Arsenal manger Arsene Wenger impressed by Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers’ heart

ARSENE Wenger has praised both Sydney FC and the WSW for playing “with heart”, the Arsenal coach particularly impressed with the Wanderers’ intensity.

The Arsenal team thank supporters at the end of their brief Sydney tour.

ARSENE Wenger has praised both Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers for playing “with heart”, but the Arsenal manager was particularly impressed with the Wanderers’ intensity.

Arsenal wrapped up their week-long tour of Sydney with a 3-1 win over the Wanderers at ANZ Stadium, just two days after they beat Sydney 2-0 at the same venue.

The Wanderers made it difficult for the English Premier League giants and Wenger says Tony Popovic’s team looks “more advanced”.

“It’s a bit similar to what we’ve seen against Sydney FC — they defend with heart,” Wenger said. “This team looks a bit more physical and bit more ready, a bit more advanced physically than the opposition we had the other night.

The Arsenal team thank supporters at the end of their brief Sydney tour.

“I felt that we did very well in the first half against an opposition that made the game difficult for us — they left always a little bit something in, they pushed us to go into the challenges.”

Popovic was extremely pleased with his team’s performance, especially considering the number of new players in his squad. Roly Bonevacia made his Wanderers debut, along with Oriol Riera and Chris Herd.

“This is our third week and I thought it was a very impressive display by us considering there were so many new faces,” Popovic said. “I thought until they scored the first goal as a unit we defended extremely well. There were a lot of pleasing signs from our performance.”

While the Wanderers’ next match is against the Wellington Phoenix in the FFA Cup, Arsenal are on their way to China for the next leg of their preseason tour.

But Wenger couldn’t leave without being quizzed on the futures of Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

He confirmed Oxlade-Chamberlain would remain at Arsenal “no matter what”, but wasn’t as definitive about where Giroud will fit in. In response to reports coming out of the UK that Sanchez has extended his contract, Wenger said: “A lot that comes out of Sanchez doesn’t look completely right. That’s not the case.”

Originally published as Arsenal manger Arsene Wenger impressed by Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers’ heart