After celebrating his 1000th match in charge of the Gunners in the worst possible manner, Wenger faced the music after the match.
‘This is my fault,’ Wenger said. ‘We got a good hiding. You don’t prepare all week to experience that.’
But Winterburn says the French manager is simply protecting his players ahead of back-to-back crunch matches as they look to reignite their tilt at the title.
‘Arsene Wenger is protecting his players because he knows he’s got a big game coming up in mid-week,’ Winterburn told TalkSport’s Weekend Sports Breakfast.
The Gunners have back-to-back Premier League home games this week with Swansea on Tuesday before they host Manchester City on Saturday.
‘I don’t blame Arsene Wenger for the Chelsea defeat. I blame the players. You can work on certain things in training but, when you’re out there, it’s up to the players to organise.’
Arsenal’s 6-0 thrashing to Chelsea follows a big defeats to another title rival, Liverpool, who thrashed Wenger’s then Premier League leaders 5-1 back in February.
Written by Steve Milne
