Arsene Wenger hails Danny Welbeck after double against Bournemouth

Arsene Wenger hailed Danny Welbeck after the forward scored twice in Arsenal's 3-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday.

The England international also laid on Alexandre Lacazette's strike as the Gunners got their Premier League campaign back on track.

Heading into the game, Wenger and the Arsenal board had come in for criticism after no new signings were made in the closing days of the transfer window.

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Add to that a 4-0 thrashing at Liverpool before the international break and all was not well at the Emirates despite the season still being in its infancy.

Welbeck calmed any nerves with a sixth-minute opener before sweeping home a well-taken second after a wonderful Lacazette strike had made it two.

It is the first time Welbeck has ever hit more than one goal in a Premier League game for Arsenal but Wenger wants the former Manchester United man to kick on.

"He gets stronger and stronger," said Wenger. "Let's not forget that he was out for a long time. He's a team player, Danny Welbeck, and that's why coaches love him.

"He's a guy who has a huge physical potential. People are not convinced that he is a great finisher, but these kinds of goals will help him become more relaxed in front of goal.

"I liked his second goal today because it was the clean finish of a goalscorer."

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When asked what pleased him most about the team performance, Wenger said: "Our desire to respond. It was a serious performance, well focused, with a good team discipline and we scored goals and didn't concede. That's what we needed.

"I feel we played well all over the pitch. It's difficult to single anybody out for a bad performance and overall, if you look at the individual performances, they were all quite good."

The victory followed back-to-back league defeats to Stoke and Liverpool, with the display at Anfield particularly concerning as Arsenal failed to register a shot on target.

Wenger suggested outside distractions may have contributed to their performance on Merseyside.

"We lost a bit of confidence at Stoke, where we played well like today but lost the game," he added.

"We were a bit edgy against Liverpool, then there was the transfer period and players moving away for big games over the international period, but certainly we didn't have the same focus [at Liverpool] as today."

Arsenal now turn their attention to the Europa League, where they open their campaign at home to Cologne on Thursday.

Wenger insisted he plans to field a strong team against their German opposition despite the prospect of a trip to Chelsea on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League.

"We want to do well in the Europa League, we will put a team out with a chance to win the game," he said.

"We have a reasonable squad and overall, some of the players who did not play today will play [on Thursday]. We will play a first team."