"Of course I am worried," said Wenger, whose
team trails Premier League leaders Manchester United by 11 points. "It is
absolutely not realistic not to be worried when you have a team like Manchester
United in front of you.
"But the only thing we can do is focus on our performances,
win our games and hope they will drop some points at some stage.
"What is important for us is to give absolutely
everything to do it (win the title), but at the moment it is too early to speak
about that.
"Let's come back to a better distance with the top
teams before we speak about that. If the team gets momentum, we can be very
strong." Arsenal lie 17th, one place above the relegation zone, after
securing four points from a possible 15. One of their three defeats was an 8-2
loss at Manchester United last month.
In contrast, United top the table after winning their
five opening matches, with victories over Chelsea, as well as Arsenal, already
under their belts.
Arsenal have not finished outside the top four since
1996, the season before Wenger's arrival, and despite their poor start the
Frenchman retains complete faith in his men, even though he was highly critical
of the way they defended at Blackburn Rovers in last week's 4-3 defeat.
Wenger, speaking before out-of-form Bolton Wanderers
visit Arsenal on Saturday, said recent weeks had taken their toll on his side.
"I still believe we paid a very heavy price for the
Udinese game in the Champions League playoff, where we didn't get any credit at
all. Today, they are top of the Italian league." Arsenal came from behind
to beat Udinese 2-1 in the second leg of the playoffs on Aug. 24 and qualify
for the Champions League, where they began their group matches with a 1-1 draw
at Borussia Dortmund.
"We had to give absolutely everything against
Borussia Dortmund and in the second half at Blackburn you could see that,"
Wenger added.
"Our start of the season was disturbed by the
transfers (of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri) and by the fact that we had to
qualify for the Champions League. We lost a lot of energy in those games."
Arsenal, though, should beat Bolton on Saturday with Owen Coyle's men having
lost their last four league games, although they were boosted by Tuesday's 2-0
win at Aston Villa in the League Cup.
