Wenger calls on attacking trio to raise standards

The Times

July 16, 2007

Aidan Magee

ARSÈNE WENGER SEEMS MORE certain than most that there is enough striking talent in his squad to help Arsenal to recover from the loss of Thierry Henry this summer. The North London club finally bowed to the inevitable when the France striker departed for Barcelona last month and the Arsenal manager was forced to begin a rebuilding programme that will place more responsibility on Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott, the forwards.

The trio combined for the first goal against Barnet at Underhill on Saturday as Wenger’s team cruised to victory in their preseason opener. The manager will now put his faith in their prodigious talents alongside Eduardo Da Silva, the Croatia forward signed from Dynamo Zagreb, and Nicklas Bendtner, the young Denmark striker back after a year on loan at Birmingham City.

“There are some players, like Van Persie, Adebayor and Walcott, who need to raise their game when you have a big departure,” the Arsenal manager said. “They want to prove to me they have the quality. I believe it and I want them to express it. It will be down to how much we believe we can do well. I am convinced we have the quality and with great belief we can do very well. That will decide our season.

“When you lose a world-class player you can only try to get your team to a level where you can compete again. What it means is some of the other players have to stand up for more responsibility and sometimes that works, but you have still have lost a world-class player.

“We want them to create an efficiency in our attacking play and replace the 25 goals that Thierry Henry gave us mathematically every season. The aim of the season is to be challenging for the title. We are Arsenal. The environment of the club looks very strong and as a young team you can improve every year.

“They will have to share the responsibilities. We can compensate by focusing more on the team play and not relying too much on one individual.”

Nacer Barazite, the teenaged Dutch forward, added the second Arsenal goal and Wenger’s only worry was that a clumsy tackle by Jason Puncheon, the Barnet midfield player, forced Denilson, the Brazilian midfield player, off the pitch in the second half. The 19-year-old was removed on a stretcher before the Barnet public address announcer reassured the crowd that the injury was not serious. Wenger, who expects José Antonio Reyes to sign permanently for Real Madrid this week, said: “I think Denilson will be OK in maybe a couple of days.”

Eduardo and Bacary Sagna, the new signings, could have their first action against Gen-clerbirligi, the Turkish team, in Austria, on Thursday.