Wenger looks to the future

Arsene Wenger will set about reconstructing his Arsenal dynasty after conceding the club’s title hopes were in tatters.

The 2-0 defeat to Barclays Premiership leaders Chelsea at Highbury forced Wenger to contemplate the future after a dramatic turnaround in his team’s fortunes over the past 14 months.

Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten run was ended in October 2004 at Old Trafford. The ‘invincibles’ have been replaced with a somewhat more lightweight and beatable unit, particularly since captain Patrick Vieira was sold to Juventus over the summer.

Vieira was not replaced, youngsters were given their chances, and with uncertainty over the futures of Robert Pires and Thierry Henry, Arsenal have appeared fragile.

Wenger admitted that defeat to Chelsea meant his side would no longer be involved in the fight for this season’s title, but rather than lament the end of one amazing era, he preferred to hail the start of a new one.

“It is the start of a new era,” said. “We have to show our strength as come back from this.

“We are too long behind Chelsea now to consider that we will challenge them for the championship but I feel we have to qualify for the Champions League and come back.

“We lack a little bit of physical power in certain areas but it is developing well. We have to be in the Champions League next year and finish as close as possible to the top team whether it is Chelsea or somebody else.”

Wenger’s side found the footballing gods had deserted them after weathering an opening storm from Chelsea.

Thierry Henry saw his 20th-minute shot hit Petr Cech’s left-hand upright and seconds later Robin van Persie put the ball in the Chelsea net – only for his effort to be incorrectly ruled out for offside by flagging assistant referee Darren Cann.

Didier Drogba sent Arjen Robben clear to score the opener for Chelsea six minutes before the break, and Joe Cole fired their second in the 73rd minute when Lauren failed to deal with Frank Lampard’s stray pass.

It was Chelsea’s first victory at Highbury in the league since 1990 and the first time Arsenal had lost three games in a row for 10 years.

“We scored a regular goal but the referee made a very bad decision,” said Wenger.

“I associate the referee and linesmen in the same team – the Chelsea team.

“We hit the post and scored a goal and then just before half-time they scored. I feel the level of the game dropped in the second half and we didn’t have enough physical resources to put them under pressure.

“We gave away a soft second goal and I still feel it was a foul by Cole on Lauren but he scored the goal that made difference.”

Wenger was also left upset after an elbow by Michael Essien on Lauren was punished with a yellow card instead of a red by Styles.

“Essien was a straight red in my opinion,” said Wenger.

“It was just in front of the dugout and the referee was not brave enough to make the decision. He did not play the ball, he played the player.”

Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho claimed Arsenal had targeted Essien for some special attention after he was banned by UEFA for two Champions League games for his dangerous tackle on Liverpool’s Dietmar Hamann at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago.

“The incident I saw was 10 players jumping on him,” declared Mourinho. “It was like a strategy to use the image Essien has at the moment.

“What I saw was very, very sad – 10 players jumping on one. He made his mistake and was punished for that and has a suspension for the Champions League.

“Now I think he deserves to be looked at as a great player and we need to be careful of other teams’ reactions in relation to him.”