Arsenal fall to usual fourth as Wenger shrugs off criticism

LONDON

Arsene Wenger shrugged off criticism that he should have signed a world-class striker in the January transfer window despite acknowledging that Arsenal’s finishing has been rather poor in recent weeks.

The Arsenal manager cut a frustrated figure at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday as the Gunners created plenty of chances in a 0-0 draw with Southampton, but ultimately were denied on numerous occasions by the sheer brilliance of Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

It has often been said that, in pursuit of winning a first Premier League title since 2004, the north London club should have invested heavily in a proven striker. Wenger, though, batted away such claims after his side fell to fourth place, five points behind leaders Leicester.

DISAPPOINTING THING

“If you had found a world-class striker, who could have strengthened the team, then you should have told me,” he said.

“Believe me, they do not walk in (off) the street and say: ‘I am a world-class striker’. “They are already at a big club and under contract and not available. We have Walcott, Giroud, Ozil, Sanchez and Welbeck, who is coming back. “Tonight, I don’t think that a miracle man would have come in and scored for us. As a team, we can score goals. “I don’t like to say it was one of those nights. We are all disappointed because we had enough chances to win the game.

“The most disappointing thing is that some players missed chances that they usually take. Our finishing is very poor at the moment. We have played three Premier League games now without scoring a goal."

“Forster had a brilliant game. But you’d expect that. The rate and quality of chances created was high for a Premier League game but the quality of finishing was poor.  “Finishing is a bit cyclical, up and down at the moment. It’s very down for us now. “We have a difficult programme, especially away from home, but we need to respond.”