Arsene Wenger demands defensive improvement after Arsenal's dismal start to the season

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has urged his team to improve after last weekend’s 4-3 defeat to Blackburn Rovers, insisting their whole season is at risk if they continue to leak soft goals.

The Gunners have made a poor start to this season’s Premier League, having only picked up one win and endured a humiliating 8-2 defeat at Manchester United, with the weekend result at Ewood Park adding to the pressure on Wenger, whose team take on Shrewsbury on Tuesday in the League Cup.
And the 61-year-old believes improving the defence should be the priority for his side.
'It is very important,' Wenger said, according to The Mirror.

'Our season depends now on how well we respond to this disappointment and how quickly we can cut out the mistakes we made on Saturday by giving away goals that we should never give away.'

The Frenchman has seen his side concede 14 goals, with two of them at Blackburn being turned in by his own players, in their opening five games of the season, and believes a lack of mental readiness is to blame.

'A lack of concentration, a lack of communication, a lack of coordination and individual urgency,' said Wenger.

'When you score an own goal, you have to look at yourself. It is never completely out of your reach where you have no chance at all. All the rest, you have to look at yourself.

'The Blackburn game is very disappointing and frustrating. I must say that the disappointments and frustrations are huge. We feel that we have given this game away, not that we have lost the game.

'There is nothing worse in our job than having that feeling.

'I personally want to focus on the positives, because there is huge potential in this team - we had 22 shots on goal, 61 per cent of the possession.

'I believe there is a little question of time, timing. Andre Santos and Per Mertesacker are new, but they were not especially guilty on the goals. But maybe as a unit we need more time to work.'

Following reports that Arsenal lack a specialist defensive coach, with former Gunner Martin Keown tipped as the leading man for any defensive position that may appear at the club, Wenger insists his club will recover, and thanked the fans for their support.
'The fans are fantastic. There were thousands of Arsenal fans at Ewood Park. We need to be united and I am very grateful for their attitude on Saturday. They were absolutely fantastic,' he said.

'The team has a good spirit, a good mentality, a good attitude and that will come out longer term. We have had a bad start but I believe we can bounce back and be very strong this season.'