Arsene Wenger conceded he made a mistake fielding too many experienced players following the 3-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
On a disappointing Tuesday night in south Yorkshire, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott both had to be substituted inside the first 15 minutes and are likely to be joining a growing contingent of players on the sidelines – compounding a regrettable night for the Arsenal manager.
With the likes of Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur to play away in the next 10 days, Wenger admitted the two injuries could be costly.
The injuries are two muscular injuries and the injury damage I do not know. You have to wait 48 hours for the scans to see how big the damage is.
I have to manage the workload of the players and at the end of the day I still think I brought too many experienced players here.
Already we are now short. To lose two players tonight, two offensive players, is damaging for us.
Oxlade-Chamberlain had only just received the chance to get a sustained run of games in the team at the expense of the injured Aaron Ramsey but hobbled off with a tight hamstring to be replaced by Theo Walcott. The fellow Englishman, seemingly not having had the chance to warm-up, then had to be replaced himself for a calf problem.
The Arsenal manager, though, didn’t want to make an excuse for the defeat.
It was a bad night at the office. We lost two players and after that we were not good enough, but on top of that you have to congratulate Sheffield Wednesday. They put in a great performance, very resolute, very dynamic and so they deserve their win tonight.
Wednesday are currently 9th in the Championship, and look a good bet to challenge for promotion. Trying to understand his side weren’t good enough to progress, Wenger said the Gunners lacked a purpose when in possession.
I think we had a lot of the ball, we just didn’t make a lot with the ball because we did not create anything. We were too short in midfield especially tonight and then it was down to not conceding anything from set-pieces [or] on the counter-attack and unfortunately we did that because we lost balls in situations where we should not have lost the ball.
With the FA Cup to come after Christmas, Wenger will be concentrating on two fronts – Europe and the domestic league – which may be a relief with the injuries piling up.
Ideally I would have loved to have won tonight. I will not use that as an excuse but I’m sure as a squad now we can focus on other competitions.
