Wenger's outburst gets desired reaction

SOCCER:CESC FABREGAS credited Arsenal's transformation at Liverpool last night to an uncharacteristic tirade from Arsene Wenger in which the manager derided his players as unworthy of the club shirt. Forty-five minutes after the outburst, Wenger claimed his side had overcome a psychological barrier to put themselves back in the Premier League title race.

Arsenal are now third in the table, six points behind the leaders, Chelsea, having played a game less, following an impressive recovery at Anfield that ensured Liverpool equalled their worst start to a season under Rafael Benitez.

The home side led through Dirk Kuyt’s 41st-minute goal and were denied a clear penalty when William Gallas fouled Steven Gerrard. Their dominance prompted the half-time diatribe from Wenger.

“The boss screamed,” said Fabregas, the Arsenal captain. “He was really disappointed with us in the first half. I’ve never seen him like that before. He said we didn’t deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt and he was right because we really weren’t good, we weren’t up for it. But that gave us a boost and the second half was one of the best second halves we have played this season.”

Wenger made light of his “Mr Hyde” side as he concentrated on a second-half response that he believes saw Arsenal shedding the insecurity that had followed their losses to Manchester United and Chelsea.

“I never speak about things like that. I believe sometimes you have to respond to what the team needs,” was all he said about his interval performance. “I try to be composed. I was quite composed. It is good to be able to surprise the players after 13 years.

“The first half was all Liverpool, they played at a pace above us and won all the 50-50s. I thought 1-0 was a good result for us at half-time. Liverpool played very well and we played with the handbrake down.

“We played with the fear of not winning big games because we had lost to Chelsea and Manchester United and we brought that into the game.

“We had nothing to lose in the second half and the fear was then in Liverpool’s camp. We scored a lucky first goal, an outstanding second goal and Liverpool’s pace dropped in the second half. We were not under any threat for the entire 45 minutes.”

Arsenal levelled through a Glen Johnson own-goal before Andrey Arshavin, who scored four times in the corresponding fixture last season, won the game with a stunning right-footed strike in the 58th minute.

“His right foot is injured and he cannot hit the ball properly with it,” said Wenger. “He hasn’t trained all week nearly because of it.”

Wenger also called on his team to discover the consistency that has eluded all the title contenders this season. They were 11 points adrift of Chelsea after losing 3-0 to Carlo Ancelotti’s side a fortnight ago.

He said: “This gets us back into a good position with a game in hand and mentally it was a massive game for us. We knew, with the results yesterday, that we had to win this game.

“We knew that before the game started and now it is a question of consistency. I have said it before that the team who wins this league will have to be really consistent and no-one has been consistent yet.

“It is not a three-horse race, there is Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City also, and there is a long way to go.”

Benitez agreed with Wenger’s assessment of two contrasting halves, but the Liverpool manager was adamant his side should have been awarded a 13th-minute penalty.

“It was a clear penalty, 100 per cent,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if the ball is away, in the box if it is a foul it is a foul and it is a penalty. These decisions always make a massive difference.”