Arsenal face West Brom at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday in the final game of the 2014/15 Premier League campaign and Arsene Wenger faced the media for the final time this season. The Frenchman discussed a number of subjects, including team news, Theo Walcott, his favourite moments of the season and more.
Team news
No major changes with team news, with the boss admitting he may rest a few players and that despite being back in full training, Danny Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mathieu Debuchy all fall short for this weekend’s game.
“We have no basic injuries from our last game. We had a few jaded legs maybe at the end of the game but we’ll see how everybody recovers for Sunday. Do we have anybody back for Sunday? Danny Welbeck no, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is back in full training today [Friday], and Mathieu Debuchy as well. They might be a bit short.”
On Welbeck specifically, Wenger said that if he does not play in the FA Cup final, he will most likely be unavailable for the England fixtures in June: “There is a good chance that he will be available for England. It’s difficult to know. He had a little knee problem and will go out today for the first time. We have to wait for the response to that to know if he responds in a positive way. He could be fit very quickly.”
The French boss said that he has also changed training to help the tired legs ahead of the final game of the season: “We have our medical tests to see how everyone recovers. We have given a lot physically and mentally at Manchester United and it [the time before the Sunderland game] was a bit short maybe for us to recover completely.
This time we have a bit longer to recover and we have our tests to see how well everybody recovers. I might rest one or two maybe but overall I believe that the team will be similar to the team that played on Wednesday night.”
Hope for next season
With the Gunners’ turn of year form being magnificent in the most part, Arsene Wenger believes that a win on Sunday would keep spirits high and send fans home happy and full of spirit for the following season.
“We want to finish on a high at the Emirates and we want our fans to go home happy, full of hope for next season.
“We have fought very hard to directly qualify for the Champions League and we want to get over the line and finish the job, which we couldn’t do on Wednesday night [against Sunderland]. We want to do it in a convincing way on Sunday.
“Will I rest one or two players? Certainly. What is most important for me is for us to win the game on Sunday. We have enough experience in our dressing room to know that what is important is the next competition.”
Wenger’s favourite moment of the season
Arsenal have had a very up and down season, but there have been many a positive to take as the campaign draws to a close and Arsene Wenger has identified a couple of games as the highlights of his season.
“Maybe it was [Arsenal’s highlight] when we won the big game away from home at Manchester City,” he said. “It was an important moment. Also the good performance we had against Liverpool at home. Overall I must say the continuity we have shown since January [has been positive].”
Goalless run unusual, but not a problem
Arsenal have failed to score in their last three home games, but Wenger has claimed that despite not being able to find the net, it is not a problem and the number of chances his side has created is positive.
“We didn’t score against Chelsea, Swansea City and Sunderland but it’s unusual for us. If you look at the games, we had the chances to score in every single game.
“What we want to do is to continue to play our game but better, quicker, with more movement and then we will score again. The finishing is in cycles and we have gone through a cycle that is a bit less positive.
“Before, we scored goals for fun and I’m sure if we just concentrate on the quality of our game that we will score again.”
Turning up in the big games key to success
Arsenal defeated Liverpool, Manchester City, drew twice to Manchester United and once with Chelsea this season, a record that the Gunners will look to improve next season and Wenger believes that team unity is key to succeeding in the big games.
“We have made progress, we have better defensive stability, the belief in the team is strengthened for a big challenge next year and we have overcome a hurdle that we did not do last season, to exist in the big games.
“That is very important when you want to challenge.
“What it will take for us is if you look well at our season we had many players injured together for long periods this season [and] to have them all together for as long as possible and have not many injuries at the same time.”
Theo Walcott
The Arsenal forward has had to accept a place on the bench since his return to first team action after a long lay-off with injury, but Wenger described the Englishman as a ‘special player’.
Wenger: “He’s a special player who has had special tests on the mental front, but has overcome them.”
Tomas Rosicky’s future
Arsenal fans will be glad to hear that when questioned on the Czech Republic international’s future, Wenger claimed that fan favourite Rosicky will not be involved in the transfer market at all, as he will remain at Arsenal without question.
“Tomas Rosicky is not involved in the transfer market at all, he will be with us next season and we do not use the players for that. Yes [Rosicky will extend his deal].”
Eden Hazard
When questioned on Chelsea superstar and Premier League player of the Season Eden Hazard, Wenger claimed that the Belgian is his choice for the award.
“He has certainly been very efficient in the big games, he has won the Premier League. We had some players who could compete with him like Alexis Sanchez. But overall you would say yes. He has been very influential in the success of Chelsea this season.”
Arsenal face West Brom in the last game of the season this Sunday at 3pm and you can check out our preview of the game tomorrow.
