Arsene Wenger admits temporary home venue left Arsenal vulnerable

Arsene Wenger admits temporary home venue left Arsenal vulnerable

Arsene Wenger admits temporary home venue left Arsenal vulnerable

Arsene Wenger has warned Chelsea and
Tottenham they could struggle if and when
they move to temporary homes.
Chelsea may have to play their games away
from Stamford Bridge if their proposals to
redevelop the ground come to fruition, while
Spurs will need to relocate from White Hart Lane
when it is rebuilt.
Wembley has been suggested as a possible
temporary home for both clubs, but Arsenal did
not perform well when they used the national
stadium for Champions League games during the
late 1990s, before the Emirates Stadium was
built.
Gunners boss Wenger told www.arsenal.com:
"When you move into a new stadium, you have
to feel at home. You have to feel that it is the
right place for you. That is only created by the
history that you build slowly through the games.
"I still think it's a little bit of a disadvantage,
even for the fans, they do not feel completely at
home, and that can transmit to the players.
"That was a big problem for us. In hindsight it
was maybe a mistake to move to Wembley, but
we had no real choice as UEFA did not accept
us holding the games at Highbury.
"Looking back today, I say it was a handicap for
us.
"The players were comfortable at Highbury and
the teams that visited us weren't comfortable.
Suddenly it was like we were playing games on
a neutral ground, basically."