Wenger questions Arsenal’s mental approach & hints at arrogance problems after Saints draw

Tuesday, January 1, 2013
10:17 PM

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was clearly irritated by his side’s attitude in the 1-1 draw at Southampton and blamed their mental approach tonight, saying there was a lack of “sharpness”.

The Gunners started 2013 with a whimper on the south coast, rarely threatening in a game the relegation-threatened hosts looked more likely to win.

Gaston Ramirez opened the scoring for Saints after 34 minutes but Guly do Prado’s own goal seven minutes later saw Arsenal secure a draw.

“It is nothing to do with physical side,” he said.

“Maybe we thought we scored seven against Newcastle, we thought we would score again today, we scored five at Reading, we would score again today.

“A game of that magnitude we had to play today against a Southampton side that was really highly determined.

“I felt that we lacked purpose in our game and it was more mental than physical.”