Wenger fearing 'empty future' for Arsenal

Posted Thursday, April 08, 2010 by theguardian.com

Arsène Wenger admits to fearing 'an empty future' after Arsenal defeat

Wenger fearing 'empty future' for Arsenal Arsène Wenger admitted that he needed to add a fresh dimension to his young Arsenal team, after watching them being pressed out of the Champions League by Barcelona's Lionel Messi.

The Arsenal manager had little option but to send out a youthful side here at Camp Nou, given the manner in which injuries have ravaged his squad, but, as he digested the bitter disappointment of a 4-1 defeat and assessed what he described as an "empty future", his thoughts had started to turn towards the summer transfer window.

The future of three of the club's central defenders is unclear. William Gallas, Sol Campbell and Mikaël Silvestre will be out of contract and each could leave, making the addition of cover in the area a priority. Yet the requirement for greater steel and experience also appears to be in Wenger's mind.

"We are at a stage where we're developing players," Wenger said. "[Theo] Walcott is 22; [Nicklas] Bendtner is 22; [Samir] Nasri, [Abou] Diaby and Denílson are 22 or 23. They've shown some great qualities and they'll get stronger every year. We have to add something, for sure, but we have some time to think about that.

"We were very young tonight and what we did was very positive. We had six or seven players under 23 in the team and we had plenty of opportunities. We showed we lacked maturity in the weight of the final ball."

Wenger selected Silvestre rather than Campbell to replace the injured Gallas.Campbell, he said, had been struggling with tightness in his hamstring, although it was unclear whether the veteran's fitness was the reason for his omission. Silvestre would endure a torrid evening. He was not alone. The need to sign a new centre-half was put to Wenger.

"It is a very difficult question," he said. "At the moment tonight, it's not the priority. The priority is to recover from the game. We have played quite well, with a lot of character as ever, but we made a few too many mistakes. Silvestre and Campbell are two good players. That's why it was a difficult decision who played."

Wenger's priority was to lift the spirits of his players before next Wednesday's trip to Tottenham Hotspur. The Premier League title remains within his team's grasp; they are three points off the leaders, Chelsea, with five games left to play. Were they to win all five, it is not inconceivable that their season could yet finish on a glorious high. One of Wenger's finest moments was winning the league at White Hart Lane in 2004.

"It has been a place where we've done well over the years, so we don't go there with a negative history," said Wenger, who added that Alex Song, a knee-injury absentee here, had to be considered as a selection doubt for the derby. "The match forces you straight away to focus because you know it's going to be a derby.

"Yes, of course, you worry about the team's needing lifting. We have to recover quickly because we cannot drop any more points to have a chance to fight for the Premier League. That's why we have to recover and focus completely on the Premier League now."

Arsenal's regrets over their Champions League exit took in their injuries, the shakiness of their defence and here, after Bendtner's early goal had put them ahead, a poor decision from Diaby not to play in Walcott, which might have made the scoreline 2-0. But with Messi, who took his tally of goals in all competitions this season to 39, in such an irresistible mood, there was an acceptance that the better side had won.

"He is like a PlayStation player," Wenger said. "He can take advantage of every mistake you make. He can make a difference at any moment.

"The defeat is difficult to handle because when you go out of the Champions League, the next day you are in front of a very empty future. Our dreams are involved in that but you have to address the disappointment and make sure you're ready for the next game.

"It's difficult to know how much we missed [the injured captain] Cesc Fábregas. We missed seven or eight players but I'd love to have had Fábregas tonight."

"Messi is the best player in the world," added Bendtner. "I would rather get beaten by a better team than lose in the last minute or something like that. I don't like too many excuses. They were better than us."