‘We feel guilty over title’

Arsene Wenger has told Sky Sports Arsenal feel “guilty” over their failed Premier League title challenge.

The Gunners head to relegation-threatened Sunderland on Super Sunday hoping to climb back above Manchester City into third place as the pressure to seal a top-four spot increases.

Wenger admits his side have not been “clinical enough” to challenge for a first league crown since 2004, but reckons they have faced some unfair criticism during a season that has seen Leicester emerge as shock potential champions.

From fan scrutiny and the games he feels were turning points in the season to how he thinks the Premier League is changing, Wenger lifts the lid to reporter Geoff Shreeves…

SHREEVES: What do you make of the top-four race and where you sit in it?

WENGER: “It’s very simple. We all feel guilty and we are all looked at like it’s a shame we are not winning the league because Leicester are at the top.

“But on the other hand, you have to say Leicester have not stolen the points. They have earned them, they have quality. If you look at the PFA Team of the Year, they have many players in there, so they are good players. 

“I am convinced that all the teams today look at themselves and think ‘how could that happen?’, but when you win so many times 1-0 like Leicester have done, you see they have been absolutely efficient.

“It is true that technically many teams in the league are better, but many teams have had more problems. Leicester have had no injuries, many teams have had more competitions. Leicester went out of the FA Cup quite early, but you have to give them credit when everybody expected them to drop they didn’t and when they had to turn up they did. 

“It will be interesting psychologically to study Leicester because it’s a very interesting case. There is a theory that says to go to the absolute utmost of your talent you need to suffer in life. When you look at the Leicester team, not one career of all these players was obvious, like starting on the red carpet at 18 years of age in the Champions League. 

“Many of the players have been rejected before… it is an interesting case. N’Golo Kante, nobody wanted him in France for a while. That is a good explanation for his character.

“These players had a dream that was not easy to obtain, but when they are in a position to reach it, they are ready for the fight. The lesson of the season is Leicester. Maybe they are not the most prestigious in quality of the passing, but they found a way to be efficient and have shown …

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