“We Looked Jaded” – Arsene Wenger Reflects On Pre-Season Defeat To Chelsea

Arsene Wenger on Chelsea loss…

Arsene Wenger blamed fatigue for our heavy defeat to Chelsea in a friendly match in Beijing, as our overseas pre-season tour came to a close.

The team looked rather leggy after racking the miles in recent weeks with three different plane journies in a matter of days, not to mention the bug which robbed the boss of many of his options.

Chelsea fielded a very strong lineup with further hindered our chances of winning the game, and it seems the boss isn’t putting too much importance on what he witnessed.

A number of our younger stars were also given an opportunity to test themselves at the highest level, with most of them coming up short.

“It was the last day of our tour, it was quite long and we looked a bit jaded tonight,” Wenger told the press.

“It was a good opportunity for me to see players at that level who have no experience, and I tried to play two teams with a mixture of regular players and young players.”

We face Chelsea again in the curtain raiser of the new campaign at Wembley in the Community Shield, a game which will have a more important bearing on the performance and result.

Antonio Conte didn’t use any of his three new signings in the friendly win, with champions currently at £142million in transfer outlays.

source: Arsenal Player