Stoke 0 Arsenal 0: Wenger admits new signings will take time to gel

Stoke 0 Arsenal 0: Arsène Wenger calls for patience from Gunners fans as his new signings adapt to life in the Premier League

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By TSR staff Sunday 26 August 2012, 17:34 UK

Stoke

Arsenal

Arsène Wenger insists it is only a matter of time until Arsenal’s new-look attack find the cutting edge they have been missing after the Gunners were held to their second successive goalless draw at Stoke.

Having drawn their Premier League opener against Sunderland at The Emirates last Saturday, Wenger’s men played out another stalemate at the Britannia on Sunday.

The Frenchman opted to start new signings Santi Cazorla, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud but the trio failed to break down a typically resilient Stoke rearguard.

Wenger says his new forward line will take time to gel as the new season gets into full swing but accepts the Gunners must sharpen up in the final third.

He said: “It is an understanding because you have Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud; one month ago they didn’t know each other. So that will come.

“There is some work to do on the training ground but you can feel the potential. You can see as well that there is something missing – we are not spontaneous enough in some situations.

“I am very positive about my team. People will say ‘OK, you didn’t score for two games’ and I cannot deny that.

“We played against two teams who defend very well as a unit – Sunderland and Stoke. Overall I believe we can be a good surprise in this championship.”

Wenger also admitted that the loss of Robin van Persie to Manchester United will continue to dominate the headlines until the Gunners start scoring regularly.

“Of course [that will happen],” said Wenger. “Look, if you want to convince me that we lost an exceptional player, you are wasting your time. I was the first to say that.

“We have to find a way to get around that by sharing the goals more than we did before with Van Persie. I think we can do that.

“Giroud scored 20, Podolski scored 20, and I am convinced we will get some goals from [Abou] Diaby and [Aaron] Ramsey, [Theo] Walcott, Gervinho. We have to share that around a little bit.”