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SCMP Reporter

MARC Overmars has warned his Arsenal teammates they will end up without a trophy this season unless they get ruthless in front of goal.

  The Dutch international winger, a potent weapon for the Gunners since he joined from Ajax last season, knows that Arsenal must find a cutting edge up front if they are to progress into the quarter-finals of the European Cup and go anywhere near emulating the double success of last term.

  Arsenal have paid the price three times for wayward finishing and losing late goals in both the Premier League and in Europe.

  In their first match in the Champions' League, Arsenal dominated their French opposition in Lens, but could only draw 1-1 - and last Saturday's clash with Southampton at Highbury was a mirror image of that game.

   The latest setback came on Wednesday at Wembley when Arsene Wengers' men lost an injury time goal to Dynamo Kiev in their Champions' League match to tie the score at 1-1.

  Serhei Rebrov gave the Ukrainians a deserved share of the points after Dennis Bergkamp had put Arsenal ahead with a header in the 74th minute. Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman's claims for offside were ignored by the referee.

  'It was the same as in Lens,' said Overmars. 'Three times we finished with a draw when we should have won. What we need to do is get that second goal when we are so on top. As much as anything, we need a bit of luck in front of goal. The Southampton goalkeeper made some tremendous saves, but we do have to start putting the chances away.

  'It was a lot harder going against Kiev but we should have come out on top.

  'We are creating so many, five or six good ones, in every game.

  'Normally we would look at the result in Lens and see a 1-1 draw away in Europe as a good result.

  'But I look on the game in Lens as two points lost. That is how much we were on top.'    Wenger was also disconsolate after the Wembley confrontation, saying: 'It is disappointing. The (Kiev) goal was fair but when you are 1-0 up 30 seconds from the end you are hoping you would win.

  'We showed great spirit to fight against such a team.'   Arsenal have been dealt a bodyblow with the news that Emmanuel Petit may miss Sunday's visit to Blackburn after injury ruled him out of the Kiev clash.

  Petit's compatriot and midfield partner Patrick Vieira also presented a potential injury scare when he crashed his ?100,000 Porsche only 25 yards from his team's training ground on Tuesday.

  The 22-year-old midfielder, who won a World Cup winner's medal with France in the summer, was driving the grey/black 911 Carrera in London Colney when he lost control.

  The car left the road, went on to the grass verge and over fence posts, damaging the chassis. The footballer walked away uninjured and carried on training, while a recovery van took his car away to be repaired.

  Overmars' striking warning has not been lost on the Frenchmen or on their boss, Wenger, who is the latest - along with his countryman Gerard Houllier, co-manager at Liverpool, and Aston Villa's John Gregory - to be linked to England manager Glenn Hoddle's job by newspaper specualtion.

  Wenger, however, has ruled himself out of contention and says club management is far more acceptable to him than taking charge of an international side.

  'I have enough worries at Arsenal but I'm committed to the club and it is the most important thing to me.

  'It is hard to look ahead to the year 2000 but I have already said many times I'm ready to sign again for Arsenal until 2002.

  'After that, if perhaps they get tired of me, I don't know what job I would do. But the role of national manager has no great appeal for me yet. There are so many pressures in the job and it is the same all over the world in the big football countries.

  'At the moment, I would say I am not interested in international football. What is the pleasure of being an international manager? You never see the players.

  'Now, I have to get Arsenal on the right track to win trophies and that means scoring goals and not conceding them.

  'The latest draw is another setback for us but I have said in the past that we are not at our full potential yet. We are still on top of our group in the Champions' League, albeit on goal difference.'   Wenger also touched on the fact that his Dutch striker, Dennis Bergkamp, has been 'out of touch' in recent games and puts that down as a factor in Arsenal's recent slump.

  'When Dennis Bergkamp is playing well, Arsenal plays well. We are not a one-man team but he does make a difference when he has the appetite for the game. He does not seem to have had that appetite of late and that is an additional worry for us.'   'We know because of his personal fear of flying that we will not have him for the return leg with Kiev and that is a situation which will have to be addressed using other personnel.

  'Hopefully, we will have a fully fit squad at that time which will make selection a little easier.

 'We were forced into certain situations on Wednesday which led to fielding a lineup which was not for us,' Wenger said with reference to the absence of Petit and Vieira and their direct replacements, Stephen Hughes and Remi Garde.

 Meanwhile, George Graham, the new Tottenham manager, has promised he has no intention of starting a revenge campaign against his north London rivals.

  Graham, who left his beloved Highbury after the 'bung' scandal, which brought him a one-year ban from the game, believes it would be counter-productive.

  Graham said: 'I think revenge is self-destructive and there's no way I would think like that.

  'I don't care whoever is at the top, whether it is Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool, these are the clubs I want Tottenham to be among.

  'My coming to Spurs has been well received. I am supposed to have had some hate mail and that kind of thing but it is all absolute nonsense.

  'I've had a great response from the Spurs fans.'    But Graham has also warned Tottenham's underachieving stars that he's ready to begin his White Hart Lane clear-out.

   Graham said: 'I am looking for new players but anybody I buy will be an established first-team player who I can bring in and put straight into the side.'    Graham took sole charge of Spurs for the first time against troubled Leicester at Filbert Street in the 2-1 defeat and he will not hesitate to wield the axe if he sees any sign of the lack of ambition which has dogged Spurs in recent years.

 Graham said: 'My teams have been accused of many things but they have always had a winning mentality.

'That is what I will be looking for at White Hart Lane.' 



SHOOT TO KILL - War declared by top Gunners' marksman