Arsenal: Arsene Wenger's Experience Claim Unmerited And Unfounded
After Arsenal’s 1-1 with PSG Arsene Wenger claimed that Champions League experience was crucial. However, such claims are not supported by the flow of the match.
Before Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, Arsene Wenger repeatedly said that this squad has a great chance of progressing far in the Champions League due to the increased experience that they have in European football thanks to the many years of failing at the first knockout hurdle.
That may or may not be true. However, after Tuesday night’s match, Wenger then, in his post-match press conference, stated that Arsenal displayed such experience in their resurrection thanks to a scuffed Alexis Sanchez equaliser after 77 minutes of football in which PSG outclassed the Gunners.
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While experience was key in Arsenal’s comeback and their resilience, Wenger was keen to point out the positives, disregarding a first half that can be best described as an utter shambles:
“When you start so badly against a team of that quality you need experience. If you are too young, you can be caught. I thought that we didn’t panic, and overall we were resilient enough, and the resilience comes through experience. I told the players at half-time that if we keep playing we will come back, because we could see if we had better possession we could score goals. Overall, I think it was a good result to come here and not lose and pick up a point.”
It certainly cannot be doubted that Wenger’s men had to draw on their resilience and character to come back in the second half. However, if they were truly an experienced side who were mentally and physically prepared for the match, then they would not have found themselves 1-0 down after 42 seconds thanks to a free Edinson Cavani header.
The first goal was a body blow to Arsenal’s chances and it reeked of naivety and innocence, not experience and wisdom. Laurent Koscielny was far too eager to win the ball in the first minute, Nacho Monreal was useless in pressuring the cross and trying to block the source while Shkodran Mustafi had no idea whatsoever where Cavani was with Hector Bellerin not either stepping up and playing offside or covering Mustafi’s back side.
If the Gunners really did have the experience that Wenger has so heavily praised in recent times, then none of that would not have happened. Have you ever seen a Jose Mourinho side concede so early? It was a shambles, and Wenger’s claim of an experienced side are unmerited and unfounded.