Thursday, November 4, 2010

Frustrated Wenger blasts Arsenal's lack of maturity

SHAKHTAR 2-1 ARSENAL

Frustrated Wenger blasts Arsenal's lack of maturity

November 3, 2010
Arsene Wenger blamed a lack of maturity for Arsenal's 2-1 defeat at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk.
Theo Walcott scored early with a fine breakaway goal
GettyImages
Theo Walcott scored early with a fine breakaway goal
• Forum: Time for old heads?
The Gunners were one goal to the good after Theo Walcott's excellent finish early on but handed back the initiative to their Ukranian opponents, who levelled through Dmytro Chigrynskiy.
Former Arsenal striker Eduardo then sealed the game after Darijo Srna had robbed Gael Clichy of the ball and crossed for the Croatian to stroke the ball into the corner.
''We had a good start but after that we became too easy,'' Wenger said. ''We were punished against a good team. It's a good lesson for us.
''We were shown you can not get through without a 100% defensive concentration. We came back in the second half, but they were intelligent as well. 'We had the chances in the second half but we couldn't take them. 'If you're not focused for 90 minutes then you will suffer.''
Wenger admitted his frustration at being unable to tie up qualification to the next round. ''It is a missed opportunity of course. If we get away with a draw we are there,'' he said.
''We should have made the most of it after we scored the first goal like we did, I believe it's a lack of maturity. 'We dropped a bit of our urgency and we were punished because they are good players.''
Walcott believes Arsenal are still in a good position to qualify but rued a lack of concentration. ''It's a tough place to come to. They have a good home record,'' Walcott told Sky Sports 2. ''You want an early goal. We wanted to silence the crowd and work from there, but that's football in the end.
''Going in a 2-1 down, it could have been more for them. We didn't defend very well after going ahead. My goal doesn't mean anything because we couldn't quite get the win. But we're still in a strong position. We're still top.''
Speaking about his 10th-minute strike, which Walcott took early after making a quick break, he added: ''I felt the keeper wasn't quite set and I took him by surprise. That's something I've been practising and it came off. 'I always feel now I'll score them.''

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