Wenger: Cole unlikely to face former fans

ARSENE WENGER has the utmost respect for what Ashley Cole did on the pitch with Arsenal, but does not expect the former Gunner to face his old club when Chelsea come to the Emirates Stadium tomorrow.

The England left-back moved from Arsenal on the closing day of the August transfer window, with William Gallas heading in the opposite direction.

The circumstances of the switch, however, left a sour taste for many Gunners fans, who felt the academy graduate had been disloyal given his involvement in the ‘tapping up’ saga which saw both Cole and Chelsea, as well as their manager Jose Mourinho, fined by an independent commission.

“From what I have seen of Ashley Cole, he is a winner and can raise his game in the big games. For us he always had that characteristic. I want us to respect Ashley Cole for what he has done for the club. I do not want the fans to boo him, but you can not expect anything in football.”

Wenger, however, added: “I do not think he will play on Sunday as in recent weeks Chelsea have alternated Wayne Bridge and Ashley Cole in every game. I have never seen Cole play in successive games (recently). I have heard he has a little ankle problem and will only play in every other game.”

Wenger accepted the eventual breakdown of the club’s relationship with one of their key men had been disappointing.

The Arsenal manager said: “We made some mistakes that were more psychological than real. At some stage we allowed a feeling to develop that there was not enough desire to bridge the gap between him and us. The problem came not from finances, but that us and Chelsea exposed him. The misunderstanding was there, that he felt we let him down.

“Our case was not to accept that he had been tapped up. The fact that we sued Chelsea exposed him and the resentment came from there.”

Wenger added: “Going to Chelsea was the best way for him to get out of a situation where he was not happy with us. If a player is not happy with you, you can only give in.”

Wenger believes tomorrow’s showdown with Chelsea is a golden chance for his side to show they can be genuine title challengers next season.

“We have two targets on Sunday. One is our desire to beat them. If we played Manchester United then it would be exactly the same to the players. The second thing is we want to show we are able to compete with Chelsea next season, who are ahead of us at the moment along with United.”

Wenger accepted the defeat to Chelsea in the Carling Cup this season in Cardiff and the fall-out from it affected his side “terribly” over the following matches, which effectively ended their own hopes of silverware.

“We lost Adebayor [to suspension], then we lost in the FA Cup and then we played under tremendous pressure in the Champions League. In one week it was over,” he admitted.

The Arsenal manager rejected the notion Liverpool were able to progress in Europe because they “sacrificed” the FA Cup, his side having dumped the holders out in the third round.

Wenger said: “They could have lost by more in the first game [of the Champions League semi-final] and if they had, people would have said ‘why did he sacrifice the cups?’ — and he did not sacrifice the FA Cup, — Liverpool lost.

“That did help them a little bit because the FA Cup is a little bit in conflict with the Champions League, especially in last 16 — but you can never decide to go out of a competition.”