Arsène Wenger has admitted a charge of improper conduct by the FA and is likely to learn his punishment within a couple of weeks. The Arsenal manager has requested a personal hearing after an incident with Alan Pardew, the West Ham United manager, this month.
Wenger pushed Pardew and the pair had to be separated by Andy D’Urso, the fourth official, after West Ham had scored a winning goal near the end of the match at Upton Park. Pardew had already requested a personal hearing to contest the same charge, which “relate to their alleged aggressive and confrontational behaviour”.
Pardew has since apologised for his overzealous celebration of his side’s winning goal, which took place close to Wenger. The Arsenal manager’s more immediate concern is overturning his side’s away form, against Bolton Wanderers tomorrow. Eight of Arsenal’s nine away league defeats last season came in the north of the country. Their away record has improved this term, despite defeats by Manchester City and West Ham .
“We spoke about the need to be stronger away from home at the beginning of the season,” Fredrik Ljungberg, the midfield player. said. “We hoped a lot of the younger players would learn from last season, where we had a bit of a dodgy patch in the winter. It was quite obvious last season we did not have the physical power that we maybe had in the past. Hopefully we learnt a lesson from what happened and can be more prepared for these type of games now.”
Francesc Fàbregas added that Arsenal are entering a crucial period. Bolton is probably the most difficult stadium,” the midfield player said. “Because Manchester United play Chelsea [on Sunday] it’s a good chance to catch up the top teams.”