Don't blame me for Taylor death threats, says Wenger

Arsene Wenger, seen here in 2007, insists he should not have to take responsibility for the death threats sent to Martin Taylor after the Birmingham defender's tackle on Eduardo.

Arsene Wenger insists he should not have to take responsibility for the death threats sent to Martin Taylor after the Birmingham defender's tackle on Eduardo.

Wenger called for Taylor to be banned from football in the immediate aftermath of the challenge that broke Eduardo's leg and left the Arsenal striker facing at least a year out of action.

The Gunners manager later softened his stance after speaking to Taylor at Birmingham's St Andrews stadium, but that didn't stop the player receiving death threats and hate mail this week.

Taylor, who was sent off for the challenge, has made it clear he feels Wenger's initial reaction contributed to the volume and viciousness of the public reaction to him.

But Wenger is adamant he should not be blamed for the actions of a mindless minority.

"I am responsible for what I say but I came out and retracted what I said. I didn't want to go overboard. I take that responsibility," Wenger said.

"But people who make death threats have to feel responsible for what they do. It is idiotic and not accepted but I do not want to be responsible for that."

While Wenger is willing to accept Taylor's claim that he didn't mean to hurt Eduardo, he feels the foul was the inevitable result of a long-held belief in the game that Arsenal can only be beaten if they are roughed up first.

"If it is a pure accident you cannot change anything but all the numbers are available," Wenger said. "I do not want to single one incident out but I believe there are some teams that commit more fouls than others.

"There is a consistency there. On our side we just try to be fair and after that we just want the right protection from the referees.

"If a team commits three times more fouls as the other team, there is three times the chance that an accident like that will happen.

"I would just say one thing. In the last three years we have been the team who has been fouled the most in the league, we have been the team who have made the least fouls and we have been the team punished more than any team in the league.

"I do not want to go into what is right or wrong. We try to play in a fair way.

"I do not ask for any special treatment at all. We don't have to find an answer, it is the referees who need to find an answer."

Eduardo is now recovering at home after surgery, but the fall-out from the incident is still being felt at the Emirates Stadium as Wenger tries to rebuild the Premier League leaders' morale ahead of Saturday's clash against Aston Villa.

"The response from our team will be positive. We have been deeply disturbed but I also feel something has been deeply touched within the team and I am confident that will come out in the game," Wenger said.

"We are not in a club where hate is part of the culture. We want to get the good things out of the game.

"We are focused on the magnificent sides of our club. Bascially I don't know what Taylor's intent was and he has to deal with that now. I cannot be involved in that now.

"We need to support Eduardo and focus on what we need to achieve until the end of the season. The rest is not our problem."

Wenger welcomes back French midfielder Abou Diaby for the Villa match, but Robin van Persie won't be risked despite returning to full training on Friday.

Tomas Rosicky is still sidelined, while Emmanuel Eboue is suspended.