11 March, 2008

Arsene Wenger's Weekly Email Part 4 - This Time it's Official!

Dear Supporter,

We drew at Wigan on Sunday and I was asked about the state of the pitch after the game. Of course I would have preferred a better pitch because, frankly, it was a disaster.

The excuse is that Wigan have a rugby team who play on the pitch but having a surface like that is disrespectful for the fans who come and pay money to see the game.

Having said that, Wigan fought very well against us and I don't want to take anything away from their performance.

It was a difficult game for us and we were focused. We prepared ourselves mentally to face a difficult pitch and we still had the chances to win the game. Overall we did what we could and gave everything. We had a serious defensive game and we did not give any chances away.

Unfortunately, as long as we did not score the first goal Wigan did not come out. They jumped off their seats with 0-0 at 90 minutes because they were happy with a point.

Of course it is an anti-climax when you go from Milan to Wigan but we prepared for that. It is normal because there's the glamour of a Champions League game when you play against one of the biggest sides in the world. Then five days later you play against a team who fights not to go down. It is normal.

I don't think that is offending Wigan. It is just the normal life of a team who are going for the Champions League and the Premier League. We have to deal with that, it is not an excuse. We did what we could. We just lacked the spark in the final third, Wigan defended well and Chris Kirkland did the rest.

Thanks for your support.


A.W.