Wenger surprised by monthly award

ARSENE Wenger thought it was a case of mistaken identity when he was named Premier League manager of the month.Wenger’s Arsenal side suffered a heavy Champions League defeat by AC Milan and crashed out of the FA Cup but were unbeaten in the league in February.“If you had read the newspapers in the last two weeks, you must say there is a mistake. I thought they were speaking to somebody else behind me,” he said.“It was a complete shock to me. I couldn’t understand that at all.”But the manager of the month award is also based purely on league form - and Arsenal picked up 10 points from their four matches.They drew with Bolton but followed that with wins over Blackburn, Sunderland, their FA Cup conquerors, and last weekend’s astonishing 5-2 North London derby victory over Tottenham Hotspur to climb into the top four.Having presided over one of the most testing periods of his 15-season reign, Wenger’s 12th manager of the month award did allow him to jocularly delve into a bit of light-hearted self-analysis.