Wenger: Arsenal still have work to do

Arsene Wenger admits that Arsenal still have much improving to do ahead of the new Premier League season.

Two late goals saw the Gunners overcome a Malaysia XI on Tuesday, running out 2-1 winners thanks to an 87th-minute strike by midfielder Thomas Eisfeld before a Chuks Aneke winner two minutes later.

The 62-year-old was satisfied overall, however, with many of the players having come into the game on the back of very minimal preparation.

Wenger told reporters: “We played with two different sides and both did well. The first half was more significant because the game was played at a higher pace.

“It was a good work-out for us against a good team. The result was less important. We got the quality of game we wanted and that was very positive.

“We still have a lot of work to do. We are far from what we can produce. We are far away physically from where we want to be. Technically and tactically, there is still work for us to do. But the pitch wasn’t easy and the pace of Malaysia was good.

“Don’t forget some of these players have only trained for two or three days before the games, others four and the maximum was seven days training.

“Theo [Walcott] was one of the players with only two days of training and I planned to give only 25 minutes to him or [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain. I felt Theo was suffering a bit more than Chamberlain and chose to take him off.”

The Gunners face Manchester City on Friday in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium, before travelling to Hong Kong for their final match of the tour.