Arsene Wenger believes globe-trotting pre-season tours have been behind Arsenal’s recent slow starts to the Premier League season.
Arsenal have lost on the opening day of each of the last two seasons, with Wenger admitting on both occasions that his squad were short on fitness heading into the campaign. Had they won their opener a year ago, at home to Liverpool, it would have been them and not Jurgen Klopp’s side who finished fourth.
The Frenchman had long resisted the Premier League’s trend for tours to the United States and Asia, preferring training camps in Austria, but has been forced to accept the commercial realities of modern football.
No side will have earned more air miles ahead of the 2017-18 season than Arsenal, who played two local opponents in Sydney before taking on Bayern Munich in Shanghai and Chelsea in Beijing. They rounded off their pre-season closer to home, bizarrely winning the Emirates Cup ahead of Sevilla despite losing to the Spanish side in the final game.
Not for the first time during this pre-season Wenger made clear that he believed his team’s long-haul summer had been far from ideal in sporting terms.
“We had a very good record as long as we didn’t travel,” Wenger told Standard Sport. “We always won our first games. Since we travelled we struggled a little bit more.
“But we are on the same line there as any other team, everybody travels. When you look at the international games in Asia or in the States the big teams play each other. Only the smaller clubs have the luxury to prepare at home.
“I would say that’s part of the modern game. We adapt physically to it. We travel in good conditions.
Asked why he didn’t block these tours Wenger added: “I’m sensible. I respect why we sign big contracts with the sponsors.
“It’s normal that we adapt. This should not be looked at as an excuse for any bad result. We have to tour like everybody else. We have no disadvantage because Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United all do it. We’re on even ground.”
Arsenal return to the Emirates in 12 days to face Leicester in the Premier League’s first Friday night opener, with the Community Shield tie with Chelsea providing Wenger with one last chance to fine tune his lineup.
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“I am sure we will have done the needed work,” he said. “Last year we went into the season with some players having a deficit in minutes played, only two or three had the number of games [required] after the European Championships.
“We have more players ready to go into the competition. We’ve had tougher games as well. We should be ready.”