Wenger looks back to go forward

Arsene Wenger today outlined the new Arsenal approach he hopes will bring the Premiership title back to Highbury - and it will mean caution rather than cavalier football.

The Arsenal manager believes the 42 goals his side conceded last season was unacceptable. "That is more than one a game and it is too many," he said.

But he also absolved his back four from complete blame and wants the whole team to take responsibility for defence.

"I have tried to analyse the goals we conceded and you can compensate for a lot by defending better as a team," said Wenger. "Perhaps we thought we can score goals anyway, so maybe we neglected the defensive part a bit. That is why it was not only down to any lack of quality, it was more down to the fact that we did not have a positive attitude to defending as a team."

The new philosophy was evident in both Premiership games to date, which have brought wins against Everton and Middlesbrough, and will be needed again tonight when David O'Leary brings his Aston Villa team to the club he served with such success.

However, O'Leary did not endear himself to Highbury fans as Leeds manager, producing a team that unsettled Arsenal with their aggression. Wenger would not involve himself in any debate about that. But he was happy to discuss the emergence of a potentially dominant central defender in Kolo Toure.