Wenger says Gunners will be awake for early threat

The Gunners struggled in their early away Premier League games last season, losing 6-3 at the Etihad Stadium, before going down 5-1 at Liverpool and then getting battered 6-0 by London rivals Chelsea in Wenger’s 1,000th match in charge.

Wenger, however, insists there is no reason to believe his team — which could include a debut for England forward Danny Welbeck following his £16 million (€20m) deadline day switch from Manchester United — will have no problems with a slow start this time around.

“At home, we have played well at 12:45. In the FA Cup, we had great games at 12.45. It is not the kick-off time, it is your performance, how you turn up,” said Wenger.

“At 12:45 or three o’clock — for me that is just talk, the rest is the quality of the performance that counts.”

Wenger continued: “[We were worse] away from home, but I think the coincidence was that we played against very strong teams away from home at 12:45.

“I think it was more the quality of our opponents and the lack of quality in our performance that produced a result, not the kick-off time.

“I have heard that many times — would you rather kick-off at three o’clock or 12:45? It is two hours and 15 minutes, that does not produce a miracle in your physical recovery.

“Sometimes maybe, on our side, we go a bit too much overboard on that. I think 12:45 is a good kick-off time. I like it.”

Wenger insists his side must not let their shortcomings in those early kick-offs become a “psychological problem” going forwards.

He said: “We live in a society where you need to find explanations for everything. Let’s not forget we are competitive people and sometimes when your opponent is better than you, you lose.

“It wouldn’t matter if we played at nine at night or 12:45 — they were better than us, that was not down, in my opinion, to the kick-off time.

“Let’s not make a psychological problem of it.

“What is very difficult psychologically is to lose the games. My job — the most important is always to find the right reasons and I don’t think it was to do with early kick-off time.”

Wenger believes it is the mindset of his team against their direct rivals which will be key to overcoming City.

“We were beaten last year because we were not aggressive enough in those games, not mobile enough and lost too many challenges. As a unit, we were beaten all over the place,” he said.

“The history of some of the games went against us as well. We were 2-0 down after 10 minutes, and then you are always in the position that you have to take a huge gamble to come back and so you open yourself up.”

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere was deployed to good effect with England in a deeper role for the 2-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win in Switzerland.

Wenger, though, does not envisage a similar club switch for the 22-year-old.

“I personally prefer Jack Wilshere in a more advanced position than in a deep-lying role as a midfielder,” he said.

“If it works, it works and I am very happy for him, but I think he is a guy capable of creating danger in the final third. He is provocative in his dribbling and I would like to use this quality.”

Arsenal are yet to lose a Premier League game, but were held to a goalless draw at Leicester before the international break.

The Gunners have already beaten Manuel Pellegrini’s men once this season, sweeping aside an under-strength team 3-0 in the FA Community Shield at Wembley on August 10.

Wenger feels today’s match, for which Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey is a doubt because of an ankle injury, provides another chance for Arsenal to prove they can cut it with the Premier League title contenders.

“We have now got the opportunity to show that we have grown as a team, that we are more mature and ready for the fight, so let’s do it,” he said.

“I don’t think this game is very important for us mathematically because we dropped points away from home, but it gives us credibility and confidence to do well.”

“The Premier League this year is very, very important for us and of course a game against Manchester City becomes a very important game.”

Sleepy Gunners: Arsenal’s 12:45pm horror shows

Man City 6 Arsenal 3

December 14, 2013: Arsene Wenger’s side saw their lead at the top of the Premier League cut to just three points after a brace from Fernandinho and further goals from Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo, David Silva and Yaya Toure gave Manuel Pellegrini’s City a remarkable victory at Etihad Stadium.

Theo Walcott marked his first start since September with two fine goals and Per Mertesacker also notched a late header but Arsenal were well beaten by better opposition on the day.

Wenger said: “Overall they deserved the win. We have to go home and recover and come back for the next time. We made too many technical mistakes today.”

Liverpool 5 Arsenal 1

February 8, 2014: Liverpool scored four goals in the opening 20 minutes to blow away Arsenal in another scintillating match that saw the Gunners deposed as Premier League leaders and the Reds emerge as genuine title challengers.

Martin Skrtel scored after just 52 seconds before adding a second in the 10th minute. Forwards Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge then followed his lead with further strikes before Sterling added his second just after half-time. Mikel Arteta pulled one back from the penalty spot with 20 minutes to go but the match was already over as a contest.

“It was a very poor day. We were poor defensively, offensively,” Wenger said. “Liverpool played very well, so congratulations to them. But it was a poor performance on a day when we couldn’t afford it.”

Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0

March 22, 2014: Arsene Wenger’s 1,000th game in charge of Arsenal ended in disaster as the Gunners were crushed by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Andre Schurrle and Samuel Eto’o gave the Blues a 2-0 lead inside seven minutes before an Eden Hazard penalty, a brace from Oscar and a further goal from Mohamed Salah completed the rout.

Referee Andre Marriner mistakenly sent off Kieran Gibbs for handball leading up to Hazard’s penalty, when it was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who had been the culprit.

Wenger said: “This defeat is my fault, I take full responsibility for it. I don’t think there’s too much need to talk about the mistakes we made. We got a good hiding today.”