‘I’m not ready to rest yet!’ – Wenger

“Mark [Gonnella, Communications Director] was with me as well on Thursday”. So there were many people there. “We had a little dinner before but we were not the two of us”, the French manager was eager to point out. We were four or five.

But after Arsenal beat Hull 2-0 at the Emirates on Saturday to get back on track, Wenger said Wright had the wrong impression.

In comparison, not only is Sanchez a wonderfully gifted player thanks to his technical and physical talents, but he is also gritty and determined, desperate to win, willing to criticise his teammates and lead his side. In the immediate future, however, the Gunners head away this week for a Champions League match against Bayern Munich. I am at Arsenal for 20yrs, I know that.

He told journalists after his side’s 2-0 win over Hull city:”I feel sorry for Hull city but the goal was the lucky break we needed”. Sorry for that, but I can not influence that.

“I want the fans to be behind the team”.

“All the other clubs, everywhere we fight with Man United, Man City, Liverpool, they have big expectations as well and big histories”.

“Of course (we rode our luck)”.

A former Arsenal player, and a good one at that, many are frustrated with the way he talks about the club during times of trouble. The 67-year-old’s contract expires at the end of the season.

Coming into this match on the back of two straight defeats in the Premier League – to Watford and Chelsea – which had seen their title challenge come crashing down, Arsenal could really afford nothing but a win against relegation-battling Hull.

Hull remain in the bottom three but with further cause for optimism following their latest encouraging performance under Silva, concluding a run of games against Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal that yielded four points.

“I didn’t give any indication about my future”, Wenger said.

Hull have kept two clean sheets in February – as many as they’d kept in their previous 26 Premier League games combined.

Tigers boss Marco Silva was unhappy with the referee, both for Sanchez’s goal and Gibbs’ yellow card.

“We have had a good week of preparation ahead of Arsenal”. After all, Arsenal are the better team and at home, but that anyone has to wonder after a play where Alexis literally hit the ball in with his hand is unfortunate. But that only helps with one of the questions heaped upon referees as they decide whether a goal has been fairly scored.