Greentown 1-1 Arsenal: Wenger slams 'disrespectful' Mancini after lacklustre draw - Tehran Times

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Greentown 1-1 Arsenal: Wenger slams 'disrespectful' Mancini after lacklustre draw

Furious Arsene Wenger lashed out at Roberto Mancini last night after the Manchester City boss declared he hoped to sign Arsenal star Samir Nasri by the end of the month.

City will happily cough up the £120,000-a-week, five-year deal France midfielder Nasri is chasing. But Arsenal are in the process of putting together a new package after their initial offer of £90,000 a week was rejected.

Wenger said: "Mancini's comments should not be allowed. They are against the basic rules of football and he should be informed

[of that].

"I don't know what should be done. I can't spend my time worrying about what other people say because we are focused on our game.

"But what we want is respect and we don't make these comments about players who are under contract at other clubs.

"Disrespectful? I cannot say otherwise. This comment is absolutely out of order but I will not give it any more importance than that."

Wenger's comments came after Arsenal had fought out a draw with Chinese Super League team Hangzhou. He had earlier dropped a hint that he might actually be preparing for life without Cesc Fabregas by giving Nasri the star role in the Meihu Stadium.

Wenger employed Nasri in the central midfield berth occupied by the injured skipper and he looked at ease pulling the strings in a similar fashion to Barcelona target Fabregas, back in England with a tight hamstring.

Nasri proved exactly why Wenger is desperate to retain his services with a silky display full of poise and purpose in torrential rain against a well-drilled home team.

After enjoying a comfortable 4-0 win over a Malaysia XI in Kuala Lumpur earlier in the week, Wenger's men were given a tougher test in front of 20, 583 fans on the second leg of their tour of Asia.

The Gunners were off-colour for the majority of the first half and could have conceded on a couple of occasions before Sebastian Vazquez put the hosts in front.

Arsenal belatedly found their feet in the closing stages of the first half and equalised through Carlos Vela, but there were with no further goals as both sides made wholesale changes.

Arsenal had a scare when Paulo Pezzolano hit the post after 11 minutes and when reserve keeper Vito Mannone failed to deal with a header six minutes later, Vazquez fired home from inside the box.

Robin van Persie then went close for the Gunners with a delicate chip that left keeper Wu Shaokun hopelessly stranded but the ball floated past the upright.

Nasri almost found the net with a volley just before the break but Mexican striker Vela was on target on the stroke of half-time from close range after a clever link-up play between Van Persie and Andrey Arshavin. Van Persie scuffed his shot but the ball fell to Vela to net easily.

Nasri did not emerge for the second half as Wenger fielded a completely different side. Arsenal looked more solid in possession but never got going up front.

Theo Walcott looked lively on the right but had six decent chances to get on the scoresheet and failed to take advantage.

Walcott says he is desperate for the chance to play up top and start rattling in the goals but he must improve his finishing on this evidence. A couple of chances for Aaron Ramsey and one Walcott header over the bar were as close as either side got to a winner.

Wenger has previously stubbornly refused to take Arsenal on a money-spinning tour of Asia or America, preferring a tranquil training camp in Austria and the club have not been in the Far East since 1999. But expect the Gunners to go global again next summer after the runaway success of this trip.

(Source: Mirrorfootball)