Arsenal's players and management held clear-the-air talks at the club's Colney training complex yesterday to digest the team's thrashing at Chelsea and focus on reviving the club's ailing title challenge against Swansea City tomorrow night.

The capitulation in Arsene Wenger’s 1,000th game in charge left Arsenal seven points adrift of their London rivals before tomorrow’s visit of Swansea, and the manager is concerned at the manner in which his team have surrendered so meekly against the elite teams.

The Frenchman has seen his team ship six goals at Manchester City and Chelsea, and five at Liverpool, all in Saturday lunchtime kick-offs, to leave their attempts to secure a first title since 2004 apparently forlorn before City’s visit to the Emirates stadium on Saturday.

Wenger had revealed after Saturday’s humiliation that he and his squad had “to think deeply about [the loss] because it is not the first time” they had disintegrated in such a manner, with the manager accepting responsibility for the embarrassment. His players reported back for a light warm-down session yesterday and, the issues thrown up by the crippling disappointment across the capital were discussed as a group with key games to come.

“It leaves it in a very bad situation,” said Wenger. “But we want to respond. When you don’t turn up in a game of that stature, nobody takes it easy. We have to win the next game and focus on that, to give a strong response. It is going to be tough now, very, very tough, but we have to respond quickly because we are in a situation where, after such a disappointment, the next games become vital.

"We felt we prepared properly with the intensity we did but we did not turn up for our game of the season, so it is puzzling. We were never even in it," he said.
Guardian Service