Wenger completes Arsenal U-turn after Poch comments

Matt Stead

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits it is unrealistic for the Gunners to talk about winning the Premier League title – four days after insisting he is “not Pochettino”.

Wenger was bullish about Arsenal’s title chances on Monday, refusing to follow in the footsteps of Mauricio Pochettino, who has ruled Tottenham out of the race.

But after losing at home to rivals Manchester United last weekend Arsenal find themselves in fifth place, 15 points adrift of leaders Manchester City.

Wenger takes his side to Southampton on Sunday looking to bounce back from that loss and on the back of an emphatic 6-0 Europa League victory over BATE Borisov.

It is expected Arsenal’s entire XI will once again rotate as players such as Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud make way for the likes of Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette.

Despite his ability to rotate his team between competitions, Wenger has been unable to keep pace with those at the business-end of the Premier League table and the 68-year-old has conceded talk of a first title since 2004 is not on the agenda.

“At the moment we have different worries than the title,” he said. “After such disappointment, you have to think about winning the next game.

“We are too far from the title at the moment to speak about the title. It’s not realistic. Let’s try to win our next game and over a longer distance see if we can come back.”