Redknapp: Arsenal no better than Spurs
Reuters - Saturday 31 October 2009, 17:01
LONDON - Arsenal are no better than
Tottenham Hotspur despite extending a dominant Premier League
run against their north London rivals with a 3-0 win at the
Emirates on Saturday, said visiting manager Harry Redknapp.
Arsenal are now unbeaten in 20 league games against Spurs
who went into the match in fourth place, level on points with
the home side and hoping for a performance that would show they
could mount a sustained challenge to finish in the top four this
season.
A first-half devoid of meaningful goalmouth action appeared
to be heading for stalemate until Arsenal stunned Spurs just
before the break with quickfire goals from Robin van Persie and
Cesc Fabregas.
"The two sloppy goals we gave away turned the game upside
down," Redknapp told a news conference.
"I thought they (Arsenal) were edgy, giving the ball away,
the crowd was moaning at every mistake. I thought we would come
in at halftime in great shape.
"For 42 minutes I didn't see anything where I was sitting
thinking 'we are out of our depth here'," added Redknapp.
Asked if the defeat indicated a gap between the two teams,
Redknapp replied: "There is no gap between the clubs in my
opinion.
"We made two mistakes. They let in four goals at Manchester
City (last month), does that make them a bad team? That's how it
goes."
Arsenal have torn teams apart at the Emirates this season
and have now scored 20 goals in five league matches on home
turf.
"We lacked fluency in the first half hour, we played a
little bit with a handbrake on," manager Arsene Wenger said.
"But we took advantage of the first goal, then straight away
of the shock caused by the first goal and second half we always
played a bit restricted. But once the third goal was in you did
not have the impression Spurs could come back."
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
It was their defensive solidity against Spurs that pleased
Wenger the most after his side threw away a 2-0 lead at West Ham
United last weekend and also conceded a last-minute equaliser in
the Champions League against AZ Alkmaar in the preceding game.
"It was important for the team not to concede today. Any
goal after what happened recently could have caused a panic,"
said the Frenchman.
"Despite the fact we won 3-0 we had a good defensive
performance. Our back five were very efficient, we dealt well
with their offensive players. At the end of the day we did not
give any goal chances away."
Manuel Almunia was recalled ahead of Italian Vito Mannone
and the Spanish keeper enjoyed a quiet return.
Almunia began the season as first choice but had not played
since conceding four goals against Manchester City on Sept. 12,
firstly sidelined by a virus and then out of favour as Mannone
was handed his chance.
Wenger drew laughs when he said the raucous Arsenal fans
among the 60,000 capacity crowd made so much noise he could not
communicate with his players, forcing him to throw his jacket to
the ground in frustration in the second half despite his side
coasting to victory.
"I was frustrated, I could not communicate with the players
because of the noise of the stadium, I'm not used to that,"
Wenger joked.