Arsene Wenger: Arsenal boss says top four 'not as easy as it looks'
Last updated on .From the section Football
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says his side's struggles this season prove finishing in the Premier League's top four is "not as easy as it looks".
The Frenchman has led the Gunners to a top-four spot and Champions League qualification for the past 20 seasons.
But with 10 games left, they are currently in sixth place, seven points off the league's leading quartet.
"It [finishing in the top four] is a good challenge but I think it is perfectly possible," said Wenger.
"I have done it for 20 years and it looked always like nothing. Suddenly, it becomes important so I'm quite pleased people realise that it is not as easy as it looks."
In 2012, Wenger compared finishing in the top four to winning a trophy and that view was recently echoed by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
"If you listen to Guardiola, he said the other day that to finish in the top four in England is a trophy because it is so difficult," he added.
Latest on Wenger & Sanchez contracts?
Wenger's contract at Arsenal expires at the end of the season and speaking before Wednesday's game with West Ham, he was again asked if he would extend his stay.
He has been offered a new two-year deal and reiterated he would make his decision public "soon".
Talks about extending forward Alexis Sanchez's contract beyond June 2018 are on hold until the summer and, despite the Chile international being linked with Chelsea, Wenger played down concerns over the 28-year-old's future.
"I don't see what all the debate is about," said Wenger. "We are professional football people. Our job is to perform as long as we are somewhere.
"I don't understand this kind of anxiety one and a half years before the end of contracts. It is denying what the professional guy is about."
'Serious' injury for Koscielny
The Gunners will be without centre-back Laurent Koscielny on Wednesday, and Wenger fears the France international could face a lengthy absence.
Koscielny was substituted at half-time during Sunday's 2-2 draw with Manchester City and will have a scan on an Achilles injury.
"It is certainly serious," said Wenger.
"If he has ruptured a few fibres of his tendon it could be a few weeks. If it is just an inflammation he could be available next week against Crystal Palace."
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Don't think by kicking out Wenger everything with your club will be rosy!
1 - It might mean the mercenaries jumping ship.....no problem with that.....good riddance. Go forth etc etc...
2 - It might wake the Directors of the Board up to the fact that the existing squad is made up of spoilt "pretty boys".
3 - They might spend some cash on players with a backbone.
Listen to the tape don't just read the quotes!
Its a disgrace, the world has finally gone mad!
But Arsenal need to also win trophies and the Board cannot just be allowed to to rake in huge profits to line their pockets.
Could do with an owner who love this great club than just see it as a CASH COW!
No other league has this kind of competition and i personally love all the surprises it brings up every week. Slate it all you like but I love the PL
Pep and Jose inherited strong squads, have since spend millions, but they are still struggling. City even had the luxury to annoy Toure and Aguero, some of the best talent in the EPL; they also let Milner go.
Without breaking the bank, the title is quite simply beyond reach for the Arsenal
Wow!!!!! Speechless.....
No mate. We live in an era where being offended & politically correct is king. The media will debate it for weeks. No doubt there will be calls for Moyes to resign. He made what he thought was an amusing throwaway remark to a female Journo. His crime, it wasn't particularly funny & neither does he doesn't come across as a funny bloke. He's apologised, let's move on to the next story.