ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:ARSENE WENGER has jumped to the defence of Rafael Benitez, his under-fire counterpart at Liverpool, and said the criticism the Spaniard has received this week has been excessive.
Benitez finds himself under an unforgiving spotlight after four successive defeats in all competitions, and six in 13 overall this season, with many of the club’s supporters viewing tomorrow’s Premier League fixture with Manchester United with trepidation.
Wenger, however, takes no pleasure in Benitez’s troubles and the Arsenal manager has lent his support to the Spaniard.
“Always, it’s excessive,” Wenger said. “We are in a job at the moment that when a big club goes through a difficult period you know you get more stick than you should but we know as well, in our job, that’s part of it.
“I feel sorry that he gets that because he doesn’t deserve it but we basically understand that it’s part of the rules.”
Wenger sees a parallel between Liverpool’s troubled start and that which his Arsenal team endured this time last year and added that Benitez faces an energy-sapping struggle to escape the spiral of decline.
Wenger maintains that Arsenal did not have a bad 2008-09 season after reaching the semi-finals of both the Champions League and the FA Cup while their fourth-placed finish in the Premier League was sufficient to return them to the Champions League.
The Frenchman, however, also feels the critics had judged his team after the first few months – Arsenal had lost five of 14 league fixtures before the end of November – and that those critics did not stop taking pot-shots at them until it was over.
It took a toll on Wenger and some of the players. The Frenchman said that he had never worked harder during a campaign or borne greater stress. One of his buzz phrases was of him and the club “winning against the tide”.
Liverpool are feeling the pull of similar currents now.
“What is happening to Liverpool today happened to us last year and every single question is negative for the whole season,” said Wenger. “Very early we were out of the race for the championship. When you do not start well at a big club in the race for the Premier League, it’s all negative around you. You need to be extremely strong inside the club to deal with that.”
If Liverpool were to lose against United, they would find themselves 10 points off the title pace after 10 matches.
But Wenger feels that Liverpool or, indeed, “anyone who loves football” ought to take heart from what has shaped up as a more open Premier League, with an increasing number of teams capable of getting results against the so-called ‘big four’.
Arsenal entertain Liverpool in the League Cup next Wednesday and Wenger is expected to play his usual blend of youthful prospects and fringe first-team members. “I believe that Liverpool will have a mixed team as well,” he said, “because they play United, then they have Fulham next Saturday and they go to Lyon. They will have to rotate their squad as well.”
GuardianService
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