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Usmanov urges Wenger to wise up
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ARSENE Wenger must start learning from his mistakes if Arsenal is to compete at the highest level of European football, Alisher Usmanov, the London club’s second-largest shareholder, has said.
The Russian billionaire, who owns 30 percent of the Gunners, is frustrated by Arsenal’s worst start to a Premier League season which has brought four wins from its first 12 matches and little more than half the points that leader Chelsea has.
“Arsenal is a dream that sometimes becomes a mirage and sometimes a pain,” Usmanov was quoted as saying in British media yesterday ahead of the club’s midweek Champions League clash at home to Borussia Dortmund.
“The potential of the team is there, but there is no critical evaluation of mistakes.
“No genius can retain the same level of genius if they do not acknowledge mistakes. We just repeat the same mistakes year by year.”
Arsenal ended a near decade long wait for silverware last season with an FA Cup triumph but the optimism that was instilled has faded quickly after a poor start to the season.
Consecutive league defeats to Swansea City and Manchester United have left Arsenal in eighth place.
It also lost early in the League Cup.
It should qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League but defeat by Dortmund tonight could leave it vulnerable.
Arsenal’s lack of defensive stability has been held up as the team’s main failing of the season so far but Usmanov believes all departments need strengthening.
“We need to strengthen every position to play on the level of such teams as Chelsea and Manchester City and in Europe like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris St Germain and other clubs,” he said.
“I like Arsene for his principles,” he added. “But principles are sort of a restriction. And restrictions are always lost possibilities.”
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