Ferguson: Lay off Arsene Wenger
Posted Wednesday, August 24, 2011 by The Sun
IT was only last month that Arsene Wenger was in attack dog mode.
Snapping back at claims Arsenal were about to sell Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, the club's French boss was adamant it would not happen.
He said: "Samir's position is clear for me, he stays. I've told you we are in a position where we can say 'No' and we will.
"Imagine the worst situation - we lose Fabregas and Nasri. You cannot convince people you are ambitious after that.
"You can't then pretend you are a big club, because a big club holds on to its best players and gives a message out to all the other big clubs that they can't come in and take our players."
Yesterday, preparing for the Champions League qualifying showdown at Udinese, Wenger was more French poodle as Nasri followed Fabregas through the exit door.
He even denied making the comments at all, to much bemusement from those who heard him make them.
At the moment, Wenger needs all the friends he can get - and even an old foe has come to his defence.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson suggests his rival purchases some ear plugs so he can stop listening to all the flak coming his way.
Fergie said: "It's a crazy world we're in. It's a critical world and you only need to lose a couple of games to have critics howling down at you.
"All the talk is about Arsenal and Arsene leaving. But who can replace him? It's the most ridiculous situation.
"The man has been simply unbelievable. He has given Arsenal platforms they never thought they'd get to.
"He should carry on. He shouldn't listen to the critics. The one thing you need in this game is ear plugs."
Wenger was left cursing the loss of Fabregas yesterday and complaining about football rules which dictate he had to sell Nasri now or risk losing him for nothing when his contract ran out next summer.
He was also bemoaning his luck that Jack Wilshere's ankle injury will keep him out for an indefinite period.
Wenger declared: "We did not want to lose Fabregas but were forced into a situation we didn't want. Nasri is a situation where the player didn't want to extend his contract with the proposals he had elsewhere.
"The summer was difficult. We had Fabregas and Nasri in permanent transfer negotiations. That is draining in the end.
"We lost two great players and that's sad. But, at some stage, it has to be over. You want to focus on the future."
Wenger was adamant he would have played Nasri had the Manchester City deal not been sorted.
Yet he added: "You wonder how the player can be worth a lot of money today and nothing in six months. It doesn't look completely logical." As for the loss of Wilshere, Wenger took no consolation from the fact he was proved right about the youngster being in the 'red zone' at the end of last season and not fit enough to play in the European Under-21 finals.
But he admitted he too had been guilty of flogging Wilshere into the ground.
Wenger stated: "We knew he was in the red in the last two months and continued to play him as we had no choice.
"Maybe it is a consequence of the over-use last year."
Right now Wenger's focus is set firmly on the Udinese game. After that will concentrate on bringing in replacements.
A new midfielder looks likely and there is also word a bid for Bolton's England centre-back Gary Cahill is imminent.
But Wenger certainly feels the current squad has enough quality to see off the Italians even though they have only a narrow 1-0 first-leg lead.
He said: "We have still a very strong squad and we will strengthen our squad in the coming weeks.
"We are in a strong position and want to build on that. Udinese are a good side but we believe we will get through."
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