Tuesday, 09 Feb 2010 09:35
Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack hits out at Arsene Wenger's "excuses"
By Alistair Potter.
Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack has hit out at Arsene Wenger, saying the Arsenal manager should stop making excuses when his team loses.
The German international said his side's 2-0 win in the big Premier League game on Sunday showed the gulf in class between the two teams and that Wenger should just accept the Gunners' failings.
"Wenger always says things like this when he loses to find an excuse," said Ballack, referring to the Frenchman's quoting of possession statistics after the defeat.
"Football is not possession of the ball and playing a nice pass - football is about winning games.
"That is what Manchester United showed when they played them and what we did.
"We derived the win because we were very effective, and that was our strategy."
Wenger has been praised by many pundits for his skills in crafting teams that play football in the right way, making them arguably the most attractive side in the world to watch.
But Ballack believes the Gunners' insistence on playing short passes and building slowly throughout the side makes them easy to stop.
"We knew the way Arsenal play. It is always the same style," he added.
Arsenal's defeat at Stamford Bridge leaves them nine points behind the Blues at the top of the table ahead of Wednesday evening's game against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.