Interview

Wenger on attack v defence and football evolution

For Arsene Wenger, the question of how to deal with defensive teams is one that requires constant work to find a solution.

The Arsenal manager was asked on Tuesday how the biggest teams can cope with teams sides getting men behind the ball and congesting the midfield.

Wenger admits it has been an issue for a while, and says it is up to him and his fellow managers to overcome it.

"They attempt to win the game but they do it in a different way, in a structured, well-prepared game,” he said. “Maybe because there is more separation today mentally between the top teams and the other teams.

"You have half of the teams in the Premier League who think ‘We don't want to go down' and for these kind of teams, against teams that expect to play at the top, the best way to get some points is to defend as much as you can and try to get the best out of the moments when they have the ball.

“It has always been like that. The attack gives a problem to the defence, the defence gives an answer to the attacking problem. Then the attack finds another solution, again to get around the problem that the defence gives you. That's how football evolves.

"At the moment you would say the big teams face the problem of more density in the final third. Then we have to find a solution to get around that.”