Arsenal FC

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• Manager:Arsene Wenger

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Wenger: No defensive issue

13 Mar 2009 - 15:28:33

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists he is unconcerned by stories that defensive duo Kolo Toure and William Gallas do not get on.

Toure, who has taken over the armband from injured captain Cesc Fabregas, recently suggested he and Gallas will never be close off the field.

But Wenger doesn't believe the off-field relationship between the pair is not an issue as long as they remain professional during games.

"What is important is that when you are professionals, you play together," said the Frenchman.

"To be professional is to do what it takes for your team to be successful, not more than that. It does not mean that you go to paradise together.

"In football, you can take a Russian and an American, at the highest period of tension, and they can play very well together because sport demands the analysis of a situation in a fraction of a second and both can have that even if they do not speak.

"The most important thing is the big players respect the game.

"They put the respect for the game at a higher level than any other situation. If the game needs me to give you the ball now, even if I do not like you, then I give you the ball."