Arsene Wenger has said he is “scared” of retirement.
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“Maybe he was a bit exhausted, I don’t know”.
Although that would be another blow for Arsenal the news is not as bad as first feared when Gabriel was carried off on a stretcher in tears against City. But a failure to win the English Premier League since 2003-04-when the club went unbeaten through an entire season-has led to supporter unrest, with some sections of Arsenal’s fanbase suggesting Wenger should soon move aside.
With Per Mertesacker facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury and Laurent Koscielny only returned to training on Monday, the Brazilian’s injury leaves Arsene Wenger with quality defenders, ahead of the new season.
Wenger’s options now consist of Calum Chambers and summer signing Rob Holding, while midfielders Krystian Bielik and Francis Coquelin have trained at centre-half during the summer.
“What I think will happen is that you will have more and more players coming out of the lower leagues who have had to fight their way through”.
When it was put to Wenger that he might have taken the England job, he said: “Yes, but I think I have shown that I respect my contracts and I respect highly loyalty”.
“Compare that with a player who has been educated here, who has had Champions League for 17 years, who has not known anything else”.
If Wenger fails to guide his side to a top-four finish, there will be even more feelings of regret come May.
“When you lose only three games in a season in a hard league like that, you are a fantastic champion”.
The Frenchman insisted that the club were still happy to pay up for any targets who were available, but did admit that the market was short on the calibre of players he was hoping to bring to the Emirates.
And Wilshere believes Arsenal have one of the best squads in the league but accepts they possibly need a new defender to provide further cover.
“That’s what I want to do – I want to get the best out of myself”.
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‘We’ve already had a few good moments, ‘ Klopp told Goal.
