Gunners must be wary, warns Ranieri

CHELSEA MANAGER Claudio Ranieri warned Arsenal not to take the title for granted even though he admits only Manchester United can catch the runaway Premiership leaders now.

Ranieri was in bullish mood after his side's 2-1 home defeat by Arsenal, insisting he would still be in charge at Stamford Bridge next season.

"I think so. Nobody has told me otherwise. Only the media!" he remarked, with a jovial smile that surely belied his frustration in defeat.

"I know my job, I am used to working with my friend pressure. Fortunately I sleep well and I have already gone grey from my other chairmen."

That pressure will nevertheless surely now grow even further on Ranieri, who has been told by chief executive, Peter Kenyon, that not winning a trophy would be considered as a "failure".

Only the Champions League is now an option, with Stuttgart to come in the last 16, as Ranieri admits Chelsea cannot make up the nine-point gap on Arsenal.

Ranieri conceded: "Nine points is too much for us to make up. Maybe not for Manchester United (who are seven points behind Arsenal), but we are still building."

Indeed, he warned the Gunners there is no reason why United, who caught and passed Arsene Wenger's side last year despite trailing by eight points with a match in hand, cannot do so again.

He questioned whether Arsenal, who face United at Highbury on March 28, have the depth of squad to cope with a three-pronged trophy assault in the next few months.

"Until now, Arsenal have deserved to stay at the top. But last season, they started to slow down and it's not easy to play with just 14 or 15 players in the FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League," he added.

Arsenal's squad is slightly larger than that, although they would certainly suffer if Thierry Henry sustained a major injury.

Patrick Vieira is a major doubt for their Champions League tie away to Celta Vigo tomorrow night after aggravating a past knee injury.

Wenger revealed: "Knowing Patrick and how much he wants to play, that keeps me always optimistic but we have to say that he is a risk."

The Arsenal boss was nevertheless adamant his side would not throw away a title lead as they did last season.

"It's difficult to compare as suddenly it was all going for Manchester United and we felt that in our camp as well," he said.

"Last year I never felt it was done. I always felt that the fact we played United at home could be a decider.

"But we lost some points in a worrying way such as an own goal at Aston Villa or losing a two-goal lead at Bolton so everything went against us. It was demoralising.

"It's far from being now over but, if you gave me the choice, I'd prefer to be in our position. The positive thing is that we have 12 games left and seven of them are at home."

For all of Arsenal's attacking flair on Saturday, it was their defence which had let them down.

But at Stamford Bridge, the new Gunners stood up to be counted as they have done several times already this season.

While Arsenal had conceded 16 goals before Saturday this weekend in the league, last season it was 27 by the same stage. Now it is United with all the defensive problems in the absence of Rio Ferdinand.

Wenger observed: "I feel we are a better team that we were last year. We look more solid. When we are behind, even at Chelsea, there's a belief that we can come back every time.

"Games like Bolton can happen again, but we feel we are a bit stronger in the air than last year and that maybe explains why we are conceding less goals. The difference in points is explainable by that.

"This was a more solid defensive performance, especially in the second-half. We suffered a bit going forward but we were so determined to keep the lead that the players didn't want to make a mistake.

"This is possibly the most consistent side I've managed as we've had the best record since the start of the season."

Wenger was impressed with all of his players, but the way in which 18-year-old full-back Gael Clichy rose to the occasion in place of the injured Ashley Cole was particularly impressive.

"Ashley has been outstanding in his best season at the club and he's still in front of Clichy, but it's amazing to have a boy of 18 who can come in and play in a game like that," he said.