FOOTBALL CLUB WORLD

Gunners' boss, Arsene Wenger, says that de defenders bad performance is the critical factor in Arsenal's lack of success in the Champions League and Premier League.

"It is the lowest week I have had here in all this time," Wenger admitted. "We have lost the 100 metres on a photo-finish. That's what happened. It's tough to swallow because you have still made a good race and you finish empty-handed. It hurts bad, really bad. Maybe for me more as I really believed that we could do it.

"We were leading against Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United, and at home against them. So we can score goals. What we could not stop is conceding goals in big games. Nine times out of 10 the guy who wins a big game is the guy who scores first, and we lost all these games after being in front. So I think we suffered more as a team defensively than offensively."

The french coach, who has set a deadline of the end of this month to settle negotiations with the midfielder Matthieu Flamini, said: "My first target is to keep the team together. If you ask me how many players I want to buy, it's not a question of numbers, it's a question of one or two quality footballers."

He ruled out signing the Valencia forward David Villa, who expressed a willingness to move to the Emirates Stadium this week. "No," he claims. "I feel up front I need to give time to [Nicklas] Bendtner and Theo Walcott because they have made big improvements. Walcott is now coming on and I have to give him an opportunity at some stage."

Furthermore, Wenger had words about Philippe Senderos: "He's in the squad. But I feel sometimes you have to give the time to refresh mentally. He is so intense, Philippe. He is genuine and dedicated and he's disappointed by his performance at Liverpool but only time can get you over that."

Wenger assured that defeat in the Champions League was worse than losing to Barcelona in the 2006 final. "Against Barcelona we played with 10 men for 70 minutes. The first time you play in a final it can happen that you lose. But to go out to Liverpool after the two games we played was very, very disappointing."

Italian talented player Gianfranco Zola expressed that he would like to return to Chelsea in the future to work in either a coaching or managerial capacity.

Indeed, Zola was one of the most popular foreign players to appear in the Premier League as he scored 80 goals for Chelsea in a dazzling seven-year career at Stamford Bridge between 1996 and 2003. Just before he left the club Chelsea fans voted him as the best footballer in the club's history.

Zola stated in an interview on Friday that although he was currently coaching the Italian Under-21s with Pierluigi Casiraghi, he could see a future back at Stamford Bridge.

"Will I come back to Chelsea? We'll see. I think so. In fact, sooner or later I'll have a go. But at the moment it is important to get the knowledge. Playing football is one thing, but coaching is another one, completely different."

However, London seems irresistible for him. "Chelsea is where I had the best satisfaction of all, where I was treated the best. This is a special place," he claims.

"I do care about Chelsea very much and when I do come back I want to do something very valuable."

We must say that Zola was also linked with a position at the English FA, working with coach Fabio Capello's backroom staff, but he said he was not approached for a role.

"I read that in the news myself several times but I didn't speak to Capello or anyone else," he admitted. "I was very pleased (if) they were considering me but I have a commitment with the national team in Italy, a two-year contract."

As we know, Gianfranco Zola also played for Napoli, Parma and Cagliari among other sides, and won 35 caps for Italy national team.