Wenger wary of Toon threat
On the night when his Arsenal side failed to finish off Liverpool after a brilliant display that only gave them one point from a dramatic 2-2 Anfield draw, back in north London, Newcastle were grabbing a vital win at Spurs that took them into second spot in the Premiership. Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier repeated the accepted line that the title will be “between Manchester United and Arsenal.”
But his fellow Frenchman insisted that Newcastle have broken into that elite group and must be taken seriously. Wenger also rued the catalogue of missed chances that left Liverpool still in the hunt in the final minutes.
He said: “I’m conscious of Newcastle’s big move, they are a dangerous side, but we have to play all the teams at the top so everyone will drop points. We must just consider our own performances and keep going. We known we had enough chances to have buried them.
“It will be very difficult now for Liverpool to challenge for the title, but ourselves, United, Newcastle and Chelsea are all in the hunt now.”
Wenger concedes that Arsenal, particularly in a stunning first half at Anfield, should have been out of sight before Liverpool mounted their comeback, and that missed chances are costing Arsenal dearly in the title challenge. Wenger said: “You would always wish to take every chance, but football is different and you have to accept that you don’t take all your chances and don’t score every goal. Sometimes everything goes in, sometimes not, that’s the way it is.”
His Gunners midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst reckoned that the champions blew a precious opportunity to put the Premiership beyond the chasing back. “Anybody who said it was a fair result against Liverpool on Wednesday night doesn’t know what they are talking about. Arsenal outclassed Liverpool. We were by far the better side, and of course we should have won the match,” he told icons.com. “We played some great football, and put them under pressure all the time. The simple fact is that sometimes you just don’t win games that you deserve to win, that’s football. You can try to analyse it, and put your finger on why we didn’t win, but there are always going to be games where you concede a goal at the end, and that’s that.” Gerard Houllier claims that Emile Heskey is at last “back to his best.” The big Liverpool forward saved a point for his side and also set up John Arne Riise for Liverpool’s first equaliser in a thrilling match described by Reds boss Houllier “as a wonderful promotion for our sport.”
Bookmakers have now made Liverpool 100-1 outsiders for the title, but Houllier is just relieved that Heskey is back on song, and also that another comeback hero, Jerzy Dudek, has had his confidence boosted by an outstanding display. Houllier commented: “When Emile plays up front there’s no problem. In fairness, since the Southampton game he’s been doing very well for us. He’s a team player, scored the equaliser, made chances for others, including our equaliser. But he’s back to his best now, his work-rate is phenomenal. He’s not only a good striker but a very good player for the team.”
Heskey has consistently said he would rather play as a striker than in the left midfield role both England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson and Houllier have used him in.
He said: “I’m a striker and that’s where I like to play.
“I’ve been needed to play in other positions but with my presence I can get up there and try to get goals when I can.
“We’ve been through a bad spell but come through it strong. It’s a massive boost going into the game against West Ham on Sunday.”
Houllier accepts that Liverpool’s title hopes have gone, but he maintains they can still reach a Champions League spot despite the persistently good form of Newcastle, Chelsea and Everton, who all won this week.
* Arsenal’s draw with Liverpool may give Manchester United the chance to close the gap at the top of the Premiership but Britain’s bookies are convinced the title is headed back to Highbury.
A scintillating performance from the Gunners saw the odds on them retaining their title shortened from 4/7 to 1/2 by leading bookmakers William Hill.
A spokesman for the firm revealed that one client had been so impressed by what he saw at Anfield that he immediately stuck £35,000 on Arsene Wenger’s team.
But that is not the biggest bet to be placed on Arsenal this season. One punter from the town of Bishops Stortford sold all his shares to fund a £64,000 bet on them earlier in the campaign.
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