Wenger: Spurs win key to season success

Arsene Wenger has had his say on the question
of diving.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger recognises the
emotionally charged nature of the north London
derby, but is also keen to stress the importance
of victory to their season as a whole.
A win for Wenger's side in Saturday's Premier
League game against Tottenham at Wembley
would take the Gunners just one point behind
their fourth-placed rivals and it was that, and the
goal of securing a Champions League place via
their final league position, that he was keen to
focus on at Thursday's pre-match press
conference.
"There is always huge passion before the game
and the emotion at stake that becomes a bit
more agitated," he said.
"I worked with Pat Rice when I first arrived so he
got me very quickly on that territory. It is always
a game that is charged emotionally. "This season, if you look at the table, is a very
important game. For us, it is an opportunity to
come back closer to the Champions League
places, which is a priority."
Wenger was asked about diving in his pre-match
news conference, with Tottenham boss Mauricio
Pochettino having recently claimed football is
about "tricking the opponent" following claims his
players dived at times during the 2-2 draw
against Liverpool.
"I think he wanted to say that tricking your
opponent, you have to be clever," added Wenger.
"How far? Was it an apology for diving? I'm not
sure. I don't think he would.
"I think you have to get rid of diving out of the
game. I remember there were tremendous cases
here when it was foreign players who did it.
"But the English players have learned very
quickly and are maybe the masters now." Arsenal have lost their last two away games
from winning positions - 2-1 at Bournemouth and
3-1 at Swansea - but Wenger is confident that
will not become a trend.
"We have lost games with 75 per cent
possession, at Swansea for example," said
Wenger.
"At the start, it was linked with bad luck, bad
decisions - I speak about Watford, West Brom.
After that, you question your away form, and that
can affect you.
"We lost our last two away games, at
Bournemouth where we were 1-0 up, at Swansea
where we were 1-0 up. You look at the mistakes
we made and I am quite optimistic we will not
make them again."