Wenger on attack over talk of going defensive

Arsene Wenger insists he will not be parking the bus at Anfield today as he looks to rid Arsenal of their away-day woes against their main Premier League rivals.

The Gunners travel to face Liverpool having won just three of their last 23 away matches against the Premier League’s current top six clubs.

Defeat at Manchester City and Chelsea this season have extended a bad run of form in such fixtures, while Liverpool won 4-3 at the Emirates Stadium on the opening weekend of the campaign.

But Wenger, whose future as Arsenal boss remains uncertain as he insists he is still making his mind up on whether to extend his 20-year stay at the club, will not look to remedy his side’s travel sickness with a negative approach.

“We lost at Everton and City after being 1-0 up and basically it is because maybe we were not in the proactive position after we were 1-0 up, we were too passive,” he said.

“After that, we lost at Chelsea under special circumstances a little bit. We didn’t look like we played with enough freedom or enough belief that we would just turn up and do it and that is what we want to add to our game.

“What is most important for me now is the attitude to just go for it, go and take. What is linked many times with belief is a passive mode and not enough pro-active, you have to make things happen. It is always a mindset.”

Asked whether he would ever “park the bus” and look to approach games in a defensive manner, the 67-year-old said: “No, we want to be defensively solid but you also want to have an attitude and desire to score goals.

“We just wait for them to give us an opportunity to go forward, then we will do it but we also need to be defensively solid, have a strong midfield and with Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho on the flanks who come in a lot, they can create a lot of damage so it’s important that we are defensively solid.”

Wenger would not be drawn on Mesut Ozil’s individual performances in big games such as this one, and believes the German World Cup winner would suffer if he suddenly decided to turn Arsenal into a defensively minded unit.

“If you play for Arsenal, you always owe us a performance. You cannot say you want to play for Arsenal and not perform. Everybody wants to perform, of course,” he said.

“I’m not a psychiatrist. I think confidence plays a part. Ozil is a guy who, when you speak about parking the bus, if you want to park the bus then you lose Ozil. He is a guy who needs possession and with possession he is a marvellous player.

“I think he has been a bit analysed a lot. He suffered a lot from the loss of Santi Cazorla.

“Because Cazorla in deep midfield, can get out of pressure, gets the ball played through to a player who is higher up, and then Ozil is a player who, with the timing of the pass, with the ball at the right moment, he can always do damage.

“I don’t want to make a debate about one player before a game like this. It’s not Ozil alone who will win us the game. It’s a strong team performance.”

Wenger, who side are 13 points adrift of leaders Chelsea having played a game less, is keen to focus more on beating Liverpool than fantasising about a run to the title.

“We have to focus on our next game. We have a game in hand, things can change quickly. To do a thing like that, you need exceptional rhythm in your results and, as well, Chelsea to fade.

“At the moment I think it’s more important that we focus on winning our games and focus on our next game rather than dreaming about coming back to Chelsea.

“[Playing Liverpool[ is always high intensity, very competitive. Anfield is a special place where the fans are behind their team, where their team plays at a good pace.

“For us, after a little break, it’s important to switch on quickly. We have seen that’s not easy — Liverpool showed that against Leicester. After a break, it’s important that you are ready from the start on again. You lose a little bit the rhythm of the competition and for us it’s vital to start strongly at Liverpool.”

Arsenal’s chances will be boosted by a return to fitness for both Laurent Koscielny and Aaron Ramsey, while Danny Welbeck is now in contention to start having been eased back into the first-team picture following a second serious knee injury.