Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger defends training regime as injury-hit Gunners fail to hit Premier League summit after drawn north London derby
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger defended the club’s regime after his injury-ravaged side missed the chance to hit the Premier League summit by drawing with rivals Tottenham in yesterday’s north London derby.
Substitute Kieran Gibbs rescued a point for the Gunners in the final quarter of an hour after Harry Kane’s first-half strike had put Tottenham on course for only their second win in 26 matches at Arsenal.
Wenger said his emotions were a mixture of “relief and regret” after failing to take full advantage of Premier League leaders Manchester City’s draw at Aston Villa earlier in the day.
Persistent injuries have led to questioning of Wenger, who saw midfielder Santi Cazorla and defender Mathieu Debuchy join the casualty list.
“The problem is that there are so many factors that intervene in an injury – how well do you sleep, how well do you eat, how much stress do you have outside the pitch?” he said.
“It is a very sensitive subject and a very complicated one that we try to sort out. Then on the other hand you have players that are injured because their body doesn’t take it.”
Tottenham opened the scoring on 32 minutes as Kane took full advantage of centre-half Laurent Koscielny’s failed bid to play offside to slot home his fifth goal in three starts.
Arsenal lost Cazorla at half-time with dizziness, while Joel Campbell’s low, curling effort drew a one-handed save from Tottenham stopper Hugo Lloris moments after the re-start.
The Gunners last failed to score a home Premier League goal against Spurs in November 1998, although Olivier Giroud missed two gilt-edged headed opportunities, the first when he headed Mesut Ozil’s free-kick onto the crossbar from close range.
The second miss on the hour mark was more glaring. The France forward was six yards out, centre of the goal when he glanced Ozil’s corner past the far post.
Playmaker Christian Eriksen and then centre-half Toby Alderweireld forced Petr Cech into crucial saves before Wenger threw on Gibbs and the makeshift left winger repaid his manager’s faith with a first league goal since March 2012.
Gibbs evaded the attentions of full-back Kyle Walker at the far post to meet Ozil’s inswinging cross and, although his effort was initially saved by Lloris, the ball looped up and over the stricken Frenchman.
Pochettino was 13 minutes away from becoming just the second Spurs manager to win more than one Premier League match against Wenger, although the Argentine revelled in Tottenham extending their unbeaten top-flight run to 11 matches.
“It is too far until the end of the season so it’s a question mark but with the way we played today and the way we have done, it’s impossible to set a limit to what we can achieve,” he said. “We are very ambitious.”