'Terrible' start worries Wenger

'Terrible' start worries Wenger

Published Sep. 19, 2011 1:16 p.m. ET

Wenger's men had been in control at half-time, leading 2-1 with chances aplenty, before they crumbled to a 4-3 defeat including two own-goals from Alex Song and Laurent Koscielny. It means the Gunners have just four points from five games in the league this season, their worst start since Wenger came to the club in 1996. They have also conceded 14 goals, more than any other side in the top flight. Wenger said: "It is terrible, it is just not good enough. Of course we are very frustrated, the spirit in the team is quite willing but if you look at the number of goals we have conceded that is not good enough. "You cannot come here and concede four goals the way we did today. "On the other hand I believe that the group will take off but it's important that we get quick results." The defeat is likely to spark further questions about Wenger's future at the club, but he refused to get drawn into such discussions. "Speculation is part of modern life, what can I do about that?" he said. "My future is focusing on what I do well and that means giving my best for the club. I have no influence on the speculation." Arsenal had impressed in the first half with Gervinho and Mikel Arteta scoring their first goals for the club either side of a neat Yakubu finish. The second half was a different story - after the own goals, Yakubu struck from close range for his second and at that point Blackburn had still only had two shots on goal but were 4-2 up. Wenger admitted his defence's frailty was a big worry. He added: "You cannot say you have no worry when you see the performance we have put in today. It's just not defensively solid enough when you are 2-1 in front against Blackburn and you know if you are solid enough defensively you will score goals. "It's not all negative today, that's, in fact, the frustrating thing as well. At the moment we do not have the capability to focus defensively to win games like that. It is important you do not give cheap goals away like that. "Overall we created many chances, even in the second half but we had a lack of focus on what we knew they were strong at - corners, free-kicks. "Overall we lost a game where we scored six goals and that's quite disappointing." For Rovers boss Steve Kean there was the satisfaction of having answered the 200 fans who marched on Ewood Park before kick-off calling for his head. Kean said: "I have said I was disappointed with that. The most important thing is 99% of the fans didn't demonstrate and hopefully even the 1% that did will go home happy. "I don't mean to be bullish but I can only reiterate the backing I have had from the owners and the players. "You don't play like that if you have any type of split or division in the dressing room. We feel the criticism we have had has been a little bit unfair." Kean said that his half-time team-talk and a change of tactics had helped Rovers turn the match around. "At half-time I told the lads they were giving them too much respect and needed to get closer to them. "We really showed what we were all about then, digging in and being very effective on the break. "I might sound like a broken record but our performances have been good, and last time we were at home, against Everton we should have got all three points." Kean also praised Yakubu for a powerful performance on his debut. "The Yak brings experience and know-how and he's clever," he said. "People have a go at him for not moving but he's saving his energy and then when he does go he's very effective."

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