• Premier League

'We can't buy a player every time we don't win'

ESPN staff
August 31, 2014
Alexis Sanchez found the target at Leicester, but Yaya Sanogo (left) was disappointing © Getty Images
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says his side's stuttering start to the new season will not force him into the transfer market for a new striker.

Sunday's uninspiring 1-1 draw at newly-promoted Leicester City was preceded by a draw at Everton and a last-gasp opening-day win over Crystal Palace, and many feel Arsenal must invest in a new striker before the transfer window closes on Monday due to the absence of the injured Olivier Giroud until January.

But Wenger is adamant he will not be forced into any last-minute panic buys.

"Everybody does that [slip up]," he told Sky Sports. "Manchester City lost yesterday against Stoke and they have strikers. Buying one player doesn't mean you win the game today. We want to [buy someone] and we are open to it.

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"The pressure to buy is always there, whether Olivier Giroud is injured or not. That happens every time you don't win a game. We have to live with that. We try our best and everybody at the club tries their best to do well.

"We've just come out of two very difficult weeks both nervously and physically. Yes we are disappointed not to get the three points, but let's not put that all down to missing a striker. Football is a bit more complicated than that."

Wenger did, however, fail to rule out bringing any new faces into the club before the transfer window closes.

"The decision [to add players] isn't difficult to make," he said. "It's finding the personnel that's the problem. We are open and we work on it, but let's not fool ourselves that every time the solution to not winning a game is buying a new player."

Wenger put his side's disappointing performance at Leicester down to their recent schedule, which has included a two-legged Champions League play-off tie against Besiktas.

"I felt we lacked creativity and sharpness today," he said. "We've had two tough weeks with three away games at Besiktas, Everton and today, and Wednesday the Champions League was very demanding. It's not an excuse but we were a bit jaded.

"We wanted so much to win the game that we lost any caution and without creating more we were more open to the counter-attack. In the end we could have lost the game."

Leicester manager Nigel Pearson, meanwhile, was able to find positives and negatives in his side's performance against the Gunners.

"It was another illustration of how the Premier League can be. I think we've played better, but we still had flashes of the ability to create things. That's going to be pivotal for us this season,'' he said.

"We felt that against a very good possession side, we did all the hard work we needed to and looked dangerous on the counter.''

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