Wenger slams lacklustre Arsenal

Manager concerned by gap developing with Premier League leaders.

NORWICH: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits he is concerned about the gap developing between his spluttering side and the rest of the Premier League title contenders.

Wenger’s team crashed to their second defeat of the season at Norwich on Saturday as Grant Holt punished a mistake from Gunners goal-keeper Vito Mannone to score the first-half winner. The north London outfit have won only three of their first eight league matches.

“The gap at the top is unpleasant,” said Wenger. “We had an opportunity to close the gap but we didn’t. It does worry me but what is more disappointing is we didn’t score.”

Despite a disappointing display by striker Lukas Podolski and the Gunners attack in general, Wenger insisted he would not necessarily be dipping into the January transfer market for a new striker, although he was critical of his forwards’ efforts.

“We will wait until we see how players are when they come back. We did not create enough that is for sure. It was a poor collective offensive performance, although we have scored goals up until now. We have to give Norwich credit because they were very strong and organised and they stopped us very well.”

Wenger admitted Arsenal were caught out by Norwich’s intensity and struggled to find a way back after Holt’s 19th-minute finish.

“I believe we have to face the reality of the Premier League and if you are not ready from kick off then you have no chance. What can I do now? I am angry because we have not created very much. There was always something missing – defensively we were not at our usual level.”

Rodgers not worried about misfiring Suarez

Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insists he is not concerned about Luis Suarez’s problems in front of goal after the Uruguay forward drew another blank in the 1-0 win over Reading.

Asked about Suarez’s missed chances, Rodgers said, “He also scores. He’s not perfect but he’s got a great return if you look at his stats when he was at Ajax and since he came here. There is no doubt we will want to be more clinical, but we want to get more players to take the load off him.”

Raheem Sterling scored the only goal with a neat first-half finish to secure the points against Reading as Rodgers earned a first home league victory since he replaced Kenny Dalglish as manager in the summer. After Michael Owen, Sterling, 17, became the Reds’ second youngest scorer in Premier League history.

“It was a terrific performance and an excellent goal. We had 19 shots on goal and we need to improve our finishing which is an ongoing theme. I’m very pleased for (Sterling). It was a wonderful finish and he is a terrific talent. He has a good head on young shoulders.”

Ferdinand faces punishment

Sir Alex Ferguson has vowed to deal with his defender Rio Ferdinand after he refused to wear a ‘Kick Racism Out of Football’ t-shirt before Manchester United’s 4-2 victory over Stoke at Old Trafford.

Ferdinand was taking part in a protest by certain black players, led by Reading striker Jason Roberts who claimed that the anti-racism movement was not doing enough to deal with the high-profile problem.

“I am disappointed because I said yesterday that the players would be wearing it,” said Ferguson. “We did that in support of the Professional Footballers’ Association. Every player in the country should have adhered to that. He goes and lets us down. We will deal with it. Don’t worry about that.”

In yesterday’s match, Sunderland rescued a 1-1 draw against 10-man Newcastle as Demba Ba’s late own goal cost his team a victory over their bitter rivals in the Tyne-Wear derby.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd,  2012.