlton were certainly bright-eyed yesterday and Curbishley wants that to remain the case into Saturday when Conference side Dagenham and Redbridge come to The Valley in the FA Cup.

Again, he will settle for being out of the spotlight come the results sequence on Grandstand. The only way Charlton will make headlines is if they are victims of a giant-killing. No, that will be one occasion when Curbishley would prefer his team to be off the back page.

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