Today brought about as interesting an Arsenal pre-match press conference as you will ever find. Manager Arsene Wenger grew so angry with the media that he snapped at them. Wenger then went beyond just condescending to the media; he threatened to walk out on them. Up until now Wenger hasn’t really been all that rattled by the media criticism of him nor the incessant shots fired at him by Chelsea Manager Jose Mourinho.
At least, Wenger hasn’t publicly conveyed that all he’s bothered by all this until today.
When quizzed about the decision to start David Ospina over Petr Cech in the Champions League loss, the Frenchman said:
“I do not want to come back on that. I don’t change a word of what I said. I have two world-class goalkeepers. It’s the easiest choice I have to make, to pick one of those two.”
Then came a question about Mourinho, and his passive-aggressive shot at Wenger. Previously, Wenger has refused to address the Blues boss’ claims that Wenger is the only the Premier League Manager who isn’t under pressure. (For what it’s worth, Wenger has been quite critical of both Chelsea striker Diego Costa and the officiating in the Champions League).
Today, the Gunners boss felt that the media had taken the feud with Mourinho narrative too far.
“Look, stop that story, or we stop the press conference,” he said. “I think you lack creativity in the media, and you follow a bandwagon that is very, very boring.
“If you question Ospina, I question your knowledge of football. People don’t analyse the game well. I heard one pundit criticize one thing, and everyone followed that.”
“Nobody analyzed the numbers. It’s depressing. Yes, the goalkeeper made a mistake, but we could still have won the game.”
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
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