Senderos happy to win ugly

Not all about the beautiful game for Gunners

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 12th February 2008

Senderos happy to win ugly

Senderos: Aerial threat

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Philippe Senderos admits that Arsenal spend as much time perfecting their set-pieces as they do on their passing game.

The Gunners have built a reputation for playing eye-catching football and are generally regarded as the most attractive team in the country to watch.

However, any side would admit that it is impossible to reach those standards in every game and it comes as no surprise that a manager as tactically astute as Arsene Wenger makes sure that he has all the bases covered.

The likes of Senderos, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, William Gallas and Abou Diaby have given Arsenal much more of an aerial threat and as a result the team have learnt to be able to switch their style of play when required.

Concentrated

"Offensively and defensively we have really concentrated on set-pieces," Senderos told Arsenal TV.

"We can see we have scored more goals and we are attacking the ball really well, so hopefully we can score a few more this season."

The Swiss defender was speaking in the wake of Arsenal's 2-0 Premier League victory over Blackburn on Monday night, a game in which he opened the scoring with a powerful header from an Eduardo corner.

Belief

After a weekend which had seen their closest rivals Manchester United and Chelsea drop points, the win gives the Gunners a five-point lead at the top of the table and puts them in pole position to capture their first Premier League crown in four years.

"We knew the importance of the game coming into this one and it was a tremendous performance by everyone, it was a difficult game," Senderos said.

"Coming into every game we have a great belief and a great spirit, and coming into this game we definitely knew the importance of the three points.

"Being at the top is where we want to be and we are going to continue."