Gunners are far from finished, insists Wenger

ARSÈNE WENGER insists Alex Ferguson is set to outlast Bobby Robson in management but warned him that Arsenal will return stronger next season as he declared: “We are nowhere near finished.”

Wenger was finding it hard yesterday to come to terms with defeat in the title race, defending his outspoken claim that Arsenal were still the best overall team in England this season.

Indeed, he again insisted they would have won the Premiership if they had taken it to the final game as Everton were the first "real" opposition that United had to play after their European exit.

That record, in terms of titles won since the Frenchman arrived at Highbury, now reads Ferguson 4 Wenger 2. And the Arsenal boss welcomed Ferguson's recent inference that he may now extend his contract at Old Trafford as his managerial u-turn had refuelled his desire.

Indeed, he echoed Eric Cantona's recent comments that Ferguson could 'die on the bench' when he insisted: "I think he will carry on longer than even Sir Bobby Robson.

"It certainly looks like that as he said he would stop last year and has now carried on. I am glad at that though as I enjoy the battle between us."

While Ferguson has undoubtedly won the latest skirmish, Wenger is refusing to throw in the towel despite his club's significant financial disadvantage as they fund a new £400million stadium.

"We are not far away from winning the European Cup. Most of the players we have are young. Only Dennis Bergkamp, David Seaman and Martin Keown are older, so we are nowhere near finished.

"I'm deeply disappointed. But should I be down, complaining and feeling sorry for myself or should I be determined to learn from what happened to us and come back stronger?

"Our number one priority is to come back stronger and that means we want to defend better as a team. It could be that we sign one or two defenders but there's no revolution needed. You have to take a distance from things. This team is in the FA Cup final and are runners-up in the league by a small margin."

Wenger has not sent a congratulatory message to Old Trafford, arguing that he had lauded United's achievement on television. Instead he pointed to:

*The fixture schedule. "I feel it was a huge disappointment for United to go out of the Champions League as you can only play the final on your own ground once. They had two flat games after that but got away with it as they played teams [Tottenham and Charlton] with nothing to go for.

"The coincidence of the fixtures is that we had to play against teams who were fighting to survive. But if we could have given them a game on the last day, we would have won the title instead as Everton were the first team they had to play with something to go for."

*Sol Campbell's four-game ban. He added: "I think Sol Campbell has not been treated fairly. I think that view is shared by 90% of people."

*The strength of his own squad. "Certainly we did not have the same defensive consistency as we've had in recent years and that's where we failed," he admitted with creditable honesty. "I thought we had enough central defenders as we had Pascal Cygan, Matthew Upson, Martin Keown, Sol Campbell and Oleg Luzhny but, with hindsight, maybe [we needed more].

*Injuries at Bolton. "The turning-point of the championship was the Bolton game, where we were 2-0 up with 16 minutes to go and then we lost three players injured in five minutes and it got clawed back to 2-2."

*Losing the lead too often. "We lost a bit of urgency when we were in the lead and maybe that cost us more than players who were missing," argued Wenger.

He added: "I wanted us to retain the title and we were very close. But I still think that our overall achievement, in reaching the FA Cup final too, was as high, if not higher, than United's."

However it is clear that there will be departures from Highbury, with Nwankwo Kanu and Francis Jeffers leading the way. Kanu interests Portsmouth, while Jeffers, signed as the "fox in the box" has been given limited chances to show his predatory instincts and a return to Everton is not to be totally dismissed. Igors Stepanovs may be wearing new colours next season along with Efstathios Tavlaridis.

So who comes in? The likelihood is David Seaman 40 in September will sign for another season but he is finding that the most difficult opponent of all is the clock. Thomas Sorensen of relegated Sunderland will be available at a reasonable price.

Reinforcements are also needed in central defence. Arsenal have high hopes of 17-year-old Phillipe Senderos, a £500,000 signing from Servette, but a hardened campaigner is needed. Auxerre duo Philippe Mexes and Jean-Alain Boumsong, are both rated highly by Wenger. Mexes will have a prohibitive fee of £12m-plus on his head but the powerful Boumsong "the French Sol Campbell" is more attractive at around £4.5m.

And, up front, do not exclude Arsenal from any move for Barcelona's Patrick Kluivert. United have been linked strongly with the Dutchman, but Wenger likes the look of him as well. Wenger has faith in a young crop of players coming through in Sebastian Svard, David Bentley and Moritz Volz. He felt this campaign was one too early to blood them in the first team. But they will figure next season.

Meanwhile Wenger is set to field a makeshift defence at home to Southampton tonight, although Thierry Henry is still expected to start the match.

Wenger will rest Martin Keown and Ashley Cole, while Fredrik Ljungberg, Lauren, Pascal Cygan, Edu, Patrick Vieira and Francis Jeffers are still injured and Sol Campbell is suspended.

The Arsenal boss will turn instead to youngster Ryan Garry at left-back, while Jermaine Pennant will come into midfield as Gilberto Silva starts the game on the bench.

Igors Stepanovs is set to partner Oleg Luzhny in central defence and Kolo Toure will line up at right-back, with Stuart Taylor probably in goal.