Arsene Wenger reveals he prefers four in defence but will play whatever suits his Arsenal players

Wenger changed from three to four at the back against Manchester United last weekend

Wenger shifted to three at the back at the end of last season (Getty)

Arsene Wenger has admitted that his preferred defensive formation remains the four at the back he went to in Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester United, but that he is likely to continue using three or whatever “suits the players”.

The French manager switched approach after his side had gone 2-0 down in that game, and it immediately inspired a much more forceful attacking performance. Wenger's initial move to three earlier this year was seen as a landmark and somewhat surprising change at the time, so he was naturally asked whether this reversion was a one-off or a sign of more to come.

“Yes I decided to play with a back four,” Wenger said. “It is my preferred system. But I adjust always what suits the players, the quality of the players, the balance of the team.”

“I went to a back four as well as we were 2-0 down and I put on an offensive player as we had to come back. But it can change.”

Wenger again put Arsenal’s slow start in that game down to the recovery time - since his players had one day less between games than United - but feels they will be prepared to make amends away to Southampton this weekend, especially given the belief that the result didn’t really reflect a good performance.

“I felt that it took our players time to get into the game because we spoke about recovery and we played on Wednesday night against Huddersfield. it took them a while to adjust to the pace of the game and they had the power up front and they surprised us a little bit with their pace and after that we played remarkably going forward but as well we did not take enough our chances. We were not clinical enough.

“I am looking just at the numbers and we had a very strong creative performance. With a high, high, high amount of expected goals. And we had a poor defensive performance.

“I feel in our job there is always in the next game you can show that you have digested and focused on what is in front of you.”

Wenger revealed they also staged “clear-the-air” talks after the United match but, in a somewhat Cloughian turn, then joked only his “opinion counts!”

“You know you have a very clear-the-air straight away when you have a defeat like that, a disappointment like that. You try to analyse it straight away with the players to get it out of the system and focus on what is in front of you.”

Asked whether the players’ views ever differ from his, Wenger said: “Well the players have always….everybody has a little bit his own analysis. But my opinion counts!”

The Arsenal boss also said no new contract offer had yet been made to Mesut Ozil, whose deal runs out at the end of the season, and that he hasn’t yet had a conversation with Jack Wilshere about his new contract despite previously saying he would in December.

“In fact we are in December today so it is time to talk.”