We’re ready to roll insists Gunners boss
UNAI EMERY will not use fatigue as an excuse for Arsenal failing against Rennes on his return to France tonight.
Where rival Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino moaned about a lack of support from the Premier League to help his side prepare for key ties in Europe, Emery insists the Gunners have enough fresh players to cope in the Europa League.
Arsenal boss Emery (below) from MIKE WALTERS
said: “It’s not an excuse for us. We in Rennes
have the habit of playing a lot of matches week by week. We played of Paris St-Germain Saturday, rested Sunday, worked was a defeat
Monday and tomorrow we will be by Rennes.
OK for everyone to play. And Emery
“My opinion is to respect the sidestepped a
Premier League. They decide the question about schedule for our matches and we his strained prepare in the days we have free. relationship with Hatem
Ben Arfa at
PSG, resorting to compliments about his
“quality and skills”.
Last month
Ben Arfa launched a £7m lawsuit against PSG for loss of earnings, claiming he was systematically frozen out by Emery for 15 months.
He said PSG’s treatment amounted to “discrimination and harassment in the workplace”.
But Rennes coach Julien Stephan insisted Ben Arfa would not be affected.
He said: “This is Rennes against Arsenal, not Hatem Ben Arfa against Unai Emery. It’s two clubs going head-to-head.”
Famous
“Above all, the habit is to play a lot of matches – but it’s not an excuse.
“If you are asking me whether I prefer to have more time, sometimes, to prepare, then maybe I say yes.
“But for this match we don’t have an excuse because we have had enough time to prepare well.”
Emery backed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose late penalty miss at Wembley on Saturday denied the Gunners a famous north London derby win, to recover from the disappointment.
He said: “It’s one action.
I was positive before and I am still confident in the player if he is going to shoot a penalty again, that he can score.”
This will not be a walk in the park for Emery, whose last home game in charge