Wenger's anger at United

Scholes clatters Reyes

14 April 2012

Arsene Wenger today attacked Manchester United's negative tactics in their FA Cup semi-final.

The Arsenal manager made it clear he was unhappy with Sir Alex Ferguson's approach towards Saturday's match, which United won 1-0.

Wenger said: "I felt United tried to toughen up the game. Most of the time they tried to stop us from playing.

"The circumstances were bad, they got away with some bad tackles and the pitch did not favour our fluency. Being one up made them play defensively."

Ferguson said he would not back Arsenal to beat Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tomorrow night but Wenger today dismissed those comments.

"We respect everybody's opinion but we do not listen to any opinion from outside our team or our club," said Arsenal's manager. "Comments from outside, whether well intentioned or ill intentioned, do not bother us. Were his comments ill intentioned? You decide about that."

Speaking as Arsenal prepare for the Chelsea game, Wenger is hopeful Freddie Ljungberg will have recovered from a fracture to his right hand.

"He has a dressing around it and could play with an anaesthetic so he does not feel the pain," said Wenger. "We will see how he is in the morning."

The Highbury manager said it was too early to judge whether Jose Reyes and Ashley Cole would be fit to face Chelsea.

Reyes injured his knee and ankle on Saturday but did manage to train today, while Cole faces a test on his knee problem. The tie is balanced at 1-1 but Scott Parker is confident Chelsea can take advantage of Arsenal's FA Cup exit tomorrow.

Chelsea have not beaten Arsenal for 17 games but Parker said: "Arsenal are very strong but who knows how it will affect them? They might crack a little bit and we're waiting to pounce. They haven't lost a lot of games but who is to know how they will react? That's the main test for them.

"Records have to end sometime and when we've played Arsenal there seems to have been a steady progression each time."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes United have proved they are still a force to be reckoned with. The striker said: "Everybody was looking at those two games against Arsenal to see if we could prove we are still a good team. I think we have done that and done well."

MORE ABOUT

Arsenal

Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson

Wenger's anger at United

Read More