CRIES FOUL

Arsenal manager says fixture schedulers out to get him

LONDON said Wenger who has managed Arsenal for 21 years.

“I am ready to play every day as long as our opponent has played the same time recovery over Christmas. It is not normal.

“We have the same problem against Chelsea. They played yesterday, we played today, they have one day more again.”

A late penalty from Jay Rodriguez rescued a draw for West Brom after Calum Chambers was penalised for handball in a decision that even West Brom boss Alan Pardew admitted was “tough.”

“It wasn’t a penalty,” said Wenger at the start of a wideranging rant. “It was not a deliberate handball.

“He (Chambers) didn’t lift his hand. It was down. Where do you put your hands? You have no pockets in your shorts.

“The referee has not seen it. That’s my opinion, he will tell you that he has seen it. Ask him.

“I don’t want to waste my time with them, we have to live with the decision, to deal with it and to swallow it and go to the next game. I’m angry because we have seen and seen the same things again.

“I did fight very hard for the referees to become professional many years ago with (then Arsenal chairman) David Dein, and they did a good job to allow them to be professional.

“But I see no improvement. At the end of the day there are two countries in Europe where you have professional referees, in Italy and in England, and not one English referee will go to the World Cup but everything is alright.

“We cannot say a word against it because they’re untouchable.”

Wenger expressed his desire for VAR (Video Assistant Referees) to be introduced in the Premier