Adebayor tells Arsenal to start 'winning ugly'

(AP)

Their Premier League season has not even begun yet, but already Arsenal are posing themselves the question whether or not their commitment to a brilliant but fragile style of football will be enough to win trophies this season. Emmanuel Adebayor said that Arsenal would have to be prepared to win "dirty" after they struggled to victory against FC Twente in the Champions League qualifier on Wednesday.

Arsène Wenger's team have little time to re-organise before the first League game of the season against West Bromwich Albion tomorrow lunchtime, with an injury list that has grown considerably this week. Adebayor, who scored the second goal in the 2-0 win over Steve McClaren's side, said that style alone would not be able to sustain Arsenal after they were overrun in the first half by the confident Dutch outfit.

"A lot of people talk about us and say we play good football. Good football is good, but we didn't win anything and you play to win," Adebayor said. "What we are going to keep in our heads is that playing football is good but sometimes you have to be tough on the pitch to win a game. We have learnt a lot of things. Sometimes you have to be dirty to win some games. You need to do that because it is part of football.

"Against Twente we didn't play good football and certainly didn't play our best but we won 2-0 and that's what it's all about," he added. "We kept going and kept passing it. Sometimes you have to forget about trying to play beautiful football and just make sure you win the game. That is the important thing, although we have to remember the passing and movement that we want to do."

A more pressing concern is the dismal injury crisis at Arsenal, who hope to have Kolo Touré and Samir Nasri fit again for tomorrow but are still without the injured Cesc Fabregas, Philippe Senderos, Tomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby, Eduardo da Silva and Amaury Bischoff as well as Alexandre Song who is at the Olympics. That means Wenger faces the prospect of again playing the raw partnership of Aaron Ramsey, 17, and Denilson, 20, in the centre of midfield against West Bromwich.

It is understood that Wenger had considered playing Johan Djourou alongside Denilson in central midfield against FC Twente. However, when Senderos injured his hamstring the day before the game, he was forced to play Djourou in defence and promote Ramsey to the first team for his debut. The teenager got a foothold in the game after William Gallas's goal in the 63rd minutes but struggled to influence things before then.

It emphasised just how much Arsenal miss Fabregas' ability to link up midfield and attack. Wenger said yesterday that "a reasonable target for Fabregas is the second leg of the Champions League game."

Wenger promised that he would have made a new signing before that match on 27 August. He has been linked to a number of defensive midfielders including Udinese's Swiss international Gökhan Inler. Twente's Ivorian Cheik Tiote will also have caught his eye on Wednesday.