Football: Wenger not embarrassed by cup defeat

Arsenal’s League Cup exit at the hands of minnows Bradford City left manager questioning the power of his strike force

LONDON: Arsenal’s quarter-final League Cup exit at the hands of minnows Bradford City left manager Arsene Wenger questioning the power of his strike force but the Frenchman refused to label the defeat as an embarrassment. Despite playing almost an hour with five attackers, Arsenal failed to break down the League Two club who went on to claim Tuesday’s match 3-2 on penalties after a stubborn  defensive display. “We played with a very offensive team and what is disappointing is we played basically over an hour with five strikers and couldn’t score,” said Wenger. “I know people will say it’s league two, but a cup game is a cup game. In football you always have a chance if you give everything. You feel embarrassed when you don’t give everything. I feel the team did fight and will be more disappointed and frustrated. I cannot fault the effort.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2012.