Arsenal vs Southampton: Arsène Wenger hopes Gunners have ‘mental energy’ for busy month

Arsenal are competing on three fronts and while the focus at this time of year is on injuries and fitness, Wenger spoke about something else: mental energy

Arsene Wenger looks on in dismay as Arsenal go down 4-0 to Southampton at St Mary's Stadium on Boxing Day (Getty)

Arsenal begin their hectic decisive February on Tuesday evening, desperate to avoid a repeat of their worst result of the season. On Boxing Day, five days after beating Manchester City, Arsène Wenger’s side went to Southampton, who were in poor form, having lost five of their last six games. Southampton won 4-0.

Wenger’s side shook that setback off and are still very much in the title race, just three points behind leaders Leicester. They are competing on three fronts and while the focus at this time of year is on injuries and fitness, Wenger spoke about something else on Monday: mental energy. That is what Wenger is trying to conserve now, that is why he rested players against Burnley in the FA Cup on Saturday, and that is how he explained their festive Hampshire collapse.

“I felt on the day we did not have the mental energy,” Wenger reflected. “We put a lot in. It was a little bit Christmas, it was a little bit the fact that after [beating] City we felt that we had done it. We got caught by a team that was full of desire. We were beaten physically. I felt on the day we did not have the resources.”

While physical fitness can be maintained by playing matches, Wenger’s decision to rest Mesut Özil ,Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey on Saturday owed more to maintaining that mental freshness as Arsenal head into another crucial week. After Southampton they travel to Bournemouth on Sunday before hosting title rivals Leicester City on Valentine’s Day.

“Sometimes it is important to give a breather, just to recharge, more mentally than physically,” Wenger explained. “If you play game after game sometimes you are just not fresh enough mentally. Physically you can cope with it.”

Tomas Rosicky has probably played his last Arsenal game (Reuters)

That is what Arsenal need to do if they are to keep competing in the Premier League, the Champions League and the FA Cup. Previous Arsenal sides, such as in 2010-11, have buckled under their workload in the spring. Wenger is confident that this side is more resilient though, given how they have dealt with setbacks such as the Southampton defeat.

“I think the team has a good mentality, a good level of humility, and a good togetherness,” Wenger explained. “Humility means that you question your performance every time, that you are ready to put a shift in. This team relies a lot on work rate.”

With players coming back from injury Wenger now has more options, especially given the fact that Francis Coquelin and Alexis Sanchez returned to the starting XI on Saturday after months out with knee and hamstring injuries respectively.

Wenger will not be able to call on Tomas Rosicky again soon, and sounded pessimistic about the Czech midfielder’s future at Arsenal. Rosicky sustained a thigh injury during his brief substitute appearance in Saturday’s game, his first appearance this season, an injury which was still being assessed on Monday night.

Wenger has always admired Rosicky but he did not sound positive about Rosicky’s chances of representing Arsenal again, given that he is 35 years old and out of contract at the end of this season.

“Nobody understands [how it happened],” Wenger said. “I told him straight away after half-time to warm up. I observed him, he’s very conscientious Tomas, he did sprint and sprint and sprint. He comes on, after three minutes he got the injury. I looked at him and thought, ‘Tomas you do not run properly’ because he didn’t lift his legs and he lost some balls. He told me after the game that he did it straight away, then I understood why that happened to him. He is devastated.”