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Wenger stays defiant
Arsenal, 16:31, February 1, 2010 ,
Arsene Wenger says Arsenal will have to produce 'something special' to get back in the title race and wants a response against Chelsea.
The Gunners have been pushing Chelsea and Manchester United hard for the title but Sunday's crushing 3-1 defeat against the Reds at the Emirates Stadium was a real hammer blow.
Arsenal are now five points behind leaders Chelsea but it could soon be eight if as expected Carlo Ancelotti's men win at Hull on Tuesday night. The Gunners also face Chelsea this weekend and Wenger admits it is huge.
"It is a massive blow and a massive disappointment," he said, "We need something special now to stay in the race, of course. I am conscious of that. But we have to recover, that is part of top-level football.
"It is difficult to take, but easy to explain because we were poor offensively and defensively. We delivered an off-the-mark performance completely and that is why we were well beaten.
"We gave them always too much room, we were naive. They were better than us for two reasons: one, they played well and two, we were not at our level.
"Why? It is too early to analyse that. I believe there are some mental reasons in there, but it is difficult to say. Now, we have to stick together, recover and produce a much better performance next Sunday [against Chelsea]."