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Wenger ‘ready for United test’
Boss tips young stars after Euro victory
ARSENE Wenger last night (Wednesday) warned Manchester United to prepare for an “adventurous” and “confident” display on Saturday after watching his young side dump Celtic out of the Champions League with a 3-1 win.
The Arsenal boss said he was “happy” to face the champions at Old Trafford and vowed to avenge the humiliating European dismissal in last season’s semi-finals.
He said: “We continue to improve our speed and team play and we will show we have made a big improvement on Saturday at 5.15pm.
“There is optimism in our game and our fans are optimistic. Tonight was the perfect way to prepare for the weekend. We are organised and structured and we will go forward.
“When we played [Manchester] in the Champions League we were on the back foot. In the championship, we were more adventurous, going forward, mentally and tactically.”
Wenger revealed captain Cesc Fabregas could shake off a groin injury and that midfielder Abu Diaby was substituted early against Celtic “in case I need him on Saturday”. Striker Niklas Bendtner played the full 90 minutes against Celtic while Eduardo was substituted and Robin Van Persie did not play.
“I’m happy to go there,” said Wenger. “It’s our first big, big test. We have needed confidence and we have that at the moment.”
The Gunners strolled into the Champions League group stages, out-classing Celtic over two legs with a 5-1 aggregate score.
Intricate and imaginative passing moves led to goals from Emmanuel Eboue and substitute Andrey Arshavin in the second half, after Eduardo’s hotly disputed spot-kick before the break. The Croation’s legs appeared to fail him as he nipped the ball past on-rushing keeper Artur Boruc.
Denilson and Alex Song dominated the midfield and former boo-boy Eboue received a standing ovation.
The Gunners are top seeds but could face Real Madrid, Juventus or Inter Milan after the draw today (Thursday). |
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