Arsene Wenger was involved in a spat with Ronald Koeman after the draw against Southampton on Tuesday night. Wenger waited for referee Lee Mason in the tunnel after the match to confront him. He told the official “It's always the same with you”, which Ronald Koeman overheard and responded to Wenger saying “It's always the same with you”.
Koeman continued saying, “You had 10 chances to score and didn’t take any of them, instead you take it out on them (the officials)”. The Frenchman was in a foul mood after his team fell even further behind league leaders Leicester City.
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Wenger had also been critical of the referee in their 4-0 loss to Southampton in December where the Saints made 19 fouls but received only one yellow card. Southampton have been a sort of bogey team for Arsenal under the Dutchman’s reign. Arsenal have picked up only three points from a possible 12 this season and have only won once in the last five games in all competitions.
Frazer Foster put in a man of the match performance to deny the Gunners taking all three points. The Saints’ goalkeeper made an incredible 10 saves, a personal best for the stopper, beating his previous best,7 also against Arsenal. The Englishman denied the likes of Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott to earn his team a point.
Despite the exceptional performance from Forster Wenger put down the draw to his own team being wasteful in front of goal..
After the match, Wenger spoke to the press saying, “We created 10 goal chances and in the end we came out without a goal. That is what I think is the most disappointing. Some players missed some chances that usually they take.”
Wenger says Arsenal can still win the title
Arsenal fans were once again frustrated over the fact that Wenger opted not to buy a striker in the window but the manager defended his decision saying that there was no one available in the market.
“If you knew a world-class striker who could strengthen our team you should have told me before the transfer deadline was over. They do not walk in the street and say, 'Please here is a world class striker, can you take me.' They are all at big clubs and under contract. There was none available” he was quoted saying.
The long-serving manager was adamant that his team are well in the fight for the title saying “Let's not be overly pessimistic. We are qualified in the FA Cup, we are in the Champions League, we have a big opportunity at the end of the month [against Barcelona], we are still in the fight in the Premier League”.
Arsenal face a trip to Bournemouth on Sunday. They will have a chance to cut the gap on the top two as Leicester City face Manchester City in a top of the table clash on Saturday.
