SOCCER: Arsenal v ChelseaARSENE WENGER has accepted that his Arsenal team have a "mental hurdle" to clear as he prepared them for tonight's derby showdown against Chelsea. a match on which he feels their Premier League title challenge could hinge.
It is two weeks since Arsenal last played, losing 1-0 at Manchester United but, ahead of another meeting with an elite rival, the questions about their fragility resonated with thumping clarity. Even the club captain, Cesc Fabregas, suggested that they had been “scared” at Old Trafford while Wenger said “we played with a little bit of restriction – a little bit of a handbrake feeling in the team”.
Wenger is mindful of Arsenal’s dismal recent record against the league’s other big guns, just as he has grown accustomed to playing the psychological cheerleader in the countdown to the meetings against them. But opportunity knocks once more at Emirates Stadium and Wenger is ever hopeful of the breakthrough result.
“I believe that my players are quite solid mentally but they have not won [a trophy] yet and that is a mental hurdle everyone in life has to get over,” he said.
“You want to win and to show that you can win and for that, you need to be tough and that makes you stronger. But you need to believe. I’m convinced now that we have the right age to deliver and that’s what we want to show.”
Chelsea have been the epitome of mental strength in recent years but Wenger pointed out that players like Frank Lampard were different characters when they were aged 18-20.
“It is a process,” Wenger said, “how solid you are mentally at a certain age. Life is maybe not so beautiful as you think it is at 18.”
Wenger can be cheered by a glance at the league table. He has already said that he feels fortunate to remain in title contention after suffering three home defeats and he has been keen to point out that his team still have their home games to play against their main rivals. Faltering home form is easier to rectify than that on the road.
“We need a big win, of course we do, and Chelsea can be an opportunity,” Wenger said.
“To be in a race for the championship, we know that to beat Chelsea at home, Man United at home and Man City at home will be vital. Beating Chelsea is certainly something that will speed up the maturing of the team.”
It is also a source of inspiration that Fabregas will start for the first time since he limped out of the Champions League tie at Braga on 23 November with the latest recurrence of his hamstring injury. The midfielder made his comeback as a 64th-minute substitute in the United defeat but he struggled to adapt to the rhythm of the game.
“It is more a restriction he has in his head,” Wenger said.
“So we have to move the hamstring out of his head. That comes with practising every day. Physically, I think he is ready.”
Lampard should make his first start for Chelsea since late August tonight, having recovered from groin and hamstring complaints.
Carlo Ancelotti, whose side have won once in seven Premier League matches, said: “He [Lampard] is fit . . . in fact, of all our players, he is the one in the best condition at this moment.”
Chelsea will monitor Alex’s recovery from a knee injury before deciding whether to pursue their interest in a replacement centre-half next month, with Bolton’s Gary Cahill or Newcastle’s Steven Taylor potential targets.
Guardian Service
